Bruce Thornton is No. 1 in our Ohio State men's basketball preseason power rankings

adam jardy, columbus dispatch

Mon, Nov 6, 2023, 12:04 PM·10 min read

Men’s basketball season is about to get underway, and it’s time to dive into the Ohio State roster.

After a 16-19 record that caused the Buckeyes to miss the postseason for the first time in coach Chris Holtmann’s six seasons with the program, Ohio State returns several key core players while adding a highly rated freshman class and a three-man transfer group all expected to make significant impacts.

To get ready for the season, The Dispatch is once again rolling out its annual preseason power rankings. Each day leading into the Nov. 6 season opener with Oakland, we will count upward while projecting which players will have the biggest roles on the 2023-24 season. This isn’t just a measurement of who will lead the team in any particular statistical category, but a series of educated guesses on which players’ contributions will go the longest way toward where the Buckeyes finish.

The series reaches its conclusion today, and sitting at the top is second-year guard Bruce Thornton.

No. 1 – Bruce Thornton

Position: Guard

Eligibility: Second year (two remaining)

Height/weight: 6 feet 2 / 215 pounds

Jersey number: 2

Major: Sport industry

Background

A power forward during his younger years, Thornton made the switch to point guard when he was in sixth grade and never looked back.

A high-level winner in high school, Thornton starred at Alpharetta (Georgia) Milton, where he was a three-time all-state selection and as a junior helped the Eagles capture their third state championship and reach the quarterfinals of the Geico Nationals Tournament. Before his junior season started, Thornton had 27 Division I offers, and he took visits to Kentucky, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn and others but zeroed in on Ohio State due to the consistent approach from coaches Chris Holtmann and Jake Diebler.

Bruce Thornton, of Milton, during the Eagles third place game against Whitney Young at the Bass Pro Shops Tournament of Champions at JQH Arena on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022.

He committed to the Buckeyes in November, 2020, after announcing a final five that also included Alabama, Georgia, Indiana and Purdue. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, Thornton picked the Buckeyes despite never having set foot on campus at the time.

“When you win, they remember you,” he said when he committed. “I’ve always had that mind-set. It doesn’t matter how many points I have or whatever; if I win, at the end of the day, they’re going to remember my name.”

As a senior he averaged 17.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists while earning Georgia Mr. Basketball and Gatorade player of the year honors as Milton reached the state quarterfinals. In four years at Milton, Thornton started all 120 games for a program that went 96-24 and was at least a regional champion each year.

Thornton arrived at Ohio State as a four-star prospect according to 247Sports, ESPN and Rivals. He’s the No. 54 national recruit in the 247Sports rankings and the top player from his state.

2022-23 season recap

There aren’t many parallels to the freshman season Thornton had. In his first year with the program, he was the only player to start all 35 games for the Buckeyes and led the team in minutes played (1,068:49), assists (92) and steals (29) and is the team’s leading returning scorer (371 points), 3-point shooter (42 makes) shot taker (305).

Oh, and he was moved into the role of team captain during the midpoint of the season.

“The coaching staff came to an agreement and said, ‘If you wanna be the player that you want to be, you’ve got to be a captain for us,’ ” Thornton said. “I accepted the role and took full responsibility from that day on and carried it on my shoulders. I feel like the amount of work I put in, my leadership, my voice, I proved myself as a leader. Now I’ve got to win big games.”

Thornton was the first freshman to start at the point in the season opener since JaQuan Lyle in 2016, and he had 3 points, four assists, two rebounds and two turnovers in 24 minutes as Ohio State beat Robert Morris 91-53 on Nov. 7. He had his first double-digit scoring game with a 13-point effort in a loss to San Diego State in the first round of the Maui Invitational on Nov. 21, the start of a run of eight double-digit scoring totals in nine games.

Included in there was a herculean effort against a rugged Rutgers team. Without fifth-year Oklahoma State transfer Isaac Likekele in the backcourt to help shoulder the load, Thornton played all but 90 seconds of a 67-66 win at Value City Arena and finished with 10 points, a season-high five assists, four rebounds, two steals and three turnovers. Through his first 12 games, Thornton was averaging 10.8 points and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 50.5% (46 for 91) from the floor and 47.2% (17 for 36) from 3.

Then everything got tougher, both for Thornton and the Buckeyes. Starting with a Jan. 1 game at Northwestern, Thornton’s production dropped and Ohio State slipped into a tailspin that would wipe out any hopes of postseason play. In his next 10 games, Thornton averaged 5.4 points and 1.9 assists while shooting 27.1% (19 for 70) overall and 25.9% (7 for 27) from 3.

Thornton shook it off in a losing effort at Michigan on Feb. 5, and it marked a late-season resurgence for the freshman. In the final 13 games, Thornton scored in double figures 10 times, shot 36.7% (18 for 49) from 3 and averaged 14.5 points per game.

Most noteworthy, Thornton averaged 15.5 points, 4.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 turnovers in four games in the Big Ten Tournament to key Ohio State’s unprecedented run from the opening round Wednesday games into the Saturday semifinals.

“I don’t know if that’s replicable, but I definitely think a jump is attainable for him, a jump in scoring, a jump in efficiency,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “His assists have to go up a little bit. I think defensively he’s got to continue to grow in that area, but he’ll definitely score the ball at a higher clip than what he did last year because he’s going to have more opportunities than what he did last year.”

In all, Thornton averaged 10.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists as a freshman. He also committed only 2.2 fouls per 40 minutes, the 299th-best mark in Division I. He is the fourth Ohio State freshman to be named to the Big Ten’s all-tournament team.

Need to know

While in high school, Thornton went through the testing process at the P3 Peak Performance in Los Angeles, which has assessed the physical tools of more than 40% of the current NBA, and was graded as an elite prospect with NBA potential. He’s from the same high school as former Ohio State guard Shannon Scott, a two-time all-Big Ten defensive team selection who played from 2011-15.

His two favorite players are Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler, and his No. 2 jersey is a tribute to Leonard. High school coach Allen Whitehart compared him to former Buckeye Aaron Craft. He enjoys roulette and three-card poker and played football while growing up before switching to basketball full-time because football was “too cold,” he said.

Oct 22, 2023; Dayton, OH, USA;
Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) calls out a play during their game against the Dayton Flyers on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023 at University of Dayton Arena. — Oct 22, 2023; Dayton, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) calls out a play during their game against the Dayton Flyers on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023 at University of Dayton Arena.

During Ohio State’s exhibition trip to the Bahamas prior to his freshman year, Thornton scored 17 points and had a team-high nine assists with three turnovers in wins against Puerto Rico and Egypt. He was roommates with Zed Key on the trip. Thornton is actually tied with Baylor transfer Dale Bonner for the shortest player on the Ohio State roster, but Thornton outweighs him by 40 pounds.

His dad, Bruce Thornton Sr., was a cornerback who spent four seasons in the NFL with Dallas and San Francisco after a career at the University of Georgia, where he was a team captain as a senior before being taken by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2004 draft. His mom, Tiaunna Briggans, played basketball for the University of Georgia from 1999-2001 and averaged 2.7 points and 2.5 rebounds in 64 games including 22 starts. His brother, Bryce Thornton, is a freshman safety at the University of Florida.

Thornton has a fear of heights. He was voted the team's best passer in a preseason poll of the roster.

2022-23 season outlook

It’s hard to know just how high is acceptable to set the bar for Thornton, but it’s somewhere significant. Given the way he battled his way out of last year’s midseason swoon and ended the year on a high note, his ascension into an even bigger role this year would put him in the conversation among the Big Ten’s best.

“Bruce is one of those guys who, at that position you want a guy who’s gonna bring it every day, who’s gonna compete every day, who’s gonna embody the everyday approach that you want in your group, and that’s Bruce,” Holtmann said. “He does that at a really high level.”

The Buckeyes will go into the season with three true guards in their backcourt: Thornton, classmate Roddy Gayle Jr. and Baylor graduate transfer Dale Bonner. All three can and will play together, and their presence figures to allow Thornton to assume an off-the-ball role as well.

After shooting 37.5% from 3 last season, Thornton said he’s looking forward to showcasing some different parts of his game when he’s not running the point.

“I feel like I can play a key role instead of being so ball-dominant,” he said. “Just to show off that. I also don’t have to have the ball in my hands 24/7. I can play off the ball and be a great wing defender and great on-ball defender as well. Having three guards that can handle the ball can be very beneficial for us.”

This looks to be Thornton’s team to lead. Ohio State had not officially named captains as the start of the season dawned, but Thornton told reporters at media day before the preseason began that he was a captain of the team and it’s hard to imagine a scenario where he’s not. He took part in the pregame captains meeting before an Oct. 22 charity exhibition at Dayton, where he had a game-high 21 points.

There’s still room for growth, but Thornton is going to take this team wherever it ends up – and he’s got some lofty goals.

“Win a Big Ten championship, regular season and the whole thing,” he said. “That’s my mindset. That was my mindset when I came in here; I just wanted to win the whole thing. After that, win a national championship. As a competitor, why not? What’s what I came here to do, to prove.”

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