The Ohio State men’s basketball team got better on Thursday

The Ohio State men’s basketball team got better on Thursday

Things have been a little tense for Ohio State fans over the past 10 days. They’ve watched a few great players with Columbus roots enter the transfer portal, consider Ohio State, and then go elsewhere. They’ve watched their biggest rival swipe a player that was also considering Ohio State, and the status of the team’s best player was up in the air as well, as he weighed staying, transferring, or going pro.

Meanwhile, teams all across the country like UConn, Baylor, Miami, and Louisville were walking down the aisles of the transfer portal supermarket and throwing anything they wanted into their shopping cart without even checking the price.

Well take a deep breath, Ohio State fans. Your favorite team got a whole lot better on Thursday.

It started with head coach Jake Diebler announcing that Bruce Thornton, the team’s leading scorer for the past two seasons and a three-time captain, would be returning for his senior season. He expects Thornton to enter the 2025 NBA Draft and work out for teams to get feedback on his game, but ultimately expects Bruce (who is not projected to be a draft pick) to return to Ohio State.

It goes without saying that Bruce Thornton’s return is massive for not just the team, but the program and the fanbase. Aside from the fact that Thornton is a phenomenal player, he’s a rare occurrence — someone who stayed at the same school all four years. It’s tougher and tougher these days for kids to grow up and have a “favorite player” in college, because players are constantly changing teams. Thornton is one of the few exceptions.

Later Thursday afternoon, former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly — a 7-foot tall, 240-pound center who was born in Germany but spent much of his childhood in Chile, transferred to Ohio State. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game last season, playing for Herb Sendek at Santa Clara.

Ohio State’s pursuit of and commitment to Tilly is a complete 180 from last year’s transfer portal strategy. Last spring, Jake Diebler swung high for the uber-talented sophomores who didn’t perform as freshmen, and it blew up in his face.

Aaron Bradshaw fell marvelously short of expectations, and this week he entered the transfer portal once again looking for a fresh start elsewhere. Sean Stewart showed more promise than Bradshaw and the arrow is pointing up for the soon-to-be junior, but ultimately 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in 18.4 minutes per game did not meet the expectations that anyone had for the former McDonald’s All-American.

Tilly is 22 years old, and has one year of college basketball left. He scored 10 or more points 22 times last season, but only scored 20 points five times. He had at least five rebounds 15 times, but only grabbed 10 or more three times. He had three double-doubles sprinkled in, including a 17-point, 12-rebound performance against UAB in the NIT.

He also did that in just 23 minutes, which was not uncommon for Tilly at Santa Clara. Despite being a starter for the last two seasons, Tilly only averaged 20.1 minutes per game as a sophomore and 22.7 minutes per game as a junior. The Broncos went nine-deep all season long, with only one player averaging 30 minutes per game or more.

Tilly was not the best center in the transfer portal, nor was he the most athletic or the most exciting. He’s not exactly a dual threat big man, having only shot 32% from three-point range last season. He’s not a hound on the glass either, grabbing roughly five rebounds per game last year. But he is something that Ohio State desperately needs this year: consistent.

While fans would have loved to add a stud center who averages 20 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks per game, those don’t grow on trees, and frankly a player with even half of those stats will make a huge difference for Ohio State.

Maye he’s a bit vanilla, but Tilly should provide the post presence this year that Ohio State so desperately needed last season.

The Buckeyes were 13th in the Big Ten in two-point field goal percentage last season (52.6%), mostly because their two-point shots were rarely by post players below the basket. More often, it was a contested jumper or floater by a guard, because defenses were so locked in on Thornton and John Mobley Jr.

If Ohio State had a viable starting center last year, opponents wouldn’t be able to ignore the paint and allow their defenders to cheat up towards the perimeter, where Thornton and Mobley were. The presence of a 7-footer who is actually an offensive threat should help with that.

Tilly shot 61.7% from two-point range last season and was an even better 63% at the rim. He didn’t draw a ton of fouls or shoot a ton of free throws, but when he did, he was a 77% free throw shooter, so he can make teams pay at the line if they foul him going to the rack. It’s not eye-popping, but he’s solid, and at 7-feet tall and 240 pounds, he’s not exactly a little fella.

What happened on Thursday isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, but the bottom line is that Ohio State got better yesterday. For a team that was probably one win away from making the NCAA Tournament last year, that’s all that matters.