Ohio State’s Jake Diebler previews season opener against IU Indy,
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler looks ahead to the season opener against IU Indy and recaps the preseason in his Oct. 31, 2025 press conference.
The 2024-25 Ohio State men’s basketball season was one of change. First-year coach Jake Diebler had spent the preseason building a roster while simultaneously assembling a coaching staff.
The result was a hastily assembled roster that was high on potential, low on proven production and ultimately not up to the task of returning the Buckeyes to the NCAA Tournament. Although Ohio State was close, likely needing just one more win, the season ended with a thud when Iowa knocked the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Tournament in the first round.
The Buckeyes were 17-15 with a 9-11 mark in the Big Ten. They turned down an invitation to participate in the inaugural College Basketball Crown postseason tournament, instead starting the process of retooling a roster. Rather than go for highly touted players a year or two removed from high school, Diebler focused on experience, fit and high basketball IQ while attacking the transfer portal more deliberately.
Internally, Ohio State prioritized retaining its biggest contributors and was able to hang onto starters Bruce Thornton, Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. in addition to a handful of young rotation players. The result is a 14-man roster with more size, experience and overall basketball sense than the first roster Diebler was able to assemble.
The Buckeyes will open the season having received some top 25 votes but not as a ranked team. In ESPN’s latest bracket projection, Ohio State is a No. 7 seed in what would be the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since the 2021-22 season.
Now it’s time to see what it all looks like, starting with the Nov. 3 season opener against IU Indy at Value City Arena. What will the 2025-26 season look like? Who will take center stage for the Buckeyes, and how far will they go? Here are the keys to the season.
Who are Ohio State’s key offensive players?
Bruce Thornton is entering his fourth year as a starter and as a captain. He’s the Buckeyes leading scorer two years running and has a legitimate chance to set a new Ohio State career scoring record, surpassing Dennis Hopson’s 2,096 points from 1984-87. He’s joined by returners Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr., giving the Buckeyes three of their top four scorers back from a season ago. Royal will move from power forward to small forward in order to give the Buckeyes more size across their lineup, and Mobley is poised for a breakout sophomore year after being thrust into a starting role midseason last year. Santa Clara transfer center Christoph Tilly brings a blend of ball skills and size, Wright State transfer Brandon Noel has been a steady contributor in each of the last three years and freshman Amare Bynum was a unanimous pick as the team’s best dunker.
Ohio State’s key defensive players
Question marks abound on this end of the court. While Ohio State’s offense consistently put up solid numbers in summer and fall practices and scrimmages, the defense looked to be in need of work. For the Buckeyes to improve on their 2024-25 adjusted defensive efficiency rating of 99.1 points allowed per 100 possessions (No. 50 nationally according to KenPom.com), they will need to answer multiple questions. How well is Royal able to defend on the perimeter? Can Tilly (7-foot-0, 240 pounds) bring the physicality necessary to grapple with Big Ten big men? Can Ohio State’s collective effort lead to better overall team defense? Third-year Indiana transfer guard Gabe Cupps is known for his defensive aggression, and Bynum’s physicality will be an asset, but the biggest question about this team is whether it can get key stops when needed.
Who could be Ohio State’s secret weapon?
Bynum was a fringe top-100 recruit when he picked the Buckeyes before his senior season at Branson (Missouri) Link Academy, but by the time he arrived on campus he had climbed to No. 44 in the 247Sports.com rankings. He might’ve finished higher if not for a wrist injury that sidelined him for part of his senior season and helped keep him under the radar as a prospect. Diebler has praised, not just Bynum’s talents, but also his maturity and his willingness to be coached hard, traits the coach said are often hard to find in a freshman. At 6-foot-8, 240 pounds, Bynum could see time as a small-ball center thanks to his physicality, and his perimeter shooting should allow him to stretch opposing defenses. He’ll start the year as a reserve but will push Noel for the starting spot all season.
What was Ohio State’s biggest offseason move?
The Buckeyes have never had a center quite like Tilly. A second-team all-West Coast Conference pick last year, Tilly brings a blend of size, skill and experience that the Buckeyes believe will tie their entire offense together. In Ohio State’s exhibition win against Ohio, Tilly approached a triple-double with 10 points, five rebounds and seven assists with no turnovers. In the closed, “secret” scrimmage against Tennessee, Tilly hit three 3-pointers. The German native averaged 9.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in three years at Santa Clara but is poised for a breakout final year of college basketball. There’s no similar player on Ohio State’s roster, and his skill set will anchor what is expected to be a more efficient, high-powered and fluid offense.
Who is feeling the pressure at Ohio State?
Thornton and Diebler are inexorably linked. An assistant coach at the time, Diebler was the primary recruiter when the Buckeyes signed Thornton in their 2021 recruiting class as a four-star guard from Milton (Georgia) Alpharetta. Now they enter the season as the primary faces of the program. Thorntonis already one of Ohio State’s most prolific players. The one thing that’s missing from his resume is an NCAA Tournament appearance. While it’s not the only reason he returned for a fourth year, it is a pretty big one. As for Diebler, the coach has been mentioned as a potential “hot seat” candidate should the Buckeyes not find their way into March Madness.
Here’s Ohio State’s key stretches of the season
The Buckeyes open with six straight home games, five of which are against mid- or low-major opponents, before things pick up near the end of November. Ohio State goes to Pitt on Nov. 28, opens Big Ten play at Northwestern on Dec. 6, hosts Illinois on Dec. 9, plays West Virginia in Cleveland on Dec. 13 and then faces North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta on Dec. 20. Those five high-major games will provide an early barometer for where this season could be headed. In Big Ten play, a stretch of three out of four games on the road will be equally telling. Ohio State goes to Michigan on Jan. 23, hosts Penn State on Jan. 26, goes to Wisconsin on Jan. 31 and then to Maryland on Feb. 5.
Stats that must change
Last year, Ohio State played at its fastest tempo since the 2016-17 season, but the Buckeyes were 282nd nationally in assist rate at 47.9%, their second-lowest rate in the last nine years. The Buckeyes fouled far too frequently, finishing 331st nationally in free-throw rate as teams took 39.9% as many free throws as field goals. That was Ohio State’s worst mark since the 1996-97 team according to KenPom.com. The Buckeyes also finished 212th nationally in offensive rebounding rate and 224th in defensive rebounding rate. Ohio State has to share the ball better, not foul nearly as much and be better on the glass in order to get where it wants to be.
The bottom line for Ohio State basketball
All signs point to an improved overall product in 2024-25. Ohio State got older and bigger though the transfer portal and retained the right pieces to build a roster that seems to fit together more seamlessly than it did a season ago. The preseason talk has been about Buckeyes’ high basketball intelligence and a revamped offense. Ohio State’s experienced players know what to expect from a program in year two of the Diebler era, and the season does not hinge on how long it might take for highly rated, younger players to step into major roles as consistent contributors for at the highest level of college basketball. On top of which, everyone – coaches included – seems to have a chip on his shoulder, knowing the team came so close to making the tournament last year. Now we have to see if it all actually works.
Buckeyes return to the NCAA Tournament if …
The defense can do enough to make prolific offensive outings stand up, enough guys can be effective on the glass to keep teams from continually extending possessions and the Buckeyes can avoid putting opponents on an express train to the free-throw line.
Buckeyes miss out on March Madness if …
They can’t do better in close games after going 4-5 in one-possession games last year, rebounding and fouling remain significant issues and Big Ten defenses find a way to gum up a revamped Ohio State offense.
Where do they end up?
Our prediction: 21-10 overall, 12-8 and eighth in the Big Ten.
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
