Former Ohio State basketball player in the transfer portal again

The Ohio State basketball program had a lot of guys use the transfer portal when Chris Holtmann was head coach. It seemed that a lot of guys thought they could do better elsewhere, although that’s not uncommon these days. The portal is filled with basketball players every year. Quite frankly, too many players try to chase NIL money elsewhere.

When the Buckeyes lost Meechie Johnson in the transfer portal, it was a blow. Johnson was one of the few players at the time who could shoot threes and wasn’t afraid to take big shots. He left for South Carolina and has played there for the last couple of seasons. Now, Johnson is once again in the transfer portal.

Could the Ohio State basketball team bring back Meechie Johnson?

Johnson is back in the portal and has really improved as a scorer. He averaged 14 points per game for the Gamecocks this past season and helped them make the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes could use a scoring guard like that. Is there any chance that the Buckeyes are able to bring Johnson back to Columbus?

I doubt it. Jake Diebler will start to get active in the transfer portal once the Ohio State basketball team is done in the NIT, but Johnson isn’t likely to return. For starters, the Buckeyes already have two scoring guards who start. Roddy Gayle could move back to the bench, but I don’t think that would be a role he would be thrilled with.

It would be nice for Ohio State to be able to bring back someone of Johnson’s talent. He really could have helped the Buckeyes this past season. His scoring could have really helped early in the year when the offense got bogged down. In the end, Johnson made a decision that he thought was best for him.

The portal will get a lot more active for the Buckeyes once they are done playing. At that point, Diebler can start assessing his roster needs and going after necessary players.