Ohio State basketball program could become transfer destination

We’ve seen the Ohio State basketball team go through a renaissance since Jake Diebler took over for Chris Holtmann in mid-February. It was once a juiceless, lifeless program. Now, it’s vibrant and has fans talking about it again. Diebler has won five of his first six games as a head coach and has the Buckeyes dreaming of the NCAA Tournament.

Making the NCAA Tournament might be the only way that Diebler keeps the job next season. If not, it’s likely that Dusty May is the guy who takes over. In a sense, that doesn’t even matter as far as the roster is concerned next year. Diebler has still done more good for the program than I think fans know.

Good players will want to transfer to the Ohio State basketball program now

Now that the Buckeyes are no longer a laughingstock, good players will want to use the transfer portal to get to Columbus. It doesn’t matter who the coach is. Ross Bjork has shown that he wants to use NIL to help make Ohio State the best athletic program in the country. That alone will attract some good players from other schools.

Whether it’s Diebler or May or even some dark horse coach we don’t know about, the transfer portal should be good for Ohio State in the offseason. They will still probably lose some current players as well. That’s okay. This team still didn’t win a Big Ten road game for over a year so the roster certainly isn’t perfect.

Even if the magical ride ends with no March Madness for the Buckeyes this season, the groundwork has been set. This program has a bright future ahead of them no matter who the head coach is a season from now. The juice is back and fans care again, which is huge for NIL donations.

We’ll have to see what players are available in the portal to grab once the season ends. A versatile wing would be top on the list.