Grading every Ohio State men’s basketball transfer of the last decade

Ohio State v Rutgers — Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images

Ohio State’s transfers over the past decade have been a mixed bag — some A’s and a few F’s.

College athletes transferring from one school to another has been happening for decades, and even before the transfer portal existed, the Ohio State men’s basketball program has been using transfers to supplement the roster in hopes of winning championships. Ron Lewis, Scoonie Penn, and Lawrence Funderburke – three program legends – transferred before it was “cool” to do so.

But at the turn of the decade, a global pandemic shook up eligibility rules by giving athletes a fifth year of eligibility if they played during the pandemic-impacted 2020-2021 season. In April 2021, it was announced that players would be able to transfer one time without having to sit out a year, and in 2024 the NCAA removed the “one time” from that rule, allowing players to transfer as many times as they want and become immediately eligible.

And thus, the transfer portal was born.

Wheeling and dealing in the transfer portal has livened up what used to be a dull college basketball offseason, with a batch of nearly 2,000 players transferring last spring. Ohio State added five transfers last season and saw four players transfer out.

But even before the portal, Ohio State has been supplementing its roster with at least one or two transfers nearly every season. A few have been key pieces to very successful teams. Others have fallen well short of expectations, costing the Buckeyes wins by playing poorly or not playing at all.

With that said, here is a list of every single player that has transferred into Ohio State in the last 10 years, starting with the 2014-15 season and ending with this past season. Each player is affixed with a grade based on how well they played or contributed to Ohio State’s success, based on a scientific and not at all subjective grading scale.

Walk-ons fall into their own category, and transfer players who are still at Ohio State at the time of publishing fall into the “Jury’s Out” category because those players still have time to improve or regress.

Keyshawn Woods – A

Woods only averaged 10.1 points per game at Ohio State during the 2018-2019 season, but fans will remember him for stepping up big time in the final games of the season, scoring 18 points in a de-facto play-in game in the Big Ten Tournament against Indiana to get Ohio State into the NCAA Tournament as an 11-seed. He then scored a season-high 19 points against Iowa State to help the Buckeyes upset Tyrese Haliburton and 6-seed Iowa State.

CJ Jackson – A

Jackson was recruited out of Eastern Florida State College by Thad Matta in 2016, and wound up being the Buckeyes’ starting point guard for two seasons under Chris Holtmann, averaging 12.3 points per game his final two seasons. He also stunned Indiana at Assembly Hall on Senior Day 2018 with this incredible buzzer-beating three. For a player who was brought up from a junior college, Jackson exceeded expectations at Ohio State in three seasons.

Jamison Battle – A

NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarterfinal-Ohio State vs Illinois

Although Ohio State did not make the NCAA Tournament in Battle’s lone year in Columbus, it doesn’t seem fair to put blame on him. In fact, you could say that without him, Ohio State would have finished with an even worse record during the 2023-2024 season. Battle set a career-high by shooting 43.3% from three-point range and averaged 19.4 points per game over the final 10 games of the season.

CJ Walker – A

NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament-Ohio State vs Illinois

This might be controversial because he only averaged 9.1 points per game in two seasons, but Walker was the perfect point guard for an Ohio State team that earned a 2-seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. His assist-to-turnover ratio was better than 2-to-1 and he averaged 11 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game in the Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament. He was also a 94% free throw shooter in his final season.

Micah Parrish – B+

Parrish played one season at Ohio State, setting a career-high in points per game at 13.3 and leading the Buckeyes in scoring eight different times throughout the 2024-2025 season. He almost single-handedly carried the Buckeyes to a stunning road win at Purdue by scoring 22 on 8-of-10 shooting but also led the team in turnovers, many of which were of the unforced variety.

Justice Sueing – B+

NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarterfinals - Michigan State vs Ohio State

Even if you ask Sueing himself, he probably doesn’t think he reached his peak potential at Ohio State after transferring from Cal, but he was still a very steady contributor from 2020-2023, averaging double-digit points in two seasons with a lost season (due to a groin injury) sandwiched in between. Sueing scored 10+ points in 41 of his 68 games while at Ohio State, and averaged 12.3 per game during the 2022-2023 season.

Trevor Thompson – B+

NCAA Basketball: NC-Asheville at Ohio State

Thompson was a rock-solid center for Ohio State from 2014 to 2017 after transferring from Virginia Tech. He was second in the Big Ten during the 2016-17 season in rebounds per game (9.2) despite only playing 23 minutes per game. He was Honorable Mention All-Big Ten that season, scoring 10.6 points per game.

Sean McNeil – B

McNeil was a solid contributor to an Ohio State team that finished 16-19 in 2023, averaging 9.7 points per game. He scored in double-digits in 17 of Ohio State’s 35 games, stretched the floor a bit, and was the best player in Ohio State’s Big Ten Tournament win over Wisconsin, scoring 17.

Jamari Wheeler – B

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round Pittsburgh

Wheeler’s calling card when he transferred to Ohio State for the 2021-2022 season after four years at Penn State was his defense, being named to the Big Ten All-Defensive team twice. His defense lagged a bit in his final college season, but he did set career-highs in points per game (7.1) three-pointers made (38), and free throw percentage (86.1%), while helping take Ohio State to its most recent NCAA Tournament appearance.

Cedric Russell – B-

Russell was fine in limited minutes for Ohio State during the 2021-2022 season, scoring 4.2 points per game in 30 games and averaging roughly 13 minutes per game. However, he will forever be remembered as a hero for scoring a season-high 12 points off the bench against Duke at home, helping Ohio State upset the No. 1 team in the country. Prior to that game, Russell had scored a combined three points in Ohio State’s first four games.

Dale Bonner – B-

NCAA Basketball: Ohio State at Michigan State

Similar to Russell, Bonner was a role player during his one year at Ohio State, starting two of the Buckeyes’ 36 games and averaging 4.9 points on 32.8% shooting. His big moment came against Michigan State on February 25, 2024, knocking down a game-winning three-pointer over Tyson Walker to beat the Spartans, 70-67. It snapped Ohio State’s 17-game losing streak and also broke a 12-year drought where Ohio State had not won in East Lansing since the middle of the Thad Matta days.

Joey Brunk – C

Rounding out the “single-game heroics” part of the list is Brunk, who played for Chris Holtmann at Butler for one season and then transferred to Ohio State for the 2021-2022 season to finish his college career. He appeared in 28 of Ohio State’s 32 games, averaging 7.6 minutes and 2.4 points per game.

But against Michigan State on March 3, 2022, against Michigan State, Brunk played 32 minutes, scoring 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting as the Buckeyes won, 80-69. Both Zed Key and Kyle Young were unavailable for that game, forcing Brunk into action. After the game, Michigan State guard Gabe Brown said Brunk wasn’t even on the Spartan’s scouting report.

Andrew Dakich – C

Dakich was a fine role player for Ohio State during Chris Holtmann’s first season, averaging 19 minutes per game and 2.2 shot attempts per game. His half-court buzzer-beater against top-ranked Michigan State is a core memory for a lot of fans, but in general, Dakich brought the ball up, didn’t turn it over, and only took wide-open shots. He did the job he was asked to do.

Isaac Likekele – C-

NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Second Round - Iowa vs Ohio State

“Ice” Likekele contributed across the stat sheet, leading Ohio State in assists nine times during the 2022-23 season and grabbing five or more rebounds 12 different times. He handled the ball quite a bit and only averaged 1.1 turnovers per game during the season, but generally, Likekele did not excel in any area of the game and did not give Ohio State the scoring pop it hoped he would bring after averaging 8.9 points per game at Oklahoma State for four years prior to transferring.

Seth Towns – C-

Since he was a local product, everyone was rooting for Seth Towns to be a star at Ohio State when he transferred from Harvard in 2020, but knee injuries never let him fully show what he had from 2020-2022. His 3.8 points per game during his one healthy Ohio State season sticks out like a sore thumb on his career stats page, and he only averaged 11 minutes per game. It’s unfortunate that his body did not allow him to play freely for his hometown school.

Anthony Lee – D

After leading the AAC in rebounding at Temple during the 2013-2014 season, Lee transferred to Ohio State for his final year of eligibility but gradually lost minutes to both Amir Williams and Trey McDonald before suffering a season-ending groin injury against Rutgers on February 8, 2015. Lee ended the season averaging 3.4 points and 2.3 rebounds per game.

Ques Glover – D

Admittedly, Glover was forced into a larger role this past season than was originally planned for a guy who had not played basketball in two years. Meechie Johnson abruptly leaving the team after 10 games slid Glover up the totem pole from emergency ball handler to the main backup to Bruce Thornton and John Mobley Jr. Glover had moments where he played high-level defense and forced turnovers.

Still, those moments were overshadowed by puzzling shot selection and too many times where larger players took advantage of his height on defense. For the season, he averaged 4.4 points on 34.5% shooting and was 34.4% from beyond the arc.

Tanner Holden – D

Even with his buzzer-beating, game-winning shot against Rutgers on December 8, Holden’s full body of work during the 2022-2023 season fell far short of what everyone expected after being named First Team All-Horizon League twice at Wright State.

Statistically speaking, Holden was fine in small samples, shooting 47.8% overall and 50% from three-point range, but he only played 13.5 minutes per game and it seemed like the role he envisioned at Ohio State may not have been the role the coaching staff had in mind when he transferred. After scoring 12 points against Robert Morris in the season opener, Holden did not score in double-digits again for the rest of the season.

Jimmy Sotos – F

Sotos never really got comfortable at Ohio State, only appearing in 12 games during the 2020-2021 season before a separated shoulder ended his season. He appeared in 19 games the following season, averaging 7.7 minutes per game and scoring 1.8 points per game.

By the end of the season, he had fallen behind Malaki Branham, Jamari Wheeler, and even Cedric Russell on the depth chart. All together, Sotos scored 54 points in 31 games at Ohio State over two seasons.

Meechie Johnson – F

Johnson’s return to Ohio State was brief and not particularly successful. He appeared in 10 games this past season, averaging 9.1 points on 35.5% shooting and 35.7% from downtown. After scoring five points in a loss to Auburn on December 14, it was announced that Johnson was taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons, and he never returned.

Johnson’s absence added a tremendous amount of pressure on all of Ohio State’s guards, particularly John Mobley Jr., who was forced to abandon the training wheels immediately and play 30+ minutes per night. Johnson’s 10-game performance was not an “F” but his season-long contributions fell tremendously short of what Ohio State planned on getting from the Cleveland kid when he transferred back to Ohio State.

WALK ON’S

Danny Hummer (2017-20) and Owen Spencer (2022-24) transferred to Ohio State as walk-ons. Both get an A for effort.

JURY’S OUT

Evan Mahaffey (2023), Aaron Bradshaw (2024), and Sean Stewart (2024) all have at least one year of eligibility remaining. They weren’t included here, because they are still on the roster and any evaluation of their complete performance at Ohio State would be premature right now.