Ohio State basketball: How does Meechie Johnson’s decision to transfer affect Bucks?

The Ohio State basketball team received some unexpected news yesterday. Meechie Johnson announced on his Twitter page that he is entering the transfer portal.

This is significant news for the Buckeye basketball team as most people expected him to take the keys to the offense next season. Johnson could’ve been the go-to guard down the stretch of games.

The soon-to-be sophomore didn’t have the freshman year he was expecting to have. Johnson averaged 4.4 points per game, 1.2 assists per game, and 1.5 rebounds per game while shooting a smidgen over 30% from the field in almost 18 minutes per game.

Last season, Johnson had some big games for the Buckeyes. We’ll always remember the game-winning three he hit against Seton Hall in the Fort Myers Tip-off Classic. With Johnson deciding to enter his name into the transfer portal, I think it will affect the team next season greatly. The Buckeyes are in desperate need of point guards. They can’t let the guards they do have walk out of the program.

There is a lot of hype surrounding this recruiting class that Holtmann put together. Maybe all the talk about Bruce Thornton and how good he’s supposed to be swayed Johnson to the decision he made. Johnson would have been a key piece returning from last season. A pairing of him and Bruce Thornton would have been a nice duo in the backcourt next season.

I was expecting a breakout season from Johnson this past season after he provided a big spark in the second part of the 2021 season. I and other Buckeye fans were probably expecting Johnson to take a much bigger leap in 2022 and have that breakout season we were expecting last season.

It always stings when a guy that was expected to be back next season leaves the program, especially one that was a fan favorite. Best of luck to Meechie and his future.

It will be interesting to see how Coach Holtmann and staff respond to Johnson’s departure. This did free up a scholarship spot on the roster. Look for the Buckeyes to try and snag a point guard from the transfer portal.