How the Ohio State basketball team will replace Roddy Gayle

The Ohio State basketball team will no longer have the services of Roddy Gayle. He has decided to enter the transfer portal. This wasn't a surprise to anyone in the building after Meechie Johnson decided to return to Ohio State. Gayle didn't want to be a bench player.

So now the Buckeyes have to replace him in some way. Gayle averaged 13.5 points per game last season, but Johnson averaged over 14. So they have already replaced the scoring production Gayle had. In fact, they upgraded in that regard. The same goes for the shooting too.

However, one big thing they are going to miss is Gayle's size on defense. He stands at 6'4 and 210 pounds. He's a stout defender who doesn't get bullied easily. Johnson is just 6'2 and 184 pounds. That could be a problem because Bruce Thornton is just 6'2 as well.

How will the Buckeyes replace what Gayle gave them on the defensive end of the court? The answer could be landing another transfer guard and using him off the bench. The Ohio State basketball program is likely to be one of the top choices for Bronny James. He's a solid defender.

Evan Mahaffey is also a solid defender as a guard. He just doesn't do much on the offensive side of the ball. The Buckeyes very well could start a three-guard lineup that includes Thornton, Johnson, and Mahaffey as they did a year ago with Gayle in Johnson's spot.

All in all, I think Johnson is a slight upgrade over Gayle. Keeping Gayle would have been ideal, but that didn't happen. I don't think the Buckeyes are in a worse spot than they were this season. They aren't done in the portal yet either. They now have two scorers who can be counted on reliably in the backcourt.

Adding frontcourt depth is going to be key for this team now. That's the one issue on the roster.