No. 19 Texas and Ohio State will look to start their campaigns on the right foot when they square off Monday in Las Vegas as part of the season-opening Hall of Fame Series. Both teams are rebuilding around key players from the transfer portal.
The Longhorns went 21-13 in 2023-24 in coach Rodney Terry’s first full campaign with a record that included a 9-9 record in their final season in the Big 12. Texas earned the seventh seed in the NCAA Tournament and fell to Tennessee, now a Southeastern Conference rival, in the second round of the Midwest Region.
Terry will ask a lot from his team this season.
“That first year we were really trying to build a culture,” Terry said. “We’ve been trying to instill in our guys how hard you have to work, trust the process, compete at an incredible level, have a concrete mindset. Here’s the expectation, here’s the standards, here’s how we do it.
“In this field and every college athlete, if you can have some kind of (this) level of continuity, then you give yourself a chance.”
The Longhorns have two key players returning in reserve guard Chendall Weaver and forward Kadin Shedrick. Texas added guards Jordan Pope as a transfer from Oregon State, Tramon Mark from Arkansas and Arthur Kaluma, out of Kansas State; the starting lineup will be led by 6-foot-6 freshman guard Tre Johnson, who is ranked the No. 5 player in the nation in the Class of 2024 by the 247 Sports Composite.
Texas expects contributions from former Indiana State players Julian Larry and Jayson Kent as well as returning post Ze’Rik Onyema, who played a backup role for the Longhorns last season.
The Buckeyes are in their first full season under coach Jake Diebler, who took over after Chris Holtmann was fired in February. Ohio State went 19-12 overall and finished 9-11 in Big Ten play with a three-way tie for ninth. The Buckeyes were the No. 2 seed in the NIT, winning twice before losing to Georgia in the quarterfinals.
Building continuity will be the key to early season success for the Buccaneers, who have talent but no experience playing together.
“We have a good combination of athleticism and skill in our frontcourt,” Diebler said. “We have talent, we work on many things, we have many boys who can play different positions, but lack of experience is something we have to answer. I want our boys to play freely, to be aggressive and confident. As a coach, you have the ability to create space for the talent of your players to shine.”
Junior guard Bruce Thornton is Ohio State’s only returning starter from last year’s team. He earned all-conference honors by leading the Buckeyes in scoring with 15.7 points while grabbing 3.7 rebounds and dishing out 4.8 assists per contest.
He will be joined by South Carolina transfer Meechie Johnson Jr. and Micah Parrish, San Diego State transfer, at guard. Sean Stewart and Aaron Bradshaw, who played last season at Duke and Kentucky, respectively, will start at forward.
Retained are freshman John Mobley Jr., returners Taison Chatman and Evan Mahaffey, and former Florida and Samford player Ques Glover, who missed last season as part of Kansas State’s roster with a meniscus injury.
–Field Level Media
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