Last March was the first time Ohio State basketball fans had an opportunity to watch their team play in the Big Dance in four seasons. Of course, they lost in heartbreaking fashion. Still, it was progress for Jake Diebler and his coaching staff to have his team playing meaningful games in March.
Heading into the 2026-27 season, the Buckeyes have some big expectations. They have two five-star freshmen coming in to change the look of the team. Fans are hoping they can lead them to actually advance in the NCAA Tournament. After their first scrimmage of the year, fans should be pleased.
Ohio State cruises to victory in Puerto Rico
The Ohio State Buckeyes took on Los Boris in Puerto Rico. It was a game that they were expected to dominate, and they did. They won the game 117-55, which was great to see. Even more encouraging were the performances from the new Buckeyes on the roster who were not here a year ago.
Game won in Puerto Rico 🇵🇷#GoBucks | #FightToTheEnd pic.twitter.com/0QVyctcIV6
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) August 2, 2026
Anthony Thompson is one of the five-star freshmen coming in with a lot of expectations on his shoulders. He finished the game with 14 points on 6/10 shooting in just over 18 minutes of play. It's encouraging to see him play well in his first competitive game wearing the Scarlet and Gray.
The other five-star freshman is LJ Smith, who reclassified so that he could join the squad a year early. He finished with 15 points in 17 minutes, shooting 3/7 from beyond the 3-point arc. However, neither freshman was the star of the show for Ohio State. That award goes to Jimmie Williams.
Williams is a transfer from Duquesne who averaged 15 points per game last year. In this scrimmage, he was blazing hot from deep. He made six of the seven shots he fired from beyond the arc, scoring 20 points in all. That's a little surprising considering he shot just under 34 percent from 3-point land a year ago.
Ohio State basketball fans have something to look forward to this season
Heading into this season, the Buckeyes have a lot of talent that should get fans excited for the first time in a while. With all of the talent that they possess, it's not out of the realm of possibility for this team to finish in the top four in the conference. Of course, the ultimate goal is to make the NCAA Tournament again, but to actually win games.
If they can get this kind of shooting from Williams when the games start counting, they will certainly have a great chance of doing that. Of course, that's not a reasonable expectation. For my money, this season will squarely hinge on how well the two freshmen play.
Both Thompson and Smith are great talents who can create their own shot. That is something that the Buckeyes have struggled with in the Diebler era, minus Bruce Thornton. With Thornton in Houston, Ohio State needs more guys who are reliable on the offensive end of the court. Those two freshmen have to be those guys.
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