The Ohio State basketball program made some bad decisions last offseason when it came to the transfer portal. They brought in five transfers, but only one of them was a good player. Only Micah Parrish positively impacted the team, although Sean Stewart wasn't too bad.
Meechie Johnson was by far the biggest mistake the Buckeyes made. They spent NIL money to bring him back after he spent his first two years with the Ohio State Buckeyes and his last two years at South Carolina. Then, Johnson left the team after playing just ten games.
Johnson said he left the team for mental health reasons. Regardless of what the reason was, he shot just 35% from the field in his second stint with the Buckeyes. Now, he has decided to head back to South Carolina, seemingly getting another year of eligibility.
Former Ohio State basketball player Meechie Johnson transfers back to South Carolina
The Buckeyes played most of the year without Johnson. It didn't seem like they missed him all that much, considering how poorly he shot the basketball. Still, they wasted NIL money on him. Now, he heads back to Columbia, where he was for the last two seasons.
Jake Diebler must do a better job of identifying talent in the transfer portal this offseason. He did a horrendous job of that in his first full year as a head coach. This offseason will set up what the rest of his Buckeye coaching career looks like because fans are not pleased.
The Ohio State basketball team has missed the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three seasons. For a program with as many resources as Ohio State has, that's unacceptable. They have to be be in the Tournament every single year, at the minimum.
Johnson seems like he will be getting a final year with the Gamecocks. I hope they don't expect him to shoot the ball well because it's clear that he is not an efficient scorer.