It has been almost exactly one month since the 2021-22 season came to a close for the Ohio State men’s basketball team. When the Buckeyes bowed out of the NCAA Tournament with a second-round loss to Villanova inside Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena on March 20, it marked the end of the road for the largest roster in recent history.
After the loss to the Wildcats, coach Chris Holtmann stood to lose as many as 11 of his 15 players without even considering the transfer portal. A veteran-laden roster featured nine players in at least their fourth seasons, six of whom went through senior day festivities. With a five-man recruiting class signed for the fall, the Buckeyes would have to wait on decisions from two veterans who could still return and be active in the transfer portal while putting together a roster that will look significantly different than it did this season.
That process is ongoing. Two players have entered the portal. One has committed, and another is using his final season of eligibility to return. Two players with NBA decisions are likely out the door. Another player still has a decision to make. And through it all, a handful of core players remain poised to return.
It’s a lot to keep track of. As we pass the midpoint of April, here’s where the Ohio State roster stands
Who is definitively leaving Ohio State?
At minimum, eight players will be missing from the 2021-22 roster. Of those eight, five have exhausted their eligibility, one has declared for the NBA draft while hiring an agent and two have entered the transfer portal.
Joey Brunk, Cedric Russell, Jimmy Sotos, Jamari Wheeler and Kyle Young have no choice but to move on with their lives. Brunk was in his sixth year while the other four were in their fifth. Of the five, just Young played the entirety of his career with the Buckeyes. Wheeler was third in minutes played (913:28) and fifth in scoring (7.1), Young was third in scoring (8.2). The five players combined for 35.3% of Ohio State’s total minutes played.
