With the start of the basketball season of the college at the beginning of November, Inside the Hall is watching a team-for-team at the Big Ten and a player-for-one player looks at the schedule of IU basketball.
Today our team reviews will continue with Ohio State.
Earlier: Penn State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Northwestern, Washington, Nebraska, Maryland, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oregon, USC, Michigan State
After one up and down 2024-25 season with a victory at Purdue and six losses at home, there is busy on Ohio State Coach Jake Dibler to take a step forward in Columbus this season.
Diewer ended his first full season as the head coach of Ohio State with a 9-11 Big Ten record and a 17-15 mark in general. The season ended for the Buckeyes with a disappointing loss of 77-70 for Iowa on Wednesday of the Big Ten tournament.
Ohio State was able to keep several of his top players from last season, including three of the top four scorers.
The headlining -backer is Senior Point Guard Bruce Thornton, who comes in the season as one of the top players of the Big ten. The 6-foot-2 Georgia resident tested the NBA concept waters last spring, but is back in Columbus in the hope of reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time. Thornton had an average of 17.7 points, 4.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 Steals in 36.2 minutes per match last season. He shot 50.1 percent out of the field and 42.4 percent on 3S.
Participation in Thornton in the Buckeye Backcourt is a second -year guard John Mobley Jr. A confident player with a talent for making difficult shots, Mobley Jr. Last season made 77 3-Pointers as a first-year student and shot 38.5 percent of deep. Mobley was the fourth leading scorer of the team at 13 points per game and his production should only grow in his second season.
Junior Wing Devin Royal is also back after starting 27 games last season. Royal’s 13.7 points per match were in second place last season and he shot 52.2 percent out of the field. On 6-foot-6 he can play a forward place and is also a solid rebounder. Royal’s 6.9 Rebounds per match last season led the Buckeyes.
The starting of the Ohio State must be filled in by a few additions to the transfer portal in Brandon Noel and Christoph Tilly.
The 6-foot-8 Noel is a fifth-year attacker who has earned the All-Horizon League Second Team in Wright State in the past two seasons. A resident of Lucasville, Ohio, Noel on average 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and shot 55.2 percent out of the field and 35.8 percent at 3s last season.
Tilly, a 7-foot senior arriving from Santa Clara, gives the Buckeyes legitimate size on the five. Tilly on average 12.5 points in 22.6 minutes per match last season. During his three seasons in Santa Clara, Tilly scored 40 times in double digits and had seven 20-point competitions.
DieWer is hopeful Redshirt Second -year guard Taison Chatman can play a rotation role after missing last season with a knee injury. A highly recommended recruit in the 2023 class, the 6-foot-4 chatman will be in the waiting rotation if he can stay healthy.
Mathieu Grujicic, a 6-foot-6 first-year guard from Germany, on average 24.6 points for Germany in the FIBA U18 Eurobasket in the summer and previously played for the U18 team of FC Barcelona.
Frontcourt -depth is provided by Baylor Transfer Josh Ojianwuna and first -year A’Mare Bynum.
Ojianwuna, a 6-foot-10 senior center, made 24 starts for three seasons in Baylor and an average of 7.4 points and 6.4 rebounds last season before entering a knee injury in February. Ojianwuna may not be available to play when the season starts.
Bynum, a 6-foot-8 captain, played for Link Academy last season and was the number 61 player in the last 247sports Composite Rankings for the 2025 class.
The Buckeyes also return 6-foot-6 second-year student Colin White and 7-foot-1 second-year student Ivan Njegovan. White played in 19 games last season and should offer a wing depth, while Njegovan, a Croatian -born center, appeared in 21 games.
Ohio State also added IU transferwacht Gabe Cupps, which missed most of last season with a lower body injury. As first -year, CupPs were on average 2.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.7 minutes per match for the Hoisiers.
The projections of Bart Torvik are high for the state of Ohio that goes into the season. Torvik has the Buckeyes at number 19 in the preseason. The Basketball Year book of Blue Ribbon College is not that high in the state of Ohio and chose the Buckeyes to end 11th in the Big ten.
Bottom Line: There is enough talent in the state schedule in Ohio to make the NCAA tournament, but Diewer is unproven as a head coach. Last season was a disappointment when Ohio State spent most of the season on the tournament bubble before he faltered in the Big Ten tournament when it needed a victory to keep his March Madness Hopes alive. The recurring core of Thornton, Mobley Jr. And Royal is strong, but the buckeyes have to protect the home field and play strong from Noel and Tilly to meet expectations.
Sacrifice: “Last year, four of our top six boys were first -year students and second -year students. Our second -year students did not have much experience as first -year students. Now that you are rapidly forward to our schedule as it looks today, we have much more retention experience across the board.” – Diebler to Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook.
See more: Comments, 2025-26 Big Ten Preview, Ohio State Buckeyes
#Big #ten #Basketball #Season #Preview #Ohio #State #Buckeyes