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Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes name Thornton a captain midseason

By Jacob Rhymer

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 05: Bruce Thornton #2 of the Ohio State Buckeyes drives to the basket against Kobe Bufkin #2 of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half of a college basketball game at Crisler Arena on February 05, 2023 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Michigan Wolverines won the game 77-69 over the Ohio State Buckeyes. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - FEBRUARY 05: Bruce Thornton #2 of the Ohio State Buckeyes drives to the basket against Kobe Bufkin #2 of the Michigan Wolverines during the second half of a college basketball game at Crisler Arena on February 05, 2023 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Michigan Wolverines won the game 77-69 over the Ohio State Buckeyes. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images) /
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The Ohio State basketball team has now lost nine of their last ten games, and they’re on their second multi-game losing streak of the season as they’ve lost their last four games. With the NCAA Tournament window closing, it’s time to focus on the future of the Buckeye basketball program.

According to Holtmann, there was a “revote” for captains of the Ohio State basketball team, and the team voted freshman Bruce Thornton as a captain. Holtmann would not share if any of the previous captains lost their status.

This is a great move for the future of the program. It shows that Thornton is bought into this program and he’s going to be a Buckeye for a few more seasons. Also, the fact he wants to lead this team to success, and help put the program back in the right direction.

In Sunday’s loss to Michigan, Thornton played with a ton of fight while trying to keep the Buckeyes in the game. He led Ohio State in scoring Sunday afternoon with 22 points, he also brought down one rebound and dished out one assist.

Thornton has had an above-average first season at Ohio State. He’s averaging 8.9 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the field. Thornton is a really good scorer when given the opportunity, and he’s a hard-nosed defender. Both are great qualities to have as a Buckeye point guard.

There is one thing in particular that Thornton needs to work on moving forward in his career at Ohio State. He needs to work on sharing the ball more as his assist-to-turnover ratio is only 1.8 at this moment in his freshman season. He can take care of the ball, but Thornton has to improve his assist numbers next season.

Thornton will take on full point guard responsibilities next season as he’ll be the only true point guard on scholarship. I’m excited to see growth from Thornton from his freshman to his sophomore season. The strides he takes this offseason could make Thornton the point guard the Ohio State basketball team has desperately needed for so many years.

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It doesn’t happen often when a freshman is named a captain at Ohio State. We’ll see Thornton and the Buckeyes back at home on Thursday when they take on Northwestern in hopes to end this losing streak.

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