Ohio State’s men’s basketball team has only been in the gym for a little more than a week, but Jake Diebler is already liking what he sees.
The Buckeyes held their annual media day on Wednesday inside the men’s practice gym at the Schottenstein Center, and Diebler - entering his third full season as OSU’s head coach - talked through a roster that looks very different, yet still has some familiar pieces.
Two starters are back from last year’s 21-13 team that went 12-8 in the Big Ten and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years before falling to TCU in the first round in Greenville, S.C. Junior guard John Mobley Jr. and sophomore forward Amare Bynum are part of a group of six returnees, along with junior center Ivan Njegovan, senior center Josh Ojianwuna, junior guard Braylen Nash and redshirt freshman guard Myles Herro.
The rest of the roster has been rebuilt with a heavy dose of newcomers. Ohio State added four transfers - junior guard Curtis Givens from Memphis, senior guard Jimmie Williams from Duquesne, junior forward Andrija Jelavic from Kentucky and junior guard Justin Pippen from Cal - plus five freshmen: wing Anthony Thompson, guard LJ Smith, forwards Alex Smith and Lee Aaliya, and center Vuk Lazarevic.
The schedule is packed early. Ohio State has already announced public exhibition games against Cincinnati on Oct. 7 outdoors at the Lindner Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, and against Butler on Oct. 25 at the Schottenstein Center.
The regular season opens Nov. 2 against BYU at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, roughly 45 miles from the BYU campus in Provo, before the home opener against Youngstown State on Nov. 6.
That BYU matchup is one of five nonconference games against Power Five opponents. The others: at UConn on Nov. 13, at home against Vanderbilt on Nov. 24, at Notre Dame on Dec. 12 and Kansas in the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 19 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Big Ten play starts early in December, with Ohio State opening conference action at Nebraska on Dec. 2 and then hosting Maryland on Dec. 6.
Diebler said the first week has reinforced his belief in the group, especially after a summer that included a trip to Puerto Rico and a pair of games there.
“We are excited about this group. Been together now since the beginning of June. And this summer was unique for us because we got to go to Puerto Rico and play a couple games.
"So we're a little more team heavy there towards the end of the summer with our time. But we picked up right where we left off when we got back. And really, really excited about this team.
"The size, the depth, I think the biggest question for us is we got some guys that we're expecting to make a jump. And we got to go out and do it. So when you look at guys who have proven stuff at this level, we maybe don't have five or six guys that have.
"But we're confident in a lot of our guys that are gonna step up and do that. So it's been a good first six days of practice that we've had so far. And excited about the next few weeks as we get ready for what's gonna be a exciting non-conference challenging as well, non-conference schedule."
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