Men's basketball guard Bruce Thornton and women's diver Lena Hentschel were named Ohio State's Big Ten Medal of Honor recipients on Monday.
Thornton put an excellent cap on his four-year Buckeye career in 2025-26, leading Ohio State to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in four years and racking up 20.2 points per game. He set the Buckeyes' career scoring record and is the first four-time captain in Ohio State basketball history. He earned second-team All-Big Ten honors.
Hentschel is a two-time Big Ten champion in the women's 1-meter dive. A two-time Olympian for Team Germany, she is a two-time first-team All-American in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. She was named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2025.
The Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded annually to one male and one female from each school who excel the most both athletically and academically at their institution. In addition to the medal of honor, Thornton and Hentschel also both won the Eugene D. Smith Award, created in 2024 to honor former athletic director Gene Smith.
