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Here are the 5 most interesting topics brought up by Ohio State's Thornton, Royal and Mobley
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- Here are the 5 most interesting topics brought up by Ohio State's Thornton, Royal and Mobley
For the first time in 103 days, Ohio State's core group of men's basketball players stepped into the spotlight.
It was June 23, and Buckeyes Bruce Thornton, Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. were gathered in the north atrium inside the Jerome Schottenstein Center. For the three returners, it marked their first official interviews since March 12, the date their 2024-25 season ended with a 77-70 loss to Iowa on the first day of the Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis .
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Thornton, Royal and Mobley account for the vast majority of Ohio State's returning production. Their retention as a core group was an offseason priority for second-year coach Jake Diebler , and as a result the Buckeyes will open the year second in the Big Ten in percentage of scoring returning from 2024-25 at 59%.
In this interview session, it was a first chance to discuss decisions, summer goals and the roster pieces that surround them. Here are the five most interesting topics covered by the Buckeyes during the first player interviews of the 2025 summer session.
Neither Devin Royal or John Mobley Jr. seemed very interested in leaving
Although the Buckeyes missed out on the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year, Mobley, Royal and Thornton all expressed some variation on the theme of loyalty when asked why they opted to stick with the program and not enter the transfer portal.
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You can read why Thornton said he opted to return for a fourth year by clicking here . As for Royal and Mobley, both are Central Ohio products who said they never seriously considered going elsewhere.
"This is home," said Mobley, a sophomore. "I've got no plans on leaving Ohio State. Ohio State's home. I grew up watching Ohio State. It's my dream school. There's nothing else you could ask for."
Royal, who finished second in scoring at 13.7 points per game as a sophomore, echoed his younger teammate's thoughts.
"I just feel like the chemistry I have with my coaches and that we have for each other on the team, that's the main reason I stayed," he said. "We just clicked. Helping me move to the 3 is also a big reason I stayed."
Ohio State forward Devin Royal runs under during a summer workout on July 9.
Devin Royal is ready for a position change
As mentioned in his response about returning, Royal is looking at an altered role this season. A power forward for his first two seasons, Royal is being moved to small forward this season as the Buckeyes look to get more size on the court.
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It's an opportunity the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Pickerington Central product said he's embracing.
"I just like everything about it," he said. "Helps me be more versatile, helps me be a player further in my career and just be able to do everything. I love it."
Mobley said the Buckeyes are essentially treating Royal as a perimeter player and not a post player this year, and Royal said he's been guarding Thornton and the rest of the team's backcourt in summer workouts and open gym sessions.
Ball work has been a focus on the offensive end, but adjustments will be necessary on the defensive end as well.
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"Get your feet quicker," he said of his defensive focus. "Work on guarding guards like Bruce when we play open gym or (Mobley). Working on that, getting a lot of reps up, that's the main thing. I feel like I'm making progress for sure. Nobody's really scoring on me."
John Mobley wants to rebound more
Royal's potential ability to move to small forward should allow the Buckeyes to play with more size on the court. Ohio State is expected to start 6-8, 240-pound Wright State transfer Brandon Noel at power forward and 7-0, 240-pound Santa Clara transfer Christoph Tilly at center, presenting three viable rebounding options when played together.
Mobley wants to make it a fourth.
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Asked where he has room to grow as a sophomore after averaging 13 points per game, Mobley said, "Contributing more on the rebounding side. I shied away from that last year a little bit. And having a little more voice this year too. I had experience last year, got more respect that I did last year, so having a voice."
The 6-1, 175-pound Mobley averaged 1.5 rebounds per game, pulling down 44 of his 49 boards on the defensive end.
Ohio State Buckeyes guard John Mobley Jr. dribbles during offseason practice at the Schottenstein Center on June 18, 2025.
Bruce Thornton picked Ivan Njegovan as a teammate
Most of the roster will participate throughout the summer in the annual Kingdom Summer League , which plays games each Sunday at East High School. This year, Thornton said he hand-picked one of his Ohio State teammates to team up with him in the pro-am league.
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"I picked Ivan (Njegovan) on my team personally, just to build connection because we're going to need Ivan," Thornton said. "I keep telling him to keep getting better, because we're going to need him. He's going to come out this year. Him just growing, getting older, this is his first time being in America so last year everything was thrown at him. He's improving each and every day."
March Madness: Where is Ohio State men's basketball in Joe Lunardi's latest NCAA Tournament projection?
Brandon Noel, Christoph Tilly have made strong early impressions
Noel has 97 collegiate games under his belt in three active seasons with the Raiders. Tilly appeared in 86 games during the last three years with Santa Clara. The power forward has topped 1,500 career points at the mid-major level while Tilly has increased his playing time and both scoring and rebounding production in each season at Santa Clara.
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They've both impressed their new teammates in the early going.
Ohio State forward Brandon Noel dunks during practice on June 18.
"They're both very smart bigs," Mobley said. "They can pass, can dribble. If Tilly gets a rebound, he can dribble it up and maybe start the offense. Brandon can really shoot. He surprised me with his shooting, really. That's very big to have a stretch-4 and he can play multiple positions. He can play the 3, he can play the 5, that's very good to have."
Added Royal, when asked about Noel, "I love him. Great guy. He can do everything on the court, in my opinion. He can put it on the floor if he needs to, he can shoot it, deck it and be big in the paint. I like him a lot."
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Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @ cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @ AdamJardy .
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Hear the top 5 things Ohio State's returners said at first interviews
