Justin Pippen (left) is the new point guard via the transfer portal to be paired with John Mobley Jr. in the backcourt. They battled in hard in practice last week. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Jeff Gilbert)
What will a bulkier and longer group of basketball players, infused with more NIL money, mean for Ohio State? The early summer reports are good. But until we see them on the court against Big Ten behemoths we won’t know for sure.
Columbus, OH – Jake Diebler invited a bunch of us media types to watch and point cameras at the final 45 minutes of a summer practice last week.
He wanted us – and by extension you – to see what he’s got.
In the empty expanse of the Schottenstein Center, we witnessed defensive drills, attack-the-basket offensive drills and half-court and full-court 5 on 5. But what did we notice?
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First, we had to scroll on our phones to consult head shots on Ohio State’s online roster to match faces with bodies. This time every year, for every program, is like the first day at a new school, a new job, a new church. Who are these people?
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and basketball and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com. Follow on X @jw_gilbert
We know the names. We’ve seen their visages on the social media graphics announcing their arrivals. But in person is so much different. You see how big, or how small, they are.
And this year’s Buckeyes are taller, bulkier, stronger and longer. To compete at the top of the Big Ten, every addition to the team had to check those boxes. Yes, they must be skilled. But size matters – a lot. So does depth, a commodity the Buckeyes were in short supply of last season.
“There’s a certain roster makeup you got to have to be competitive in the Big 10, and I feel like we’re in that position now,” Diebler said.
He should know. He saw the discrepancy last season when Michigan – on its national championship march to Indianapolis – visited the Schott. I wrote about the biggest difference between the two teams. The Wolverines’ measurable advantages were on display at every intersection of action.
Yaxel Lendeborg, all 6-foot-9 of him, made plays up and down the floor with the kind of long, strong, rangy Big Ten body the Buckeyes were missing. Morez Johnson’s 6-9 stature parlayed his muscles into the game’s most physical presence, one no amount of skill could overcome. And 7-foot-3 Aday Mara showed what can be done with height. He was a physical mismatch and scored 24 points.
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That imposing trio was among the first 12 picks in round one of the NBA Draft on Tuesday night.
Michigan won 82-61. Their dominance was their size, strength and depth. And the largest Schott crowd of the season saw it. Yes, the Buckeyes played the Wolverines much closer in Ann Arbor and in the Big Ten tournament. But Michigan at its best against Ohio State was Cadillac vs. Kia.
Freshman Anthony Thompson brings the kind of talent to Ohio State that former Buckeye great and new assistant coach William Buford brought to the program.
Michigan’s blueprint is not a one off. Now that blue-chip recruits and the best transfers follow the money to their first or next academic institution, recruiting teams like Dusty May did to Michigan last year will be copied.
Why does Ohio State’s 2026-27 roster look more like a Big Ten and tournament-run contender? More money. Building a high-level basketball roster has become survival of the richest.
That’s not surprising. No public viewings of the ledger exist, but people talk. When Gus Johnson said on TV during the Virginia game last season that OSU’s lack of roster depth was because Ryan Day and football got most of the money, he didn’t make it up. He didn’t attribute that information to anyone, but someone who knew told Gus.
Last year, I’m told by someone in Columbus who knows, the Buckeyes were indeed at the bottom of the Big Ten in NIL funding. And this year, I’m told, they are smack dab or within a spot either way of being in the middle of Big Ten funding. How do they know? People talk. People talk a lot when money is the subject. Just not much to media types and definitely not on the record.
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That’s why, when you watch 45 minutes of Ohio State basketball practice, you see an overall bigger and better brand of athlete. You see more Big Ten size and you see one-and-done potential in two 5-star freshmen.
To be sure, no amount of branding, recruiting stars and looking more the part guarantees what Diebler wants. But at least they look like they have more of a chance. Diebler believes Ohio State basketball should be played at the level of two former Buckeyes who were in the gym last week: former All-American Jared Sullinger and new assistant coach William Buford.
“There’s a process aspect to getting this program back to where it belongs,” Diebler said. “The starting line across the country is different for everybody, but we’re growing, we’re pushing, we’re raising the level, and that’s the expectation. That’s my expectation.”
Freshman L.J. Smith reclassified to 2026 and joined the team on June 17 the day before last Thursday’s practice. He participated in some drills, but wasn’t cleared yet for scrimmage drills.
The starting line is NIL funding. Nonetheless, the brand looks better getting off the bus. Can Diebler and his staff mold it into a ranked team, a top four Big Ten team, a top four NCAA Tournament seed, and a Sweet 16 participant? That’s his vision and the only way to attract more crowds like the Michigan game.
Diebler’s build from a team that plateaued in his first season to a team that hit its stride late last season to a hoped-for Sweet 16 run begins with holdovers John Mobley Jr. and Amare Bynum.
Mobley Jr. is every bit of 6-2 and a rock-solid 190 pounds. He’s not a fullback like Bruce Thornton, but we know he can handle Big Ten pushing and shoving.
“Like you saw from Bruce from year to year, we want to see Juni make a jump in efficiency, which we anticipate he will,” Diebler said. “He’s got to take a jump in his leadership, which he’s been phenomenal at since we’ve been together this summer.”
Bynum is 6-8, 245 and more filled out. He can handle the pounding, plus he’s a better athlete than most he will man up against.
Another returning player made himself noticed in our 45-minute glimpse. Ivan Njegovan looked like 7-2 basketball player. Last year he played like a guy who got a scholarship just because he’s tall.
That’s not to say Njegovan will be what Mara was to Michigan. But he showed skill and athletic ability that was missing in action his first two seasons.
Of course, the success or not of 2026-27 depends on the newcomers. There’s a lot to like about the guards and the bigs. But the potential one-and-done type talent of 5-stars Anthony Thompson and L.J. Smith pique the most interest.
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Thompson was 6-7, wispy and little more than a shooter the last time I saw him as a sophomore at Lebanon High School. He’s still slender, but two years of prep school have filled out his long 6-9 frame that resembles the scoring smoothness of Kevin Durant. Thompson’s presence had a lot to do with Devin Royal leaving town.
Smith, a 6-4 combo guard, reclassified to the class of 2026 and became a Buckeye last week. The idea of Smith making the jump to college instead of playing his senior year in South Carolina has been discussed for a while. Diebler said it all finally made sense for Smith to join the team.
“We felt really excited about our back court, but we needed some more,” Diebler said. “We needed another piece, and we want to be able to shift between playing bigger at that third perimeter position versus also playing three true guards and having that versatility. We needed another piece to do that.”
Center Ivan Njegovan is back for a third season and showed more skill during the open practice session.
The Buckeyes have had one-and-done talent but not a lot of it. Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. led them to the NCAA title game when expectations for them were as high as ever at Ohio State. DeAngelo Russell played himself into a first-round NBA pick by mid-December. Malaki Branham’s draft status soared after he became a go-to scorer midway through the Big Ten schedule.
Thompson has been viewed as a lock to start in Royal’s place. Smith doesn’t figure to start, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be vital to the team’s success.
“I’m expecting him to be impactful,” Diebler said. “What that impact looks like ultimately he’s going to decide, but he’s got a high basketball IQ, and he’s talented, and he’s got a skill set that’ll translate right away.”
Maybe the Buckeyes didn’t get the biggest names out of the portal. But middle-of-the-pack Big Ten NIL bucks only go so far. If you go for a big prize, there’s less to go around to build depth. It’s like a baseball team spending a fortune on a Cy Young Award talent and filling out the rotation with No. 5 starters.
Diebler had to spread the wealth he had across multiple positions to procure as much useful talent as possible. Talent that can actually compete in the Big Ten. The depth of bench points, defensive stability and physical play in the backcourt, on the wings and in the post can’t help but be much better than last year.
Jimmie Williams will be counted on for backcourt depth.
The new experienced guards, led by point man Justin Pippen, are clearly built for the rigors of the Big Ten. Pippen is 6-4, 190, long, laterally quick and brings leadership experience Diebler sought. His defense will be an upgrade at point guard and he’s a playmaker. He might not score as much as he did last year for Cal, but he might not have to.
Jimmie Williams is 6-4 and in from Duquesne. Curtis Givens is 6-3 and in from Memphis. They can both score in double figures, but their value most often will be in productive depth on both ends of the floor, a glaring omission on last year’s NCAA Tournament team.
Njegovan isn’t the only 7-footer and European in the frontcourt. Andrija Jelavic, a 6-11 junior from Croatia by way of Kentucky, moves well and has offensive upside. Vuk Lazarevic, a 7-1 freshman from Serbia, could be a project on the offensive end, but could be a shot blocker worth 10 minutes a game.
The wild card in the lane is one of last year’s transfers who is finally getting healthy enough to play. Josh Ojianwuna is a 6-10 Baylor transfer tipping the scales at 270 pounds. He looks the bulky part this team didn’t have last year. He might not score much, but if he defends and rebounds with Big Ten physicality that will be a bonus.
That’s 11 players to choose from. There were never 11 last season who could be productive.
“We’re really intentional about who we invite into the program,” Diebler said. “We thought it was going to be good. It succeeded expectations. Got a great group of guys, the chemistry has been organic. It’s really early, but excited about where we are and where we’re headed.”
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