From roster moves to coaching what are Ohio State's four biggest questions this offseason?
The end of the season did little to alleviate Jake Diebler’s to-do list.
Tuesday night, Ohio State’s NIT run ended with a 79-77 home loss to Georgia in the quarterfinals. It was the final chapter in a season that started with Chris Holtmann as the coach and ended with Diebler in his place. The Buckeyes started 12-2, went 2-9 in their next 11 games before Holtmann was fired and closed by going 8-3 with Diebler at the helm. Along the way, Diebler managed to keep the entire roster together while coaching the team to the cusp of the NCAA Tournament bubble as he earned the full-time job.
Here are the four biggest immediate questions for the Buckeyes as they turn their attention to 2024-25.
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Can the Buckeyes retain the players they want?
He couldn’t really get into specifics in the press conference immediately after the loss to Georgia, but Diebler was clear that roster retention will be critical going forward. The days of keeping an entire roster intact are long gone, but there are clearly a group of core players that Ohio State would like to see suiting up again next season.
Jamison Battle and Dale Bonner are out of eligibility. Everyone else could return, and Thursday’s departure of sophomore guard Bowen Hardman to the transfer portal opens up one spot to bring in someone else. He’s almost certainly not going to be the only player to transfer out. The question is, will any of the team’s high-usage players follow suit?
Ohio State has invested heavily in three players entering their third seasons of college basketball: Roddy Gayle Jr., Felix Okpara and Bruce Thornton. Gayle and Thornton were Ohio State’s leaders in minutes played and largely held down the backcourt with Thornton leading the team in scoring (15.7 points per game) and Gayle third (13.5). Okpara took over the starting center spot and finished fifth in scoring and first in rebounding.
Any one of them would be heavily prized in the transfer portal. The same goes for the likes of Scotty Middleton, Devin Royal and Taison Chatman, all freshmen who either showed sustained potential throughout the year or were highly rated prospects who were set back by injuries.
Everyone has their own decisions to make, but keeping as many players in that core as possible will be critical if Ohio State is to build on its late-season success.
Can Ohio State add some shooting?
Battle’s lone season at Ohio State was among the most prolific for a 3-point shooter in program history. He shot 43.3% from deep, the fifth-best single-season mark at Ohio State. His 91 makes are the sixth-most in a single season. Battle finished his career with his best-shooting effort, going 91 for 210 from deep.
Nobody was as consistent or as prolific for the Buckeyes as Battle, who is 64th nationally and second in the Big Ten in 3-point field-goal percentage. His presence was something opponents had to plan for every night and allowed other players to more consistently get more open looks as teams paid him plenty of attention.
Freshman Scotty Middleton also shot better than 40% from deep, but it came on only 62 attempts (28 makes, 45.2%). Thornton finished at 33.3% (58 for 174) and Gayle dealt with a wrist injury all season and finished at 28.4% (29 for 102). If they’re back, all three will be expected to take and make a fair number of 3s. Incoming freshman Juni Mobley is renowned for his scoring and should be able to provide some shooting and offensive firepower.
Adding an experienced, proven 3-point shooter figures to be atop Ohio State’s list of portal priorities.
Who fills out the coaching staff?
Diebler will have the final say in these decisions, but a few other voices would be beneficial. As of Thursday night, just one assistant coach had been announced to be part of Diebler’s staff next season: longtime head coach and former Ohio State associate coach Dave Dickerson, who spent the last six years as head coach at USC Upstate.
Two assistants finished out the season alongside Diebler: Mike Netti and Brandon Bailey. At least one of them will be back and possibly both, and should Bailey and Netti both return that would leave two available spots for Diebler to fill. College basketball teams are now permitted to carry five assistant coaches, three of whom can take part in off-campus recruiting. For a first-time head coach, filling those spots with energetic, aggressive recruiters as well as guys who can help with in-game coaching is critical.
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What else is needed in the portal?
Zed Key still has one more season of eligibility after spending his first four years of college basketball with the Buckeyes. Ohio State moved Okpara to the starting lineup to open the season and brought Key off the bench, and he finished with seven more points on the season than the sophomore despite playing 270 fewer minutes than his younger counterpart.
Should Key play his fifth season with the Buckeyes, neither of the two post players present the type of physical presence Big Ten teams often throw at them. Freshman Austin Parks has a Big Ten-type body but played so sparingly that it’s tough to forecast what he could provide next season.
Needs will present themselves as players decide whether to stay or go. Adding an experienced, go-to scorer down low would seem to make a lot of sense.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: What are Ohio State's four biggest questions this offseason?
