Ohio State men’s basketball still has one roster spot available for the 2026-27 season, and the pool of players it could add just expanded.
While the expectation was that Ohio State would fill out its roster by adding another international player – likely a forward, according to sources – the Buckeyes now have another option. After a court order issued Friday by a Colorado judge granted a fifth year of eligibility to athletes in the 2022 class, Ohio State could hypothetically add a fifth-year senior as its 15th player.
Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said Monday that the Buckeyes are “doing our due diligence from all angles” after Friday’s court order. If there’s a player available that they believe will make them better for the upcoming season, that’s something they’ll pursue.
That said, Diebler says they also won’t force an addition if they don’t find the right fit, as he’s confident in the roster Ohio State has already assembled.
“I think we're certainly going to look at all options, but we're not in a position right now where I'm saying, hey, let's just add whatever,” Diebler said Monday after Ohio State won its second of two exhibition games in Puerto Rico. “I really like this group; I like this group a lot. We're just surveying the landscape, adjusting to as times change and new information comes out, and it doesn't mean you have to do something. … Our job is to adjust. If that's what's required right now, then you got to adjust and do it. But I think we're still evaluating.
“We're going to do what's best for Ohio State. And if that is nothing, as we evaluate that, then we're going to do nothing. Very, very excited about this group we have. If we add somebody, it's going to be someone who raises our level. We’re not adding bodies to add bodies.”
The court order does not override NCAA rules around transfers and signing professional contracts, so the Buckeyes would only be able to add a player who entered the transfer portal this spring and did not sign elsewhere. They won’t be able to bring back Bruce Thornton, who’s now playing for the Houston Rockets, though Diebler said the plan would have always been for Thornton to go pro after last season even if they had known players would receive a fifth year of eligibility.
“Bruce and I talked about this for way back in, probably would have been in April, and our conversation lasted about 11 seconds,” Diebler said Monday. “I looked at him, he looked at me; I said, ‘Fifth year?’ and we both knew, like, ‘Nah, it's time to go on to the next chapter.’ And I'm so excited for him.”
Ohio State’s only other fourth-year senior from last season, Christoph Tilly, entered the transfer portal this spring to keep his options open for if players in his class received a fifth year of eligibility, but played in the NBA Summer League with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“If we add somebody, it's going to be someone who raises our level. We’re not adding bodies to add bodies.”– Jake Diebler on potentially adding a 15th player to the roster
The court order came at an inconvenient time for Ohio State, as the Buckeyes were already in Puerto Rico preparing for their exhibition games when the order was issued. But Diebler said the Buckeyes were prepared all along for the possibility that last year’s seniors would receive a fifth year of eligibility, so they weren’t caught off-guard by it. It certainly didn’t distract them from performing well on the court, as the Buckeyes beat two select teams of Puerto Rican professionals by an average of 40 points. That said, Diebler and his staff know they wouldn’t be doing their jobs if they weren’t exploring whether the court order gives them an opportunity to further improve their roster.
“Our focus was on this team while we're here, but let’s just say we've gotten used to operating in uncertain times in college basketball, so recruiting is something that never stops,” Diebler said. “There's been no decisions made as far as how the court ruling is going to impact Ohio State basketball specifically, but we owe it to our program to make sure we're doing our due diligence from all angles, and that's where we're at right now. We're following it closely. We're anticipating things.
“We anticipated that case to go through, and we got a great team at Ohio State that helps get us answers quickly when they're available. … I think in today's landscape, you've got to be prepared for things to change in an instant, and we are always trying to communicate about what could happen next because I think you have to now. You didn't have to do that four or five years ago; now you do. So as far as what that means for our team, time will tell, but we're absolutely keeping a pulse on everything that's happening in college basketball right now.”
