The Ohio State basketball program will once again go through a radical shift when it comes to personnel. They will have to utilize the transfer portal to get better players because the 2024-25 season was not good enough. They missed the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.
Three Buckeyes have already declared for the portal. Center Austin Parks was the first one to declare. Meechie Johnson wasted no time entering the portal either after playing just ten games this season in his second stint with the Buckeyes. He was by far the worst portal choice they made in the offseason.
Evan Mahaffey decided to enter the portal, as well. He was actually the second Buckeye to decide to jump into the portal. He was originally brought from Penn State via the transfer portal. This is the second time he's in the portal, and he just revealed the third school he will be playing for.
Former Ohio State basketball player Evan Mahaffey transfers to Akron
The former Buckeye will play next year for Akron. He will stay in the state of Ohio and play in the MAC next season. That's probably the right level for him, because he clearly was not able to have a large amount of success in the Big Ten at either school he attended.
Mahaffey was a solid defender but was a zero on offense for the Buckeyes. He averaged just 3.6 points per game for them this season. Quite frankly, he didn't take many shots because he could only make them if he was in the paint. He had no outside shot to speak of, which they knew when Chris Holtmann brought him in.
We wish Mahaffey the best of luck at his new destination. Perhaps he will play better with the Zips than he was able to with the Ohio State Buckeyes. All this does is open up a roster spot for Ohio State to be able to get someone who might fit their needs a little bit better.
Mahaffey leaves after playing 68 games for the Buckeyes and not playing a single NCAA Tournament game.