Ohio State Basketball: Why Aaron Bradshaw is the most important team transfer for 2024-25

Things took quite a turn last season at Ohio State, with Chris Holtmann’s firing in February leading to a late-season surge under interim coach Jake Diebler. Now Diebler is the full-time leader for the Buckeyes and has had quite the task at hand getting this program back to the top of the Big Ten standings. Last year ended with 22 wins and a 9th place finish in the league despite that resurgence; are better days in the near future for a program under new direction?

There will be a very different look in the frontcourt, as Jamison Battle is off to pro ball while both Zed Key and Felix Okpara transferred in the offseason. Leading scorer Bruce Thornton returns after dropping nearly 16 points a game as a sophomore, with fellow starter Evan Mahaffey also coming back for his junior year. A few other returning faces will have more important roles, though it’s all about what Ohio State has added.

In addition to a few intriguing freshmen, Holtmann and his new staff were active in the Transfer Portal, pulling several intriguing names to Columbus. One prominent and familiar name is point guard Meechie Johnson, a former Buckeye who spent the last two years at South Carolina. Ohio State also added experience in former San Diego State forward Micah Parrish and grabbed a few standout freshmen as well, including Duke’s Sean Stewart.

The other notable young talent is Aaron Bradshaw, a 7’1 center originally from New Jersey who was considered one of the top recruits in the nation last season. Bradshaw chose Kentucky like many 5-star recruits in years past, but didn’t carve out a major role in John Calipari’s system, averaging just 4.9 poits and 3.3 rebounds per game, hitting 63% of his interior shots.

A fresh start in a new system provides quite the opportunity for Bradshaw and becomes a clear benefit for Ohio State. Bradshaw slides into a vacated frontcourt, becoming the main option in the paint. If he takes an expected step forward as a sophomore, with a year of collegiate training under his belt, we truly believe that he can be an impact big man for the Buckeyes.

With the combination of Bradshaw and Stewart, Diebler and company are depending on young, raw talent to rebuild this frontcourt and things could certainly go either way. While there’s less depth and elite talent around him than last season in Lexington, Bradshaw could still fail to make headway and stay on the court consistently. However, he has the raw ability to be a monster for this program and could be one of the steals of the Transfer Portal if everything comes together.

This is basically a rookie head coach leading a program with a lot of moving pieces. There will be growing pains in Columbus in all likelihood, but there’s enough raw talent to compete in the new-look Big Ten. Can Ohio State make its way back to the NCAA Tournament this upcoming season? Does Bradshaw have what it takes to improve his game and become a standout center both in this league and at the national level?