Ohio State Basketball: 2023-24 season preview for the Buckeyes

By Joey Loose | Oct 20, 2023

Feb 9, 2023; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) talks to forward Zed Key (23) during the second half of the NCAA men’s basketball game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Value City Arena. Ohio State lost 69-63. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus DispatchBasketball Ceb Mbk Northwestern Northwestern At Ohio State /

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Ohio State Basketball head coach Chris Holtmann David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /

While there have been some high moments, things have not exactly gone as planned for Chris Holtmann and Ohio State Basketball in recent years. The Buckeyes won at least 20 games in each of his first five seasons in Columbus, but the program really struggled this past year. Ohio State finished the season under .500 for the first time in 19 years and was an abysmal 5-15 against Big Ten play, earning a 13th place finish in the league.

The Buckeyes hit a serious slump in the middle of conference play and it torpedoed the season, but Holtmann is hoping not to repeat last year’s mistakes. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes shed some talented pieces from the roster, losing Brice Sensabaugh, Justice Sueing, and Sean McNeil among others. Can they overcome these departures, returning just two full-time starters from last season?

The initial answer is uncertain, but Holtmann got to work this offseason. He added a few nice pieces utilizing the Transfer Portal and pulled a pretty impressive recruiting class. The roster returns a pair of studs from last season but will look markedly different. How that factors into the Buckeyes’ upcoming success remains to be seen.

For Holtmann, this might not necessarily be a make-or-break season but it certainly feels like the pressure is ramped up. Predecessor Thad Matta led the Buckeyes twice to the Final Four and Holtmann has yet to even make the second weekend of the Big Dance. While the other programs in the Big Ten clearly reloaded their own wells of talent, did Ohio State do enough to get back to the NCAA Tournament and actually do damage in the postseason?

There are many questions yet to be answered about Ohio State, but we’ll be trying to speculate about a few of them. Today we’re looking closely at the current state of the roster, who exactly they’ll be playing this season, and what the future could hold for this year’s Buckeyes squad. Holtmann needs a bounce back season and he may just have the pieces for that; that is if everything comes together in Columbus this year.

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