Ohio State Basketball: Impact of losing Luther Muhammad to transfer portal

Guard Luther Muhammad abruptly announced his decision to transfer on Sunday, leaving Ohio State Basketball in the lurch.

The college basketball transfer gods giveth and taketh away. On Sunday, it proved to be the latter for Ohio State Basketball, as starting guard Luther Muhammad announced his departure from the program.

The transfer portal is chock full of neverending movement these days, so there’s no bad time to make an announcement. Still, this news is likely a shock in Columbus. Muhammad has been a full-time starter in each of his first two seasons with the Buckeyes, averaging a combined 7.3 points per game over the two years. His role likely would’ve only increased next year under Chris Holtmann.

Buckeyes blog Eleven Warriors reported that Muhammad’s decision to leave may have had to do with seeking a different offensive role going forward. The news came in a release, so Muhammad’s intentions aren’t immediately clear.

What is clear is that Ohio State is going through a major greater transition than anyone could’ve imagined at the start of the offseason. Kaleb Wesson is off to the NBA Draft. Andre Wesson is gone too. D.J. Carton wasn’t a starter, but he was a significant rotation piece who chose to transfer. Alonzo Gaffney has left the team as well.

In other words, the Buckeyes are gutted and Muhammad’s departure only adds to the uncertainty in Columbus. How are the Buckeyes going to be impacted by his absence next season?

For starters, their backcourt depth takes a massive hit. Ohio State has no true guards on their roster outside of the ones who are projected to start next year, point guard CJ Walker (who should develop into a star) and shooting guard Duane Washington Jr., who would’ve come off the bench next year had Muhammad returned. Otherwise, the team is going to be forced to move some forwards down the line and play with a bigger lineup.

Ohio State is losing members of the team to the transfer market, but it doesn’t mean they can’t look to the same market to restore the missing depth. Expect the Buckeyes to try and pull a graduate transfer who doesn’t mind coming off the bench behind the lead guards.

The team is also going to have to function without arguably their best defender. Muhammad averaged a steal a game in 2019-20. His steal percentage was 2.4 percent, which ranked in the top ten of the conference. His steal total and steal percentage both went up during conference play – when the lights got bright, Muhammad’s defense got tougher.

Ohio State was one of the best defensive teams in the nation last season, surrendering just 62.9 points per game. With Muhammad and Kaleb Wesson both off to new pastures, maintaining that level of defensive efficiency will be a challenge.

Things were looking up for the Buckeyes this season when Seth Towns picked them over Duke to continue his collegiate career. The departures in the days since have crushed any sense of optimism, though.

The Ohio State Buckeyes were hanging on the edge of being a top 25 team entering the 2020-21 season already. If they can’t sufficiently replace Luther Muhammad, expectations in Columbus are going to suffer.