Welcome to the Skull Session.
Forgive me, commentariat.
The NCAA Tournament is this week, the basketball teams are dancing and the football team is on spring break. So this Skull Session is about to be chock-full of basketball #content.
Sorry — but not sorry.
I love basketball.
And you should, too.
Have a good Tuesday.
39 OHIOANS DANCIN’. Former Eleven Warriors writer and current 247Sports reporter Garrick Hodge used to publish an annual article before the NCAA Tournament highlighting every Ohioan who made the Big Dance.
Hodge has already compiled his list for Bucknuts, but we figured we’d take a look ourselves. Here are the 39 Ohioans competing in the 2026 NCAA Tournament, with a special H/T to MartinRPI, who organized them into a table and included notes on their performances this season.
39 Ohio guys in the NCAA Tournament this year! pic.twitter.com/VDoIC9uEJG
— Martin RPI (@MartinRPI) March 16, 2026
- John Mobley Jr., Ohio State/Reynoldsburg
- Gabe Cupps, Ohio State/Centerville
- Brandon Noel, Ohio State/Chillicothe
- Colin White, Ohio State/Ottawa-Glandorf
- Devin Royal, Ohio State/Pickerington Central
- Braylen Nash, Ohio State/New Albany
- Darryn Peterson, Kansas/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy
- Kobe Rodgers, Louisville/St. Xavier
- Wes Enis, South Florida/Miami East
- Devin Hald, South Florida/Wooster
- Jesse McCulloch, Michigan State/Lutheran East
- Tom House, Furman/Centerville
- Ace Buckner, Clemson/St. Ignatius
- Javohn Garcia, McNeese/Pickerington Central
- Jonathan Powell, North Carolina/Centerville
- Dailyn Swain, Texas/Africentric
- Shawn Phillips Jr., Missouri/Dayton Belmont
- Antoine West Jr., Purdue/Whitmer
- Raleigh Burgess, Purdue/Sycamore
- Evan Mahaffey, Akron/Moeller
- Eric Mahaffey, Akron/Moeller
- Amani Lyles, Akron/Beechcroft
- Shammah Scott, Akron/Shaker Heights
- Tai Perkins, Akron/Westerville North
- Josh Henderson, Akron/Westerville Central
- Cody Head, Akron/Lutheran East
- Bowen Hardman, Akron/Princeton
- Zach Halligan, Akron/Walsh Jesuit
- Luke Skaljac, Miami (OH)/Brecksville
- Eian Elmer, Miami (OH)/Taft
- Trey Perry, Miami (OH)/Lakota East
- Brady Ganley, Miami (OH)/Brecksville
- Antwone Woolfolk, Miami (OH)/Brush
- Alex Bruskotter, Wright State/Shelby
- Solomon Callaghan, Wright State/Wadsworth
- Isaiah Williams, Wright State/Beavercreek
- Andrea Holden, Wright State/Hamilton
- Logan Woods, Wright State/Fairfield
- Alex Garcia, Tennessee State/St. Ignatius
The 39 Ohioans in the NCAA Tournament are the most since Garrick began the exercise three years ago. There were 27 players from 13 schools in 2024, 34 players from 19 schools in 2025 and now 39 players from 15 schools in 2026. It helps when four of those schools — Ohio State, Akron, Miami and Wright State — are in the Buckeye State!
LET’S HEAR IT FOR NO. 28! CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander ranked all 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, and Ohio State checked in at No. 28 overall.
Who’s ahead of the Buckeyes? Arizona, Michigan, Duke, Houston, Florida, Iowa State, Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, UConn, Gonzaga, Nebraska, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, St. John’s, Alabama, Virginia, Wisconsin, Kansas, Texas Tech, Tennessee, Louisville, Saint Mary’s, BYU, Villanova, Kentucky and UCLA.
No. 28 - Ohio State
With all due respect to every other player in scarlet and gray, I am dedicating the entirety of this capsule to Buckeyes senior Bruce Thornton. He is the school's all-time leading scorer (2,154) and has played 135 games for OSU — and started EVERY one of them. His averages in 2025-26: 20.2 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 40% from beyond the arc. A humble star who deserves this moment. Will his biggest one arrive in just a few days?
Norlander ranked the Buckeyes’ Round of 64 opponent, TCU, 12 spots lower.
No. 40 - TCU
Jamie Dixon continues to be underrated for what he's capable of culling together at a program that doesn't get much attention in the national spotlight. The Horned Frogs are in the NCAAs for the fourth time in five years; this has never happened there. Now, this team is also wildly unpredictable. Beat the likes of Florida, Iowa State and Texas Tech … while losing to New Orleans, Notre Dame and Utah. Pick at your own risk! Frogs forward David Punch is one of the most underrated players in the country.
I said this to George Eisner on 11W Live: Ohio State shouldn’t just expect to make the NCAA Tournament — it should expect to make some noise. I’m looking for the Buckeyes to take care of business against the Horned Frogs on Thursday and push Duke to the brink on Saturday. This is Bruce Thornton’s one shot, one opportunity. I think he’ll capture it — not let it slip.
SOME REAL SICKO STUFF. Thanks to Eleven Warriors scheme expert Kyle Jones, who shared a March Madness Scouting Series with our staff on Monday.
The series — created by Belmont men’s basketball director of strategy and analytics Bryce Haase — features more than 18 hours of full video scouting reports breaking down personnel and actions for every NCAA Tournament team. That, of course, includes Ohio State and TCU.
Ohio State
TCU
This is some high-quality stuff.
I may have to watch all 18 hours!
THANK YOU, THAD! Thad Matta retired Monday following 21 seasons as a Division I men’s basketball coach, including 13 at Ohio State.
Congrats on retirement and a great career, Thad! pic.twitter.com/wTovxmzaTh
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) March 16, 2026
As I mentioned at the top of the Skull Session, I love basketball. I played both baseball and basketball from ages 5 to 18. I was better at the former, but man, I loved the latter more. I attribute a lot of that to Matta’s Ohio State teams.
Growing up in Columbus during the 2000s, I idolized players like Greg Oden…
Greg Oden
— That Guy Rocked (@ThatGuyRocked) March 14, 2026
That guy rocked. pic.twitter.com/gNdil45GoA
… Mike Conley, Aaron Craft, Jared Sullinger, Jon Diebler, William Buford and David Lighty.
Fun fact about me: I am right-handed but play basketball left-handed, so fellow southpaws Deshaun Thomas, Lenzelle Smith Jr. and D’Angelo Russell have a special place in my heart.
I spent countless hours in my driveway imitating those players. Sometimes — OK, most of the time — I imagined I was their teammate shooting the game-winning shot against Michigan, in the Big Ten Tournament or the national championship game.
Matta built those teams, and with them, he built the dreams of kids like me who wanted to be part of something like that someday. I never had that chance, but I’m still thankful for the moments when I believed it might happen. I look back on those memories fondly, and I hope someday my sons or daughters get to watch an Ohio State coach who inspires them the way Thad Matta inspired me.
SONG OF THE DAY. "In My Life" - The Beatles.
CUT TO THE CHASE. New documents link female podcaster to departed OSU president Ted Carter... Alabama's Aden Holloway "removed from campus" after drug arrest... Columbus slated to host 9 soccer matches during 2028 Summer Olympics... Stair climbers love their exercise, even when security guards act like they’re up to something.
