For the second straight year, Ohio State won’t have its dancing shoes on this week.
But that doesn’t mean Ohio State fans or fellow Ohioans can't find secondary interests to cheer for in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. There are plenty of players across the nation on NCAA Tournament rosters with Ohio ties, and we've taken the liberty of finding them all to create a “players from Ohio rooting guide,” if you will.
If any team in the entire tournament has even a single player from Ohio, whether they’re a superstar or benchwarmer, they’ll be listed here. In total, 27 players from 13 schools in the tournament hail from the Buckeye State. The tournament also features three Ohio State transfers, two of whom are native Ohioans.
To get this out of the way, here are all the participants in the 68-team field that do NOT have a player on their roster from Ohio: UConn, Longwood, Boise State, Mississippi State, Florida, Purdue, Duke, Vermont, NC State, Auburn, Saint Mary’s, Florida Atlantic, Iowa State, South Dakota State, North Carolina, Wagner, Northwestern, Texas A&M, BYU, Grand Canyon, Alabama, Baylor, Oakland, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Arizona, Long Beach State, Grambling State, TCU, Colorado, Montana State, Texas, Kansas, Yale, Texas Tech, Oregon, Creighton, Morehead State, Colorado State, Tennessee, St. Peter’s, Houston, Stetson, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Kentucky, San Diego State, UAB, Virginia, Washington State, James Madison, Colgate, Utah State and Western Kentucky.
Below, you’ll find the list of teams that do have players from Ohio, with each player listed along with their position, year of eligibility, hometown and stats (games played, points per game and rebounds per game this season). Schools are listed in order of how many native Ohioans they have on their roster. There are also three former OSU players competing in the NCAA tournament, which we highlighted in a separate section below.
Akron (6)
- Enrique Freeman: Forward, senior, Cleveland, 34 games, 18.6 points per game, 12.9 rebounds per game
- Greg Tribble: Guard, senior, Cincinnati, 33 games, 10.5 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game
- Nate Johnson: Guard, redshirt sophomore, Liberty Township, 23 games, 7.4 points per game, 3.3 rebounds per game
- Shammah Scott: Guard, junior, Cleveland, 34 games, 5 points per game, 2.5 rebounds per game
- Amani Lyles: Forward, sophomore, Columbus, 18 games, 2.3 points per game, 1.9 rebounds per game
- Zach Halligan: Forward, freshman, Uniontown, 5 games, 0.8 points per game, 0.4 rebounds per game
It should come as no surprise that the teams featuring the most Ohioans on their roster are from Ohio. The Zips won the MAC after a crazy final sequence in the conference championship game and will face Creighton in the opening round of the Big Dance.
The Zips run everything through Freeman, who leads the team in scoring, is the nation’s leader in rebounds per contest and shoots 59 percent from the floor. Tribble is another reliable option on offense and is the team’s third-leading scorer. Both Johnson and Scott have been reliable rotation players this year, while Lyles and Halligan have played limited minutes this season.
Dayton (6)
- Brady Uhl: Guard, junior, Dayton, 12 games, 1.5 points per game, 0.1 rebounds
- Atticus Schuler: Forward, Sophomore, Westerville, 8 games, 0.3 points per game, 0.4 rebounds
- CJ Napier: Forward, graduate student, Miamisburg, 5 games, one point per game, 0.8 rebounds per game
- Makai Grant: Guard, freshman, Dayton, 5 games, 0 points per game, 0.4 rebounds per game
- Will Maxwell: Guard, freshman, Oakwood, 3 games, 0 points per game, 0.3 rebounds per game
- Evan Dickey: Guard, freshman, Dayton, 3 games, 0 points per game, 0.3 rebounds
Dayton’s main contributors don’t actually come from the Buckeye State, with Uhl, Schuler, Napier, Grant, Maxwell and Dickey all playing minor roles for the Flyers this year.
Duquesne (4)
- Dae Dae Grant: Guard, senior, Lorain, 32 games, 16.7 points per game, 3.4 rebounds per game
- Tre Williams: Forward, senior, Reynoldsburg, 26 games, 3.6 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game
- Andy Barba: Forward, junior Cleveland, 4 games, 1.5 points per game, 0.5 rebounds per game
- Lucas Perusek: Guard, freshman, Willoughby Hills, 2 games, 0 points per game, 0.5 rebounds per game
Duquesne is dancing for the first time since 1977. That’s a heck of a long time! The Pennsylvania-based school boasts four Ohioans on its roster, with Grant leading the team in scoring and free throw percentage (93 percent). Williams is a solid role player, though he missed the A-10 semifinal and championship with a shoulder injury. Barba and Perusek have seen limited action this season.
South Carolina (2)
- Meechie Johnson Jr.: Guard, Cleveland, junior, 31 games, 14.1 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game
- Danny Grajzl: Guard, freshman, Cleveland, 4 games, 0 points per game, 0 rebounds per game
Since South Carolina has multiple players from Ohio, we’ll go ahead and touch on Johnson early. The Cleveland product has blossomed in his third collegiate season, leading the Gamecocks in scoring while shooting 40 percent from the floor. Grajzl has made minor contributions to South Carolina in the 2023-2024 campaign.
Marquette (1)
- Sean Jones: Guard, sophomore, Columbus, 16 games, 5.8 points per game, one rebound per game, two assists per game
Jones saw his role increase for Marquette in his second year with the team. Unfortunately, the Columbus resident suffered a season-ending injury in January when he tore his ACL.
Illinois (1)
- Sencire Harris: Guard, sophomore, Canton, has not played this season
Harris redshirted this season for Illinois after playing 33 games last year. He’ll likely have a more defined role next season for the Fighting Illini.
Samford (1)
- Zach Loveday: Center, senior, Gallipolis, 20 games, 2.9 points per game, 1.9 rebounds per game
The Baylor transfer has carved out a minor role for himself at Samford, last appearing on the court for the Bulldogs on March 2.
Nevada (1)
- Amire Robinson: Guard, freshman, Akron, 7 games, 0.4 points per game, 0.6 rebounds per game
Robinson played in mostly garbage time situations for Nevada, so it’s not likely he’ll see much action in the tournament.
Charleston (1)
- Kobe Rodgers: Guard, junior, Cincinnati, 30 games, 9.6 points per game, 4.6 rebounds per game
Rodgers is the Cougars’ fourth leading scorer on the team. The 6-foot-3, 180-pound junior has started 17 games and shot 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc. He also averages 2.1 assists per contest.
Clemson (1)
- Daniel Nauseef: Forward, junior, Dayton, 4 games, 0.3 points per game, 0.7 rebounds per game
Nauseef has seen minimal action this year for the Tigers.
McNeese State (1)
- Javohn Garcia: Guard, junior, Columbus, 31 games. 11.4 points per game, 3.3 rebounds per game
Will Wade may have taken his strong-ass offers to a 30-3 McNeese State, but Garcia is the Cowboys’ third-leading scorer and has started every game this season. He shoots 47 percent from the floor and 45 percent from beyond the arc.
Drake (1)
- Chico Johnson: Guard, freshman, Toledo, has not played this season
The Bulldogs delivered another outstanding season in the Missouri Valley Conference. Johnson did not make an appearance for Drake this season, but could have a big role moving forward.
Ohio State transfers
- Seth Towns, Howard: Forward, graduate student, Columbus, 31 games, 14.2 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game
- Meechie Johnson Jr., South Carolina: Guard, Cleveland, junior, 31 games, 14.1 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game
- Jaedon LeDee, San Diego State: Forward, senior, 33 games, 21.1 points per game, 8.4 rebounds per game
We already touched on Johnson, who will look to help South Carolina make the most out of its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017.
After injuries prevented Towns from taking the court for a good chunk of his OSU career, he’s broken out with Howard, becoming the team’s second-leading scorer and leading rebounder. The 26-year-old Towns is in his eighth season of college basketball and still could have another year of eligibility remaining if he chooses to use it. He is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the second time.
LeDee – who isn’t actually from Ohio, as he grew up in Houston, Texas – is San Diego State’s leading scorer and ranks 18th overall nationally in points per game. The former Buckeye, who also made a stopover at TCU before transferring to SDSU in 2021, is shooting 55 percent from the floor and 41 percent from beyond the arc while also leading the team in rebounding as he hopes to lead the Aztecs to a second consecutive national championship game appearance.
