In the modern age of college sports – especially in college basketball – it can never be fully assumed that an athlete will remain at one school from one year to the next.
That’s certainly been true for Ohio State basketball, as the Buckeyes have experienced significant roster turnover on an annual basis since the dawn of the transfer portal era. Ohio State’s 2026-27 roster includes only six of the 15 players who were on the team last season.
For sophomore forward Amare Bynum, however, staying at Ohio State for his second year of college basketball was never in question.
“All along I knew I was coming back. This is the school that believed in me at first, so I believe in them,” Bynum said last week.
Bynum’s easy decision to return to Ohio State wasn’t due to a lack of options. In his first press conference of the summer, Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said other teams tried to convince Bynum to enter the portal, but Bynum and Ohio State’s other returning star, John Mobley Jr., rebuffed those efforts. As such, Bynum remains with Ohio State as one of the Buckeyes’ foundational players for the 2026-27 season.
“If John Mobley or Amare Bynum would have been in the transfer portal, like maybe some of the best players in the country, right? And there were plenty of teams that tried to push them into the transfer portal,” Diebler said on June 1. “And so them really right away saying, ‘Hey, this is where I want to be and we're building something and we want to take it to the next level,’ was awesome for us as a staff. That allowed us early on to go out and say, OK, how do we build around these two guys?”
The first player from last year’s roster to publicly announce he would remain at Ohio State for the 2026-27 season, Bynum said he had brief conversations with people close to him about “seeing what the best is out there for me,” but quickly determined after talking with Diebler that “the best for me is right here.”
“Just because of the development here, and I have such a close relationship with everybody on the team,” Bynum said of why he felt Ohio State was the best place for him.
“All along I knew I was coming back. This is the school that believed in me at first, so I believe in them.”– Amare Bynum on his decision to stay at Ohio State
As Bynum participated in a practice session that was open to the media last week and met with reporters afterward, the sophomore forward had a big smile on his face at nearly every moment. That’s because he feels blessed to be a Buckeye, and he’s motivated to take advantage of that opportunity.
“Some people don't get to have this opportunity, so if I have the opportunity, I try to show what I can do,” Bynum said.
As a freshman last season, Bynum averaged 9.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game on 50.6% shooting. The 6-foot-8, 245-pound native of Omaha, Nebraska, got better and better as his freshman season progressed, becoming a full-time starter in January and averaging 11 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in the Buckeyes’ final 11 games of the year.
Bynum says he’s working on all areas of his game entering his sophomore year, with a particular emphasis on improving his jump shot. As a freshman, Bynum did most of his damage around the rim; according to CBBShotCharts.com, he made 67.4% of his shots (95 of 141) within four feet of the rim but just 29.8% (34 of 114) from everywhere else on the floor.
Being able to make shots away from the basket will be more important for Bynum this season, as Diebler said the Buckeyes could occasionally play Bynum as a small forward in bigger lineups this season. He’ll primarily play power forward alongside centers Josh Ojianwuna, Andrija Jelavic and Ivan Njegovan and wings Anthony Thompson, Jimmie Williams and Alex Smith, but Ohio State could occasionally move Jelavic to the 4 and Bynum to the 3 for a larger frontcourt lineup.
In addition to improved shooting, Bynum expects to be more effective as a dribbler and playmaker away from the basket this season.
“Last year, I didn’t dribble a lot, but this year, I’m more comfortable with the ball, making more playmaking decisions,” Bynum said.
Bynum wants to be an All-Big Ten player as a sophomore, and Diebler believes Bynum is “trending in that direction.” If the Buckeyes are going to achieve their goals of contending for a Big Ten championship and making a deep NCAA Tournament run this season, Ohio State needs Bynum to become a star, and Diebler is confident that will happen.
“For him to accomplish his goals, but for us to accomplish ours, he's required to take a significant jump. And the reason I'm so confident in that is because I saw the consistency he operated with all year long,” Diebler said. “And we saw, when you look at the last 10 games vs. kind of the first 20 games and where he was as a player and the level at which he was playing, gave me great confidence going into the offseason saying, ‘Hey, that's a building block for us.’”
