Ohio State's frontcourt is fully stocked for 2025-26.
On Wednesday, the Buckeyes added one last piece down low in former Baylor center Josh Ojianwuna.
#Buckeye pic.twitter.com/EShzHUpWXI
— Joshua Ojianwuna (@JoshuaOjianwuna) May 7, 2025
Ojianwuna started 23 games for Baylor in 2024-25 before suffering a season-ending knee injury in February. He averaged 7.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 0.8 blocks in 24.7 minutes of action per game.
The Ojianwuna File
- Class: Senior
- Size: 6-10/230
- Pos: Center
- Previous School: Baylor
- Stats: 7.4 points, 6.4 rebounds per game in 2024-25
The hope for the Buckeyes is that Ojianwuna has a successful rehab for his knee injury, which required surgery, and is ready to contribute this November. If he suffers a setback and has to miss a significant portion of the season, Ohio State is also open to redshirting Ojianwuna, who will be a senior in 2025-26. The NCAA may also alter its rules to allow for a fifth season of eligibility moving forward.
A native of Asaba, Nigeria, when healthy, Ojianwuna will bring good size, rebounding and efficiency to Columbus. Standing 6-foot-10 and 230 pounds, he hauled in 10.4 rebounds per 40 minutes played last year, which was best among the hoopers who will be on next season's Ohio State roster, outside of sophomore center Ivan Njegovan (10.8) in an incredibly small sample size of 119 total minutes.
Ojianwuna wasn't a focal point of Baylor's offense with just 3.7 field goal attempts per game, but shot an almost unfathomable 77.4% from the field. He fell well short of the minimum shot requirements needed for field-goal percentage leaderboards, but if he had qualified, he would have led the entire country with that mark.
Former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly is the favorite to start at the 5 for Ohio State in Jake Diebler's second season as head coach, but Ojianwuna will have a chance to compete with him. Njegovan and incoming freshman A'mare Bynum round out the Buckeyes' options at the position, which lost two bigs to the portal this offseason in Aaron Bradshaw (Memphis) and Sean Stewart.
Ohio State will also look into putting both Ojianwuna and Tilly on the floor together in certain lineups, especially as it tries to combat some of the big Big Ten bigs that gave the Buckeyes trouble in 2024-25.
Ojianwuna is Ohio State's fourth transfer portal addition this cycle, joining Tilly, former Wright State forward Brandon Noel and former Indiana guard Gabe Cupps.
