Connor Lemons
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You’re Nuts: Which players should Ohio State men’s basketball target in the transfer portal?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
The Buckeyes have two open scholarships for the 2024-2025 season that need to be filled.
We’ve entered the “Portal Kombat” part of the off-season. Everything is happening all at once — players are entering the transfer portal, players are announcing they’re coming back even though they never entered the transfer portal, players aren’t saying anything and leaving fans confused if they’re returning or not — and if you don’t look at Twitter for a full day, you might miss a transfer decision that changes the outlook of the entire season. Don’t blink, don’t breathe. Portal Kombat.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated what Ohio State’s off-season priority should be, with the NIT having ended (for Ohio State) just two days earlier. Justin said player retention was the priority, and Connor said replacing Jamison Battle was the priority. With a very nice 69% of the vote, Justin won. The remaining 31% sided with Connor.
At this point, Diebler has kind of kept the core together, as Bruce Thornton, Felix Okpara, and Devin Royal have already said they’re not going anywhere. However, Scotty Middleton is gone, and so is Roddy Gayle. We’re looking at you now, Taison Chatman.
Connor- 72
Ohio State entered the off-season with zero available scholarships since Colin White and Juni Mobley were set to take the scholarships that were used by Jamison Battle and Dale Bonner this year. On March 28, Bowen Hardman hit the portal, which freed up one scholarship. Scotty Middleton announced he was leaving on April Fool’s Day, opening up a second scholarship.
Jake Diebler brought Meechie Johnson back the very next day, but as impactful as Meechie will be, an equally big loss popped up on Wednesday afternoon when Roddy Gayle announced he would be leaving. Ohio State is now back to two open scholarships.
Now what?
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25373640/usa_today_21834371.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Oakland at Ohio State")
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
A player who’s going under the radar a little bit but would check several boxes for Ohio State is Oakland’s Trey Townsend. “Mr. Oakland” as he’s better known, is a big, strong forward who is mobile enough to guard the perimeter, strong enough to take advantage of people below the basket with elite footwork and a big frame, and also a decent enough shooter to keep defenses honest.
Oakland primarily ran a zone defense last season, so Townsend’s on-ball defense isn’t something that was exploited or taken advantage of last season too much. He’s averaged less than a block per game in his career, but Felix Okpara would be patrolling the post far more often than Townsend.
Townsend averaged 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game last season. He won Horizon League Player of the Year this year, led Oakland to its first Horizon League title in seven years, and had a double-double against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament — a game Oakland won, 80-76. Townsend had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the game, which was Oakland’s first NCAA Tournament win in 19 years.
He also faced Ohio State this season, scoring 17 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out four assists back on November 6 in the season-opener. The Buckeyes wound up winning the game 79-73, but it was close the entire time. In limited opportunities against high-major teams, Townsend has shown that he can absolutely hang.
Somehow he is only ranked as the No. 55 player in the transfer portal, but Townsend does a lot of things that the Buckeyes need after losing Jamison Battle to graduation. Townsend may not average 17 per game in the Big Ten, but it seems safe that he would at least chip in 9-10 per game on the low end. He’s 6-foot-6, 230 pounds, and averaged over eight rebounds per game last season. Townsend shot 38% from three last season, but only averaged roughly one try per game and for his career, he’s just a 31.4% three-point shooter.
Overall, Townsend is someone who will rebound the basketball and reliably give you close to 10 points per game. He might be able to knock down some three-pointers, but that’s not his greatest strength. He feels like a high-floor, high-ceiling player that Jake Diebler could start alongside Devin Royal at one of the two forward positions.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25373571/usa_today_22624757.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Oregon State at California")
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Over the last three days, my focus for the Buckeyes has shifted from “The Buckeyes don’t need any guards” to “The Buckeyes really need to add a guard” in the portal.
With the recent news that Ohio State is bringing back Meechie Johnson but losing Roddy Gayle to the transfer portal, bringing in another impact guard should be a priority now since you have three spots to fill.
Matt Allocco of Princeton would be a solid addition, but Pope is one of the top scorers in the portal and has shown an ability to score at a high level in a Power 5 conference. Even though it no longer exists.
Pope was one of the top scorers in the Pac-12, averaging 17.6 points per game. He was only a 45 percent shooter from the field, which isn’t amazing, but he did shoot 37 percent from three, so that would fill a need they have right now, attempting to replace Jamison Battle, Scotty Middleton, and Bowen Hardman. He also could be more efficient since he would have less of a role, playing alongside Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson.
I am also a sucker for a good free-throw shooter, and Pope is an 86 percent career shooter from the charity stripe and shot his free-throws at 87 percent last year.
Bruce Thornton-Meechie Johnson-Jordan Pope would be one of the best backcourts in the conference and can give you the flexibility to go defense-heavy in the frontcourt.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
The Buckeyes have two open scholarships for the 2024-2025 season that need to be filled.
We’ve entered the “Portal Kombat” part of the off-season. Everything is happening all at once — players are entering the transfer portal, players are announcing they’re coming back even though they never entered the transfer portal, players aren’t saying anything and leaving fans confused if they’re returning or not — and if you don’t look at Twitter for a full day, you might miss a transfer decision that changes the outlook of the entire season. Don’t blink, don’t breathe. Portal Kombat.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated what Ohio State’s off-season priority should be, with the NIT having ended (for Ohio State) just two days earlier. Justin said player retention was the priority, and Connor said replacing Jamison Battle was the priority. With a very nice 69% of the vote, Justin won. The remaining 31% sided with Connor.
At this point, Diebler has kind of kept the core together, as Bruce Thornton, Felix Okpara, and Devin Royal have already said they’re not going anywhere. However, Scotty Middleton is gone, and so is Roddy Gayle. We’re looking at you now, Taison Chatman.
After 146 weeks:
Connor- 72
Justin- 55
Other- 15
(There have been four ties)
Ohio State entered the off-season with zero available scholarships since Colin White and Juni Mobley were set to take the scholarships that were used by Jamison Battle and Dale Bonner this year. On March 28, Bowen Hardman hit the portal, which freed up one scholarship. Scotty Middleton announced he was leaving on April Fool’s Day, opening up a second scholarship.
Jake Diebler brought Meechie Johnson back the very next day, but as impactful as Meechie will be, an equally big loss popped up on Wednesday afternoon when Roddy Gayle announced he would be leaving. Ohio State is now back to two open scholarships.
Now what?
This week’s question: Who should Ohio State target in the transfer portal?
Connor: Trey Townsend
A player who’s going under the radar a little bit but would check several boxes for Ohio State is Oakland’s Trey Townsend. “Mr. Oakland” as he’s better known, is a big, strong forward who is mobile enough to guard the perimeter, strong enough to take advantage of people below the basket with elite footwork and a big frame, and also a decent enough shooter to keep defenses honest.
Oakland primarily ran a zone defense last season, so Townsend’s on-ball defense isn’t something that was exploited or taken advantage of last season too much. He’s averaged less than a block per game in his career, but Felix Okpara would be patrolling the post far more often than Townsend.
Townsend averaged 17.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game last season. He won Horizon League Player of the Year this year, led Oakland to its first Horizon League title in seven years, and had a double-double against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament — a game Oakland won, 80-76. Townsend had 17 points and 12 rebounds in the game, which was Oakland’s first NCAA Tournament win in 19 years.
He also faced Ohio State this season, scoring 17 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out four assists back on November 6 in the season-opener. The Buckeyes wound up winning the game 79-73, but it was close the entire time. In limited opportunities against high-major teams, Townsend has shown that he can absolutely hang.
Somehow he is only ranked as the No. 55 player in the transfer portal, but Townsend does a lot of things that the Buckeyes need after losing Jamison Battle to graduation. Townsend may not average 17 per game in the Big Ten, but it seems safe that he would at least chip in 9-10 per game on the low end. He’s 6-foot-6, 230 pounds, and averaged over eight rebounds per game last season. Townsend shot 38% from three last season, but only averaged roughly one try per game and for his career, he’s just a 31.4% three-point shooter.
Overall, Townsend is someone who will rebound the basketball and reliably give you close to 10 points per game. He might be able to knock down some three-pointers, but that’s not his greatest strength. He feels like a high-floor, high-ceiling player that Jake Diebler could start alongside Devin Royal at one of the two forward positions.
Justin: Jordan Pope
Over the last three days, my focus for the Buckeyes has shifted from “The Buckeyes don’t need any guards” to “The Buckeyes really need to add a guard” in the portal.
With the recent news that Ohio State is bringing back Meechie Johnson but losing Roddy Gayle to the transfer portal, bringing in another impact guard should be a priority now since you have three spots to fill.
Matt Allocco of Princeton would be a solid addition, but Pope is one of the top scorers in the portal and has shown an ability to score at a high level in a Power 5 conference. Even though it no longer exists.
Pope was one of the top scorers in the Pac-12, averaging 17.6 points per game. He was only a 45 percent shooter from the field, which isn’t amazing, but he did shoot 37 percent from three, so that would fill a need they have right now, attempting to replace Jamison Battle, Scotty Middleton, and Bowen Hardman. He also could be more efficient since he would have less of a role, playing alongside Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson.
I am also a sucker for a good free-throw shooter, and Pope is an 86 percent career shooter from the charity stripe and shot his free-throws at 87 percent last year.
Bruce Thornton-Meechie Johnson-Jordan Pope would be one of the best backcourts in the conference and can give you the flexibility to go defense-heavy in the frontcourt.
Continue reading...