ESPN names Ohio State as a college basketball team that could 'make a jump' this season
One of the things Myron Metcalf and Jeff Borzello touched on was ten teams that "could make a jump" this coming season. And, if you are an Ohio State fan, then you have to like what the ESPN duo things of the Buckeyes this season because they were named as one of those ten teams.
OSU was able to retain some key pieces of its core group, but outside of that, there's been a major overhaul of the guys suiting up in the scarlet and gray this season. The mix of old and new will have to come together for the Buckeyes to get back to the NCAA Tournament, but there's good reason to believe that it could happen. Here's what Borzello says about Ohio State this winter:
"The Buckeyes showed flashes of their potential last season but couldn't quite string together a consistent run of form. With a terrific trio back in Bruce Thornton, Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. -- plus the additions of Christoph Tilly and Brandon Noel up front -- Jake Diebler's team should find itself in the NCAA tournament."
It sure seems like Ohio State hasn't had a shortage of talent over the last few years, but getting the team to come together and play as a team has been an issue that seems to be a problem in today's day and age of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness. Here's to hoping ESPN is right and that the Buckeyes make it back to meaningful games late and on into the postseason this basketball season.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nets rank 8th in ESPN's NBA rebuild rankings after summer league
The Brooklyn Nets officially began their current rebuild last summer when they shockingly traded guard Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks for multiple first-round picks over the next few years. Brooklyn has continued to take steps along the way to maximize their goal of acquiring draft capital and/or young players, but they appear to be falling behind other rebuilding teams as well. "When the Nets got back their draft picks for 2025 and 2026, the plan was not to wind up with the No. 8 pick. From that standpoint, the answer is no," ESPN wrote when discussing whether the Nets' rebuild is working at the moment. ESPN gave that explanation within its article ranking Brooklyn eighth in its latest rebuild list, indicating that the Nets are falling towards the middle of the pack in terms of the success of its rebuild. "But if Brooklyn can come out of next year with a high-end pick, then the Nets can at least begin to move forward," ESPN continued. "The Porter acquisition took a big chunk out of next summer's cap space, but the Nets will still have tens of millions to spend." After officially ending the Big 3 era in Brooklyn by trading away Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant during the 2022-23 season, the Nets have been trying to get back to the point were they can think about competing for titles again. The 2025 NBA Draft was Brooklyn's first chance to take advantage of the trades they have been making and they broke an NBA-record by taking five players in the same draft. Guard Egor Demin, one of the players that Brooklyn took with the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, will be one of the faces of the Nets' rebuild given how much draft capital was invested in him. Other than that, Brooklyn is hoping that some of the younger players on the team, such as guard Cam Thomas and forward Noah Clowney, can develop into something more to give this rebuild a better chance of being successful. This article originally appeared on Nets Wire: Nets rank 8th in ESPN's NBA rebuild rankings after summer league
USA Today
5 hours ago
- USA Today
Former Oregon Duck Tez Johnson has high praise for former Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka
Former Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka has been making positive impressions on teammates and coaches for a long time. Even after being drafted in the first round of this year's NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he's already impressing new teammates. First, it was quarterback Baker Mayfield. Now it's fellow rookie and former Oregon Duck, Tez Johnson. Johnson, whom the Bucs picked in the seventh round of this year's draft, was asked about Egbuka at a recent press conference. "He's an Ohio State guy and he beat me in the Rose Bowl," Johnson said on Sunday. "But he's a good guy. He's very twitchy for his size, and he runs really good routes and has really strong hands. The guy's smart. He's a human computer." It's more proof of what Buckeye Nation already knew and witnessed for the past four seasons. Johnson and Egbuka are rooming together during summer camp. Egbuka said his roommate snores and brings up the Rose Bowl every day. It seems like what was a small rivalry in college has developed into a respectable friendship. The two dynamic wide receivers, paired with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, could be a formidable duo for years to come.
NBC Sports
5 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Chris Paul on Clippers: 'I wanted to get back and play here.' Could it be for more than one year?
Chris Paul's re-introduction to Los Angeles ended up being more emotional than he expected, with hundreds of Clippers fans chanting 'C-P-3."It's kind of wild, kind of crazy,' Paul said of the experience. 'Still kind of speechless.' Paul has returned to the Clippers, where he played for six seasons, leading the 'Lob City' team alongside Blake Griffin, which was a contender in the West but was undone by a painful series of injuries and playoff collapses. Those were the peak CP3 years — in his first five years with the Clippers he never finished lower than seventh in MVP voting — and he averaged 18.8 points and 9.8 assists a game with the team. He's not returning because of nostalgia, however. He said it was a 'no brainer' to Los Angeles because this is where his family lives. 'This is one of those things that kind of manifested for a long time, sort of tried to speak it into existence, but you just never know if it's really gonna happen,' Paul said of his return. 'Because I love to hoop. I love to play this game, but I love my family more than any of it... 'I wanted to get back and play here by any means necessary.' He wanted to return enough that he told ESPN's Malika Andrews he could play a couple more seasons, despite the general expectation this season will be his last. Paul's role will be different with the Clippers than it was a season ago in San Antonio, where he started all 82 games. With the Clippers, Paul will come off the bench as part of a beefed-up second unit — the Clippers are older but have 11 solid rotation players Tyronn Lue can lean on. Lue was one of the reasons CP3 wanted to return. 'I'm excited to play for T. Lue, right?' Paul said of the Clippers' coach. 'See, people probably don't remember, T. Lue was my assistant coach when I was here with the Clippers, and we've stayed close over the years... 'There's a lot of great coaches in this league, but T. Lue is one of the coaches that I think teams, like you have to prepare for him too. It's weird being on other teams playing against the Clippers, because a lot of times you're just scouting, how do we stop Kawhi? How do we stop this? But just know a lot of teams respect T. Lue and his ability.' Paul, Lue and these Clippers are poised to win a lot of games this season — they won 50 a year ago and got better this offseason. That winning is something Paul wanted to be a part of, too. But mostly, the return was about his family, and they were on hand for his emotional day on Monday, too.
