Ohio State is still more than a month away from opening the 2026-27 season in Salt Lake City against BYU, but the Buckeyes are already turning the page toward preseason work. Practice begins Monday afternoon at the Schottenstein Center, and Bucknuts will be there to cover Jake Diebler and his team as the buildup officially starts.
The Scarlet and Gray have already packed plenty into the summer. They took part in exhibition games in Puerto Rico in early August, then wrapped up workouts with an alumni exhibition on Friday.
Over the weekend, Bucknuts checked in with sources close to the program to get a better sense of where things stand as preseason approaches. One clear theme: Ohio State has also been active on the recruiting front, adding two 2027 commitments last week.
Canadian power forward Deng Ngor announced Thursday, and Illinois guard Jaxson Davis followed with his commitment on Friday.
Ngor was described to Bucknuts as a rare athletic specimen who still needs to grow into his body a bit, but someone who could become a real problem in Diebler’s up-tempo system. He visited for the weekend of the Ball State football game on Sept. 5, liked what he saw enough to shut down other visits - including one to Duke - and commit to Ohio State.
Diebler and his staff also pitched him on a path to early playing time, with the possibility of stepping into the starting forward role if Anthony Thompson has the freshman season many expect and leaves after one year.
In Other News...
Ohio State Fans Will Notice A Big Schottenstein Change This Season
Ohio State fans heading back to the Schottenstein Center this season will find a noticeably different building. The university completed a $5.2 million renovation that brought in a new scoreboard, larger ribbon boards and an upgraded audio system, giving one of the Buckeyes busiest venues a cleaner, more modern game-day feel.
Mens hockey will get the first look at the new setup on Oct. 23, with basketball right behind it as the mens and womens teams host games in late October and early November. For a building that already serves as a hub for so much Ohio State action, the changes should be hard to miss once the season gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State's Next Road Test Just Got A Lot More Real
Ohio State rolled past Kent State 59-3 to move to 2-1, and now the schedule is starting to bring a little more clarity to what comes next. The Big Ten announced that the Buckeyes will host Illinois before heading to Iowa on Oct. 3, a matchup now locked in for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS.
For a team still settling into the season, the timing matters because Iowa has long been one of the conferences more familiar measuring sticks for Ohio State. The series history includes its share of notable games and streaks, which is part of what gives this road trip extra weight even before the Buckeyes get there. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Is Closing In On A Priority RB Battle
Ohio States win over Kent State pushed the Buckeyes to 2-1, but the weekend also carried added recruiting weight as the program welcomed a wave of official visitors to Columbus. Among the most important names on campus was a 2027 running back who has quickly moved to the top of Ohio States board, giving the staff another chance to make its case in person.
The recruitment remains open-ended, with no commitment date set, but the Buckeyes are clearly in the thick of it and are widely viewed as a leading contender. For Ohio State, landing a back of that caliber would reinforce both the long-term roster plan and the programs ability to keep winning the kind of battles that matter most on the trail. [Read more 🡒]