Ohio State basketball: Who will be the leader?

The Ohio State basketball team is going to have almost an entirely new roster this season after several players left in the transfer portal and Brice Sensabaugh headed to the NBA. There will be a total of eight new players on the roster, which means not a lot of continuity.

With this many new players playing for the Buckeyes, who will step up and be the leader? It’s going to be an extremely young team with not a lot of guys who have played in big moments. We thought Zed Key was going to be the leader last year but injuries kept him from those duties.

Leadership doesn’t always have to come from the oldest player. It typically comes from the best player actually. That’s why I think the leader for this year’s team will likely be Bruce Thornton. I think Thornton will be the best player on the team this year.

The way that he finished last season was really impressive for a true freshman. Once Sensabuagh went down, Thornton knew that it was up to him to run the offense and score some points. He had impressive games in the Big Ten Tournament until that final one against Purdue.

How much Thornton improves will determine if the Ohio State basketball team can bounce back from a terrible 2021-22 season. The biggest issue for the Buckeyes a year ago was the lack of ball movement. They were one of the worst teams in the country in terms of assists.

Thornton averaged just 2.6 assists a year ago as a point guard. He’s going to have to do better than that this season. Ohio State in general has to do a better job moving the ball around if they want to win more games. I’m sure that’s a point of emphasis this offseason.

How Thornton grows as a leader will be an interesting plot line to follow this year.