Ohio State bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday the same way it has in the majority of losses this season: Like a bad habit hard to get rid of but eventually overcome.
The Buckeyes stuck around the whole game against Iowa, just as they have for most of the opponents they faced this season. Ultimately, however, Iowa shook them, prevailing 77-70 despite entering the tourney opener with a worse record (16-15 to OSU’s 17-14) and having lost three of its previous four games.
The defeat only felt familiar because it was. Eleven of Ohio State’s 15 losses have come by eight points or fewer. And now the Buckeyes (17-15) may be finished for the season, likely shut out of the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year, with the only chance of play continuing being if they accept an invitation to something called the College Basketball Crown, a new 16-team event held March 31 to April 6 in Las Vegas. Whoopie!
There are two ways to look at how this season played out for the scarlet and gray. The first is to admire the never-say-die attitude (except against a few stray give-ups like Maryland, Auburn and Northwestern).
If nothing else, the Buckeyes tended to play hard. But after that, nothing else. That is the second way to view it. This bunch just was not good enough, and by that I mean talented enough, to consistently perform at the level necessary to compete in the Big Ten. Or really outside of the Big Ten, unless the opponent begins with the letters Youngstown State and Green Bay.
In the same way you say, “But he’s such a nice guy” when describing someone lacking in other areas, the Buckeyes are hard workers who come up short in basketball looks.
Ohio State roster leaves something to be desired
Get past point guard Bruce Thornton, who while good still is no All-American (he was named second team all-Big Ten this week) and Devin Royal, who shows glimpses of kinda/sorta greatness, and you are left with a promising 3-point shooter in John Mobley Jr. and … and … a cast of contributors who have their moments, but far too few of them.
In a word, OSU’s roster is underwhelming. As for players brought in through the transfer portal, well, my mother taught me if I can’t say anything nice … .
Dispatch Ohio State beat writer Adam Jardy astutely observes that “to compare it to football a little bit, both Ryan Day and Jake Diebler used the portal for some key pieces this year. The difference is Day hit a home run on essentially every transfer. Diebler had a few that backfired.”
I would add only that Ohio State football is a destination for highly-rated portal transfers. Basketball is not. In that regard, Ohio State’s shaky ability to hit on top-notch portal transfers, and that is putting it kindly, is nothing new. Chris Holtmann slapped some singles but mostly struck out.
Still, the current lack of portal talent is especially noticeable. Aaron Bradshaw has been subpar, with Ques Glover not much better. Evan Mahaffey? As former Dispatch columnist Bob Hunter used to describe nondescript role players, “He is just a guy.” Micah Parrish was decent, but in the final analysis the players arriving through the portal were less effective than those who left, e.g. Roddy Gayle (Michigan) and Felix Okpara (Tennessee).
Then there is Meechie Johnson Jr., who transferred out of OSU to South Carolina in 2022, then back to the Buckeyes this season before disappearing in December on an extended leave of absence for a personal matter. It’s easy to say Ohio State could have benefited from having Johnson on the floor, but maybe the lesson is to be wary of welcoming double transfers.
Our man Jards also dropped this laser beam: “I’m not sure how to view where this program is headed right now, but I think they need to find something for fans to hold onto from a hope perspective. Not saying it’s all bad, but feels like it’s stuck in a weird purgatory.”
Bingo. Attendance at Value City Arena averaged 11,758 (VCA holds 18.809), with three games drawing fewer than 10,000. And fans who attend games tend to be the most engaged with the program. What of those sitting at home?
Jake Diebler needs to hit home run in transfer portal
Which brings us to Diebler. I can’t dunk on Diebs too hard, for one because he is such a nice guy, but also it is his first time running a team. He assisted Holtmann before getting promoted to interim and then became Man in Charge after Gene Smith fired Holt in February 2024. He needs time, even if a school like Ohio State that professes greatness should not be anyone’s training ground
The most alarming red flag is the Buckeyes failed to improve through the Big Ten season, which given the tougher competition, at least when compared to December walk-overs, actually means they regressed. Not good.
It’s ridiculous to suggest Diebler is on the hot seat after one season, but his chair feels warmer today than a month ago, when OSU had won four of five, including against ranked Purdue and Maryland. He needs to hit the bull’s-eye on finding size in the portal – Kaleb Wesson in 2019-20 was the last big man to make a splash – and hope Thornton doesn’t enter the portal.
But is that even enough? Something seems to be missing in this program. Winning would help, of course, but something else is needed. An NBA-level player or two? Or, maybe, just a worse football team.
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This story was updated to add a gallery.
