The Ohio State basketball team won't be playing any more games this season. After losing to Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, they were not selected for the NCAA Tournament. They were one of the first four teams out because of their resume.
Ohio State also decided to decline an invitation to The Crown, so their season is over. The Buckeyes are now looking at the offseason in order to improve the roster. First will come the transfer portal, which will open on Monday. That is where the Buckeyes need to do a lot of damage.
The top priority for Jake Diebler is to hang on to three guys. They need to keep Bruce Thornton, Juni Mobley, and Devin Royal. Everyone else is fair game to leave. There is one specific spot that the Ohio State Buckeyes have to make a significant improvement at, and that's center.
The Ohio State basketball team must get better at center
Ohio State made a massive mistake taking Aaron Bradshaw in the transfer portal. Adding him made Felix Okpara want to leave. Bradshaw was a negative for this team, while Okapara became one of the best shot-blockers for the Tennessee Volunteers. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes were horrible at the center spot.
While the Buckeyes aren't likely to land a dominant center in the transfer portal, they have to get a better big guy than Bradshaw or Sean Stewart. Those guys combined to average 11.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. That's pretty good for one player, not two. In fact, that's terrible for two guys.
Diebler made mistakes in his first full year as the head coach. That's fine, as long as he learns from them and doesn't make the same ones next year. The Buckeyes should be making the NCAA Tournament every year, and they really shouldn't even be on the bubble.
It starts with adding some guys from the transfer portal. Ross Bjork gave Diebler a vote of confidence despite the rough finish to the season. He better pay that off by getting better players who actually earn the NIL money they're getting paid.