Connor Lemons
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You’re Nuts: Which outgoing basketball transfer will have the most success at their new school?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
All four former Buckeyes landed with programs that could be in the NCAA Tournament this year.
Happy college football season! The Ohio State Buckeyes take the field this week against the Western Michigan Broncos in Week 2, which means that college basketball is just around the corner.
Last week, Connor and Justin predicted how many players the Ohio State men’s basketball team will take in the 2025 recruiting class. Currently, the Buckeyes just have one player committed in that class — four-star guard Dorian Jones. However, there are a handful of Ohio guys and out of state talent that Jake Diebler and staff are pursuing, including Darryn Peterson, Jerry Easter, Niko Bundalo, and several others.
48% of the readers sided with Connor, who said the Buckeyes will take a total of three players in that class. 34% sided with Justin, who said they’d just take two. One reader said that Ohio State would take just Dorian Jones, and 16% of readers said the Buckeyes will take at least four guys in that class.
Connor- 81
This week, we are looking at the destinations of Ohio State’s four outgoing transfers from last season — Roddy Gayle, Felix Okpara, Bowen Hardman, and Scotty Middleton — and picking which will have the biggest season at their new school.
This is not a reflection of good they may or may not have been at Ohio State. This is simply their impact on their new team.
Gayle’s announcement that he was leaving Ohio State came as a surprise to many, and his landing spot was even more of a stunner. After playing for the Buckeyes for two seasons, Gayle opted to transfer to the other side of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.
The rivalry itself will look different, however, as both squads roll into the 2024-25 season with new coaches after Juwan Howard and Chris Holtmann were both relieved of their duties this spring. Rather than return to Ohio State and play for the guy who recruited him to Columbus, Gayle transferred to Michigan to play for former Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May — now the conductor of the Michigan men’s basketball program.
In an interview last month, Gayle described the way May allows his guards, especially taller guards, play a “freelance” role in the offense. Although we haven’t seen this in action at Michigan yet, May had two “longer” guards at FAU — Johnell Davis and Nick Boyd — who helped lead the Owls to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. It would make sense for May to use Gayle in a similar fashion he used Davis at FAU — he led the Owls in scoring each of the past two seasons.
May put together a talented group of transfers for his first year at Michigan, but the offense will likely revolve around Gayle and the twin-towers duo of Danny Wolf (Yale transfer) and Vlad Goldin (FAU transfer). Now listed at 6-foot-5, Gayle should generally have more space to operate with Wolf and Goldin on the floor with him.
If the Wolverines are able to find ways to play the big men together it would make it even more difficult for teams to double team Gayle, who more than doubled his scoring, rebounding, and assists per game last season from his freshman year.
I think the floor for Gayle this year — one season after averaging 13.5 points per game — is an “honorable mention” All-Big Ten award. I think Gayle’s ceiling is first or second-team All-Big Ten, followed by his name being called at the NBA Draft. He has most of the tools, and just needs to re-discover a more consistent three-point shot to really explode this year as a junior.
The Buckeyes hoops team lost many talented players from last season, and has brought in many talented players for this season. The one guy that hurt the most when he announced he was transferring is Scotty Middleton.
Middleton played one season in Columbus as a highly touted freshman who chose the Buckeyes over Kansas. Even though it was an up-and-down season, it was clear at times that his potential is sky-high.
After the season, due to the roster and coaching changes that happened, Middleton announced he would be transferring to Seton Hall. The destination was no surprise, as Seton Hall was in Middleton’s original final three schools. He has family in New Jersey and went to high school at Pirates head coach Shaheen Holloway’s alma mater.
Middleton is a guy who I would not be surprised to see in the NBA as early as next season. He has good size and instincts on defense, an efficient offensive game, and toward the end of last season got his three-point shot rolling.
Middleton will likely never be a volume scorer, but his ability as an elite three-and-D player will always be valuable, and I would have loved to see him grow in Columbus.
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Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
All four former Buckeyes landed with programs that could be in the NCAA Tournament this year.
Happy college football season! The Ohio State Buckeyes take the field this week against the Western Michigan Broncos in Week 2, which means that college basketball is just around the corner.
Last week, Connor and Justin predicted how many players the Ohio State men’s basketball team will take in the 2025 recruiting class. Currently, the Buckeyes just have one player committed in that class — four-star guard Dorian Jones. However, there are a handful of Ohio guys and out of state talent that Jake Diebler and staff are pursuing, including Darryn Peterson, Jerry Easter, Niko Bundalo, and several others.
48% of the readers sided with Connor, who said the Buckeyes will take a total of three players in that class. 34% sided with Justin, who said they’d just take two. One reader said that Ohio State would take just Dorian Jones, and 16% of readers said the Buckeyes will take at least four guys in that class.
After 168 weeks:
Connor- 81
Justin- 67
Other- 16
(There have been four ties)
This week, we are looking at the destinations of Ohio State’s four outgoing transfers from last season — Roddy Gayle, Felix Okpara, Bowen Hardman, and Scotty Middleton — and picking which will have the biggest season at their new school.
This is not a reflection of good they may or may not have been at Ohio State. This is simply their impact on their new team.
This week’s question: Which basketball outgoing transfer will have the most success at their new school?
Connor: Roddy Gayle
Gayle’s announcement that he was leaving Ohio State came as a surprise to many, and his landing spot was even more of a stunner. After playing for the Buckeyes for two seasons, Gayle opted to transfer to the other side of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.
The rivalry itself will look different, however, as both squads roll into the 2024-25 season with new coaches after Juwan Howard and Chris Holtmann were both relieved of their duties this spring. Rather than return to Ohio State and play for the guy who recruited him to Columbus, Gayle transferred to Michigan to play for former Florida Atlantic coach Dusty May — now the conductor of the Michigan men’s basketball program.
In an interview last month, Gayle described the way May allows his guards, especially taller guards, play a “freelance” role in the offense. Although we haven’t seen this in action at Michigan yet, May had two “longer” guards at FAU — Johnell Davis and Nick Boyd — who helped lead the Owls to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments. It would make sense for May to use Gayle in a similar fashion he used Davis at FAU — he led the Owls in scoring each of the past two seasons.
May put together a talented group of transfers for his first year at Michigan, but the offense will likely revolve around Gayle and the twin-towers duo of Danny Wolf (Yale transfer) and Vlad Goldin (FAU transfer). Now listed at 6-foot-5, Gayle should generally have more space to operate with Wolf and Goldin on the floor with him.
If the Wolverines are able to find ways to play the big men together it would make it even more difficult for teams to double team Gayle, who more than doubled his scoring, rebounding, and assists per game last season from his freshman year.
I think the floor for Gayle this year — one season after averaging 13.5 points per game — is an “honorable mention” All-Big Ten award. I think Gayle’s ceiling is first or second-team All-Big Ten, followed by his name being called at the NBA Draft. He has most of the tools, and just needs to re-discover a more consistent three-point shot to really explode this year as a junior.
Justin: Scotty Middleton
The Buckeyes hoops team lost many talented players from last season, and has brought in many talented players for this season. The one guy that hurt the most when he announced he was transferring is Scotty Middleton.
Middleton played one season in Columbus as a highly touted freshman who chose the Buckeyes over Kansas. Even though it was an up-and-down season, it was clear at times that his potential is sky-high.
After the season, due to the roster and coaching changes that happened, Middleton announced he would be transferring to Seton Hall. The destination was no surprise, as Seton Hall was in Middleton’s original final three schools. He has family in New Jersey and went to high school at Pirates head coach Shaheen Holloway’s alma mater.
Middleton is a guy who I would not be surprised to see in the NBA as early as next season. He has good size and instincts on defense, an efficient offensive game, and toward the end of last season got his three-point shot rolling.
Middleton will likely never be a volume scorer, but his ability as an elite three-and-D player will always be valuable, and I would have loved to see him grow in Columbus.
Continue reading...