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Ohio State still planning to fill final scholarship spot for 2024-25 season
Forward Sean Stewart announced his transfer from Duke to Ohio State on May 3. That was 41 days ago.
Since, the Buckeyes haven’t made another transfer portal addition, despite the fact that they have a 13th and final scholarship to give out for the 2024-25 season. Last month, a source close to the program told Lettermen Row that Ohio State wasn’t going to rush filling its final scholarship spot. One more frontcourt player remains the target need for the Buckeyes.
First-year head coach Jake Diebler confirmed Monday that the search is still on for that final scholarship player.
“Yeah, the plans are to fill it,” Diebler said of the 13th and final scholarship spot on the 2024-25 roster. “I can’t get into too much detail on that right now.
“But yeah, the plans are we’re trying to fill that and [we’re] being really intentional about that.”
In the meantime, Diebler finalized his staff with the addition of former Northwestern assistant — and Penn State’s all-time leading scorer — Talor Battle. Plus, Diebler and the Buckeyes brought aboard New Albany High School guard Braylen Nash as a walk-on. Nash earned Ohio Capital Conference Ohio Division Player of the Year honors and helped OCC Ohio Division champion New Albany to a 20-5 record last season.
Two seasons ago, Ohio State went into the year with only 12 scholarship players after Seth Towns decided to end his comeback bid ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. Towns, a one-time Ivy League Freshman of the Year forward, transferred to Ohio State from Harvard, where he eventually dealt with knee injuries. Towns helped the Buckeyes finish runner-up in the Big Ten Tournament and grab a No. 2 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Back issues kept him out the following year, and he didn’t play in 2022-23, although he ultimately wrapped his journeyman career at Howard last season.
Long story short, Towns didn’t occupy a scholarship spot in 2022-23, so Ohio State went into the season with one scholarship available. But after a Jan. 21 home win over Iowa — the lone bright spot of a January-February stretch that saw Ohio State lose 14-of-15 games that year — then-head coach Chris Holtmann and his staff put walk-on center Owen Spencer on scholarship for the rest of the season.
A midseason walk-on promotion doesn’t seem to be in the cards this time around.
Ohio State has added four transfers so far: Stewart (Duke), Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky), Micah Parrish (San Diego State) and Meechie Johnson Jr. (South Carolina).
The plan is for there to be a fifth, eventually.
Buckeyes to finish Texas A&M series, potentially start another home-and-home in 2024-25
Diebler confirmed that Ohio State will complete its home-and-home series with Texas A&M this season. Buzz Williams’ Aggies squad took down Ohio State, 73-66, on Nov. 10 last year in the Schottenstein Center. That matchup took place during the first week of the Buckeyes’ season and drew a crowd of 12,704. This time around, Ohio State will head to College Station.
The Buckeyes also hope to start another home-and-home series against a high-major team this season.
“I would love, moving forward, to always be able to have another high-major opponent in our gym,” Diebler said. “I don’t know if it’s always going to be able to work out that way. But our intention is to do that.”
Get the full story, plus more schedule details, here.
Buckeyes tight ends could see different roles in Chip Kelly-led offense
Chip Kelly is an innovator and a run game whisperer. He can get creative with tight ends, meaning the first-year Ohio State offensive coordinator will be working with Buckeyes tight ends coach Keenan Bailey to see what kind of personnel packages he can deploy.
Ohio State might not have a Cade Stover this season, in other words a top receiving tight end, but the Buckeyes’ cast of tight ends could see different roles in a Kelly-led offense.
To learn more about why and how, head on over here.
Counting Down
Buckeyes vs. Akron: 79 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 170 days
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