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Ohio State's Bruce Thornton talking trash, playing freer and ready for his senior year
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- Ohio State's Bruce Thornton talking trash, playing freer and ready for his senior year
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The novelty has worn off for Bruce Thornton. He's too well-versed in the spotlight to call it out, but his appearance at Big Ten media day marked the third straight year he had represented Ohio State in the league's preseason kickoff.
As always, he handled his half hour at the podium without incident. Thornton smiled, told a few jokes and leaned back in his chair as he looked ahead to his final season with the Buckeyes .
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The pageantry and spectacle of it all are just necessary steps toward what he's really looking forward to: Running the Ohio State offense, leading the Buckeyes' hopes of returning to the NCAA Tournament and giving the denizens of Value City Arena reasons to cheer once again.
"The best thing I've been doing lately is staying in my own lane," he said. "I never thought I'd be here at Ohio State for four years, but it's a blessing. I'm living in the moment. Great to be a Buckeye."
He's the player you can set your watch to, the lone constant in an era with unprecedented roster turnover. Transfers come and go, but Thornton has remained though it all. When the Buckeyes tip off the 2025-26 season, there he'll be, facing the basket, blowing on his hands, rubbing them together and clapping five times before the ball is tossed into the air.
Ohio State has played 103 games in the past three years. If not for a brutal migraine that kept him home from a Feb. 29, 2024, game against Nebraska, Thornton would have started every single one of them. Ten games into his senior season, Thornton will tie Aaron Craft for the 10th-most starts in program history. Assuming a fully healthy season, he would need four postseason games to tie William Buford for the all-time record of 137.
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Since his arrival on campus, Thornton has been a rock. In four years, he has had 36 different teammates. Twenty-one of them have been for just one season. Both of those are believed to be program records.
Yet as his final season of college basketball nears, he's finding some new edges. Shape-shifting. Trash-talking?
You might be surprised.
Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) is introduced in the starting lineup prior to the NCAA men's basketball game against the Green Bay Phoenix at Value City Arena in Columbus on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024.
Ohio State's Bruce Thornton is lighter, but more intense
The first time he heard it, John Mobley Jr. had to stop and make sure he wasn't imagining things.
"I turned my head so quick and was like, 'Is he talking trash? I like this,' " the sophomore guard said. "I started smiling. It got everybody going."
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Since his arrival on campus, Thornton has consistently been singled out by his teammates for his work ethic and daily compete level in practice. It helped elevate him to the role of team captain as a freshman, and it was primarily fueled by Thornton letting his play do the talking for him.
Somewhere in the past few months, that has shifted. The primary recipient of Thornton's trash talking? Himself.
"It's mostly me spazzing by myself," he said. "I convince myself in certain situations with what people say are slick comments. Then I change into a whole different person."
More: As Ohio State honors seniors vs Nebraska, Bruce Thornton closing out third impactful season
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An example: After hitting a shot during a late-summer practice, Thornton turned toward the sideline, sized up an assistant coach and yelled, "All-Big Ten!" while flexing his arms. To head coach Jake Diebler, it's a sign that the senior is entering the year in a good place.
"He's playing with a great deal of joy," Diebler said. "Somehow he's even more competitive and he's talking a little trash now that he might not have been doing last year. That's a sign of him being able to be the best version of himself."
Diebler described Thornton as seeming lighter but simultaneously more intense. Presented with that summarization of his current mindset, Thornton agreed with the assessment and credited what he feels is a deeper supporting cast around him for the change.
"The freedom that I've been playing with, playing as a free spirit right now, is making me feel lighter," he said. "I have a lot of older teammates now that understand Big Ten basketball and also college basketball as well. It takes some of the stress I had to do early on in my Ohio State career off and makes my job so much easier."
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That job includes trying to address one glaring omission from his resume.
Is it NCAA Tournament or bust for Ohio State's Bruce Thornton?
The only thing missing from Thornton's legacy is an appearance in March Madness. Ohio State is 55-48 during his three years and 23-37 in Big Ten play. He's endured the firing of Chris Holtmann and the promotion of Diebler from interim to full-time coach . Last year, the Buckeyes basically came one win shy of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It stands to reason that there's just one primary motivation guiding Thornton's senior season. That's not exactly the case.
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"I'm not going to sit here and lie to you that that's not a goal of ours, but the main thing is to get better each and every day," he said. "We're making a big emphasis on just win the day. That's the biggest thing to focus on."
After coming so close to making it last year, Thornton said he couldn't watch the NCAA Tournament because it was too hard for him. It's another log on the fire Thornton said he's using as fuel to power him but not consume him.
Handling that in the right way will get him where he wants to be, Thornton said.
"I'm super excited, man," he said. "This is the freest I've been, man. I don't want to put (any) limit or expectation on myself. Of course I have goals, but I take it day by day."
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Significant individual records in play for Ohio State's Bruce Thornton
Whenever the final whistle sounds, Thornton figures to have etched his name across the Ohio State record book. He is 10th in career assists and at his current average would enter the postseason third behind only Craft and Jamar Butler. He's seventh in 3-pointers made (159) and, if he connects at the rate he did last year, would finish the regular season tied with Buford for third.
He's top 10 in career free-throw percentage (82.8%). He's on pace to easily finish in the top 10 in made field goals. That leads to the biggest individual record attainable for Thornton: Ohio State's all-time scoring mark.
Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) celebrates making a dunk during the second half of the NCAA men's basketball game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Value City Arena in Columbus on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. Ohio State won 80-66.
Dennis Hopson scored 2,096 points from 1984-87. At 1,487 points, Thornton is 10 points behind Troy Taylor for No. 20 in program history. If Thornton repeats his average of 17.7 points per game from last season, he would need roughly 34 games to get to Hopson's total.
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The Buckeyes figure to be more balanced this year, and it's unlikely they will need to rely on him to carry such a heavy load.
"We've attacked things with his individual work, but if Bruce Thornton can be just a little bit better, obviously that would be great for Ohio State basketball, but I think it could also look different," Diebler said. "Because of this roster and the way we're going to be able to play it's going to open up some different opportunities for him."
There's a lot in front of Thornton this year, both collectively and individually. He's not officially been named a team captain yet, but Diebler acknowledged during Big Ten media that the honor will clearly be coming his way before long. The only question is who will join him.
Four-time captaincy is assured. Everything else is on the table, and how many accomplishments he checks off will ultimately determine how his legacy will be evaluated from the outside. Personally, though, Thornton knows what he wants to be remembered for.
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"That I gave everything I had to this program," he said. "It's been fun. I'm enjoying every day and hoping to do great things this year."
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 .
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State getting new looks from lineup stalwart, captain Bruce Thornton
