How healthy is Ohio State? 7 things we learned from Buckeyes practice, interviews
Signs of change are everywhere inside Ohio State’s practice facility.
Plastered on the wall inside the men’s basketball practice gym at Value City Arena, photos of the most recent Buckeyes to reach the NBA are emblazoned in their Ohio State jerseys with accompanying text identifying them as “Ohio State hoops family.” On another wall hangs a new banner proclaiming the program’s 20 Big Ten championships and 10 Final Four appearances it's allowed to recognize, complete with accompanying trophy photos.
On the court, though, the changes were even more evident. Tuesday afternoon, a roster with only five healthy, returning players from last season went through a summer workout with new coach Jake Diebler leading the way. With four transfers and two freshmen in the door, five transfers gone and a new coaching staff in place, the Buckeyes are hoping for a summer of chemistry building.
As he spoke with reporters shortly before the workout got underway, Diebler said that remains the goal even as the Buckeyes have been dealing with a number of what he described as minor injuries that have hampered their ability to have a full roster intact.
“It’s been great,” he said. “We haven’t been as healthy as I’d prefer. We’ve had a couple nagging injuries. The summer’s certainly the time (where), we’ve had guys who have wanted to push through some things but we’ve tried to be conservative.”
On this particular day, fifth-year guard Meechie Johnson did not participate in the half-hour window of practice that was open to reporters. Sophomore forward Sean Stewart took part in some shooting drills but otherwise was not active during the rest of the workout and watched his teammates from the sideline.
Although the two likely starters were held out for what were described as precautionary reasons, Diebler said their absences – and likely others – have not held the Buckeyes back from building chemistry this summer.
“It hasn’t (affected growth) yet because there hasn’t been any consistency with the nagging stuff,” he said. “What I’ve been really impressed with is our group collectively has figured out ways to use their voice even when they’re maybe out of a drill. That chemistry is still being formed.”
Here are six other things we learned from interviews and practice.
More roster additions expected
Ohio State has 12 players on scholarship for 2024-25, but that number took a hit in June when sophomore guard Taison Chatman was lost for the season with a torn ACL. At that point, the Buckeyes had been targeting adding one more post player to complete the roster.
Now, after losing a player in Chatman who was projected to impact the backcourt rotation this year, that might not be the only addition. Diebler said in June that the Buckeyes were looking at a few options to potentially add to their guard depth, and Tuesday he was noncommittal about what the roster could look like and how many additions could still join before the fall.
“It’s fluid more than it ever has been,” he said. “That’s just the nature of college basketball. From this standpoint as have looked to finalize things, we’ve looked to build around the pieces we have and complement the guys we have because we’re real excited about this group. I can’t give you too much information on that now.”
Asked if that meant the Buckeyes could add two players, Diebler said, “That’s going to be fluid, yeah. That’s going to be fluid for the time being.”
In the new landscape with NIL, the Buckeyes could go past the 13-scholarship limit as a collective is able to generate enough money to pay for the cost of their schooling and then some. Ohio State’s primary collective partner, THE Foundation, is in position to do so, sources have told The Dispatch, which likely would result in the Buckeyes having 14 scholarship players, 13 of which are having their scholarships paid for by the university.
A backup guard and an international, project-type big man remain the most likely priorities.
Ohio State schedule still being finalized
A few key games are already known, but like most teams the Buckeyes are yet to announce their full non-conference schedule. That will be coming soon, Diebler said.
“That’s another thing I’ve got to get you at a little later date,” he said. “We’re finalizing that. Contracts and stuff being worked out. We’re pretty well set, we just can’t announce stuff just yet.”
Ohio State will play Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 21 at Madison Square Garden. The Buckeyes will open the season against Texas in Las Vegas on Nov. 4 and will play at Texas A&M on Nov. 15 in the second and final year of a home-and-home series.
The Buckeyes will be adding a home-and-home with another team from a power conference that will begin with a game at Value City Arena this year and will play another power conference team in a neutral-site game. That leaves six other non-conference games to be announced.
Jake Diebler is vocal in practice
Following the press conference, reporters were allowed to watch roughly half an hour of skill workouts inside the practice gym at the arena. As the Buckeyes went through drills that involved finishing at the rim, one presence was there to meet them in the paint and challenge their shots.
That was Diebler, who played four years at Valparaiso and showed no qualms about providing a physical challenge for his players. In one drill where the Buckeyes had to dribble to the baseline, stop, spin and head toward the key, Diebler was meeting them shoulder-to-shoulder and trying to knock the ball loose after absorbing and dishing out contact. Two-way trash talk was prevalent: Diebler yelled, “Gimme that!” as he ripped the ball from one player, while Colin White hit a turnaround jumper over Diebler and yelled, “Sit down, coach!” as Diebler laughed.
Later, as players had to dribble around cones and finish at the rim, Diebler had two arm pads on and swatted at their shots while also delivering some contact and looking as much like a defensive line coach in football as a men’s basketball coach.
Aaron Bradshaw brings personality
Ohio State landed a former top-five national recruit in Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw. The 7-1, 225-pound center sat through his first official press conference, where he displayed the same joyous outward personality as he did while making his Kingdom Summer League debut in late June.
Standing on the risers before the press conference, Bradshaw took note that the lights hanging from the ceiling were in need of a dusting – something only he noticed because they were actually at eye level for him. All smiles throughout the press conference, Bradshaw reiterated that he picked the Buckeyes because of the family atmosphere and said he hopes to show people that it’s OK to look and act differently than others.
“Just trying to show people it’s OK to be different,” he said. “It’s OK to smile. It’s OK to do stuff people don’t really like doing that much anymore. You don’t see too many people walking around smiling. They think, ‘He’s too happy,’ but no. It’s all right to be goofy. It’s all right to be funny. It’s all right to have fun. Just basically having fun.”
Colin White’s physicality impressing early
While a few players have missed time throughout the preseason, White has caught Diebler’s attention with what he has brought to the court.
Asked about the two freshmen, Diebler said both have been impressive but cited a specific aspect of White’s game.
“They have freshmen moments, certainly, and freshman days, but I’ve been impressed with Colin’s physicality,” he said. “I think both those guys are smart basketball players. They’ve got high basketball IQs, but Colin’s physicality for a freshman has been impressive.”
In addition to the 6-6, 205-pound White, Ohio State signed 6-1, 160-pound guard John “Juni” Mobley Jr., who was named the best sniper in the 2024 class by 247Sports.com.
“Juni’s ability to get a shot off and create space for himself has been impressive too as he’s moved up to a level,” Diebler said. “They’ve got to adjust to the speed and the tempo of things and the physicality of things but I’ve been impressed with both of them.”
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New roles defined for Terence Dials, Nick Kellogg
As Diebler’s coaching staff has been finalized with five new full-time assistants, two members of the support staff have remained. Terence Dials and Nick Kellogg are both still with the program, but each has a new title.
Dials has been moved from director of professional development to recruiting coordinator while Kellogg has been moved from special assistant to the head coach to NIL/community relations coordinator. Both roles are designed to help each progress toward their future goals, Diebler said, and the new positions are partially a result of the changing landscape of college athletics.
“Terence, he’s really focusing in and helping us be organized from a recruiting standpoint, involved in on-campus recruiting at a high level,” Diebler said. “Nick with this ever-changing NIL space as we’re going to certainly get more guidance here in the near future, I think having someone who’s really focused in on how that is changing so we can constantly try and stay ahead of the curve is important.
“We’ll be able to adjust, shift, whatever we have to do as new rules come out we’ll be ready for it because we’ve got a guy focused in on following that closely.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Nagging injuries impacting Ohio State hoops: 7 Tuesday takeaways
