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How does Ohio State's 2025 class fit into the changing college basketball landscape?
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- How does Ohio State's 2025 class fit into the changing college basketball landscape?
In describing Ohio State's 2025 recruiting class, coach Jake Diebler kept coming back to one word.
Wednesday, the Buckeyes announced the additions of four-star prospects Amare Bynum and Dorian Jones on the first day of the early signing period. Bynum is a power forward and Jones a guard, but each projects to potentially eventually impact multiple positions when they get to college.
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Diebler praised the versatility that the two will bring to the program. And in signing two players now, roster versatility is something Diebler said the coaching staff is hoping to have once the 2024-25 season ends.
In other words, the Buckeyes are unlikely to add anyone else before the early signing period ends Nov. 20.
"For me philosophically, I want to have flexibility come springtime," he said Thursday. "I think that's important. I'm really comfortable with who we have coming in right now, but it's all about at this point the right fit. If the right fit is there, it's something we would look to add, but we're not going to force anything at this point."
Ohio State men's basketball recruits (L-R) Richmond Heights' Dorian Jones, Garfield Heights' Marcus Johnson and Richmond Heights' T.J. Crumble arrive at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 9, 2023.
It's a bit of a departure from how the job was when Diebler was cutting his teeth as a well-regarded recruiter and assistant coach. As he put it Thursday, the days of signing a five- or six-man recruiting class are likely in the past in today's era of the transfer portal and immediate eligibility. It no longer makes much sense to bring in a large freshman class, watch a few of them transfer out and continually have to sign players out of high school to plug gaps.
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As Ohio State showed during the offseason, the portal is only growing in importance. With Diebler in charge, the Buckeyes signed five players from the portal and brought in three freshmen, one of whom was on a professional team in Croatia .
"Priorities have changed, and rightfully so, when young players and families make decisions," he said. "I also think now because of the portal, no longer having to sit out when you transfer, having that flexibility in the spring is really valuable. It's valuable for players, certainly. That's been well-documented, but it's also valuable for coaches as well."
In signing Bynum and Jones, Diebler said the Buckeyes have added two versatile pieces to a program that has three players in their final years of eligibility. That technically would leave one spot for 2025-26 unaccounted for, assuming everyone who is eligible to return does, but that's an assumption that's no longer safe to make. It's a given that Ohio State will lose some of its potential 11 returning scholarship players , either to the professional route or the transfer portal.
Nov 11, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Jake Diebler reacts to a play during the first half against the Youngstown State Penguins at Value City Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Having players who can do multiple things helps refine what the coaching staff targets in the spring, be it via the portal or prep route. At 6-4, 180 pounds, Jones is listed as a shooting guard but is a player who could fill several roles, Diebler said. The same goes for the 6-8, 220-pound Bynum.
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"Really excited for both of those guys about the versatility and positional size they bring," the coach said. "Both of them can play multiple positions. They can guard multiple positions. They have versatile offensive games, especially Amare when you look at what he can do on the perimeter and the interior. It gives us a great deal of flexibility."
Bynum averaged 21.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.3 blocks per game as a junior at Omaha (Nebraska) Bryan before transferring to Branson (Missouri) Link Academy for his senior year. During the 2024 EYBL summer season, he averaged 11.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks and shot better than 34% from 3 while playing his way onto Ohio State's radar .
"I really focused on him in person at Top 100 camp and he became a significant priority for us from that moment on," Diebler said. "It was easy to connect with him because he's such a great young man and his family's awesome."
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Assistant coach Jamall Walker was especially impactful in Bynum's commitment, he said.
Jones, meanwhile, has been recruited by Ohio State for years and picked the Buckeyes ahead of Michigan, Missouri and Rutgers during the summer. At Richmond Heights, Ohio, Jones has been part of teams to win three straight state titles and earned first-team all-state honors as a junior while averaging about 14 points per game.
"We've known Dorian for a long time and followed him closely for a few years," Diebler said. "Both of them, too, are great kids. Who they are as people, certainly who they are as players, it aligns with how we want to play, the athleticism and versatility, but it also aligns with what we're about as a program."
As the landscape continues to change, that gets harder to figure out every year. Time will tell how well Ohio State did this time.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State basketball: A look at Jake Diebler's 2025 recruiting class
