Ohio State basketball 2023-24 season preview

The Ohio State basketball season starts sooner than you think! The regular season starts three weeks from now against Oakland. While you may have to work harder to watch the Buckeyes this season, they should be more enjoyable to watch than last season.

Ohio State had the worst season they’ve had in 25 years in 2022-23. They finished 13th in the Big Ten and finished under .500. For most of the season, the Ohio State basketball team had a lifeless offense in the half-court and only one guy who could really stretch the floor.

There has been a bunch of roster turnover from last year. Bruce Thornton returns at point guard and is probably the best player the Buckeyes have. He really improved in the last few weeks of the season and should be even better as a sophomore this year.

Zed Key returns at center to give the Buckeyes an interior presence. We saw him dabble in some three-point shooting before getting hurt last year so I’m interested to see how that unfolds over the course of an entire year. In his stead, Felix Okpara had some bright moments.

How good this team is will be determined by the wing position. Ohio State adds Minnesota transfer Jamison Battle. He had a down year last season but has shown the ability to score efficiently as well as stretch the floor. If he plays better than he did last year, he could be a real prize.

Ohio State adds an exciting freshman class again this year. Devin Royal is the jewel of the class, but Taison Chatman could see some minutes off the bench as well. It’d be nice to see both be able to contribute right away.

The media predicted Ohio State to finish 7th in the conference. I think they actually finish a bit worse. I see them at 10th and not making the NCAA Tournament again. This team just is too poorly coached to make adjustments on the fly. That was the biggest issue last year.

It might be another frustrating year to watch this Ohio State basketball team, but I hope I’m wrong!