Over the last few days, Buckeye Nation has been working through the pain of the football team’s fourth straight loss to Michigan. Since by now we have fired head coach Ryan Day into the sun and chalked the year up as a lost season despite the Buckeyes still being in line for a spot in the College Football Playoff, this feels like a good time to shift gears and take a look at a sport where the Buckeyes have a little rosier outlook. Ohio State’s men’s and women’s basketball teams enter December with a combined record of 12-2, with the women’s squad sitting 12th in the country with a 7-0 record.
Despite the men’s basketball team having suffered two losses so far this season, there is a lot of excitement surrounding Jake Diebler’s first season as head coach. The Buckeyes started the season by beating Texas in Las Vegas and nearly took out Pitt on Friday before losing 91-90 in overtime. This week Ohio State begins Big Ten play with games against Maryland and Rutgers before taking on Auburn and Kentucky on neutral courts later in the month. The women’s team will host Illinois in a ranked conference battle on Sunday before taking on Stanford in San Francisco on the Saturday before Christmas.
Today we want to know what Ohio State basketball player has impressed you the most through the first month of the season. Your choice could come from either the men’s or women’s team since both squads have a bunch of talented players. It could be gritty returning starters like Bruce Thornton or Cotie McMahon. Maybe talented freshmen John Mobley Jr. or Jaloni Cambridge have already become fan favorites. Then there are notable transfers Sean Stewart from Duke and Chance Gray from Oregon, who have found their footing already with their new teams.
Today’s question: Which Ohio State basketball player has impressed month through the first month of the season?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Devin Royal
When it comes to the bigs on Ohio State’s men’s team, all the talk prior to the season was about Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw and Duke transfer Sean Stewart. Bradshaw has only played in four games so far this season and currently isn’t with the team as he is currently being investigated for a domestic incident. Stewart hasn’t been on the floor all that much, playing at least 20 minutes in just one of the first six games he has appeared in this year. The sophomore has reached double figures in scoring just twice, with his season-high coming against Green Bay when he scored 11 points.
Instead, Devin Royal has been the most impactful big man on Ohio State’s roster so far this season. After playing 11 minutes per game and averaging 4.7 points per game as a freshman, Royal is playing nearly 25 minutes per game this season, scoring 12.4 points per game, and grabbing 7.4 rebounds per contest. Already this season Royal has two double-doubles, scoring 20 points and pulling down 12 rebounds against Evansville, followed by a 10 and 11 game last week against Green Bay. The sophomore from Pickerington has reached double figures in scoring in five of Ohio State’s first seven games this year.
Royal was a bit of a forgotten man during the offseason with the additions of Bradshaw and Stewart, but the 6-6 forward has made people remember that he started to come on in the second half of last season. What is going to be critical for Royal throughout the season is being careful not to get into foul trouble, which he has done a good job at so far, committing more than three fouls in just one game to start the season. The same can’t be said for Stewart, who has committed four fouls in three games as a Buckeye.
It also doesn’t hurt Royal’s stock that he is from Pickerington, so he is instantly going to be a fan favorite since he played his high school basketball in the suburbs of Columbus. If Royal continues to play at the level he has to start the 2024-25 season, he is going to be in the conversation as one of the best forwards in the Big Ten.
Matt’s answer: Jaloni Cambridge
Expectations can be dangerous. Potential can be limiting. Ohio State women’s basketball true-freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge came to Columbus with more than her fair show of both. The younger of OSU’s two Cambridge sisters was the No. 3 player in the 2024 recruiting class and the top PG. As we’ve seen with the football team, it can be difficult to live up to what people expect you to be, especially early in your career. However, so far, she’s been even better than I imagined.
Through the first seven games of her collegiate career, Cambridge is averaging 16.1 points per game, behind only Cotie McMahon’s 16.3, even though McMahon has only appeared in three games thus far. The true freshman also leads the team in assists (4.9 per game), steals (3 per game), and free-throw percentage from anyone with more than six attempts (81.5%).
Cambridge has come in and instantly found a way to not only play at a high level in all aspects of the game, but to make also make her teammates better. It’s been tough to watch any of the Ohio State women’s games so far this season because they have been spread out across multiple obscure streaming services, but as they open up their Big Ten slate against the Illinois Fighting Illini on the Big Ten Network this Sunday, when you finally get a chance to watch the freshman phenom play, you will not be disappointed.