Jake Diebler announced on Thursday morning that Thornton would return for his fourth and final season.
After a no-good, very bad April Fool’s day earlier this week, the Ohio State men’s basketball program had a much better April Third day on the roster front.
At about 7:45 a.m. head coach Jake Diebler announced during a quick radio interview that he’s expecting Thornton to go through with the NBA Draft process and then ultimately return to Ohio State for his senior season. Thornton is currently not projected to be selected in any major mock draft services as of this week.
Then, around 3:00 p.m. former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly announced on Instagram that he would be transferring to Ohio State. He will start for the Buckeyes, and will hopefully relieve some of the defensive pressure on Ohio State’s guards by providing an offensive presence down low.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated which player who in the transfer portal (at the time) Ohio State should put on the full-court press for. Connor picked former Xavier forward Dailyn Swain, while Justin picked former West Virginia guard Jonathan Powell. 74% of the readers agreed with Connor with the choice of Swain.
Ironically, both of those players have transferred elsewhere since last week — Swain followed his former coach, Sean Miller to Austin to play for Texas. Powell committed to North Carolina on Tuesday night after (allegedly) doing a zoom call with the Carolina coaching staff.
After 198 weeks:
Connor- 89
Justin- 84
Other- 19
(There have been six ties)
Thornton’s eyes will be on making the NCAA Tournament in his final season, but a lot of fans will also be keeping an eye on the all-time scoring record, currently held by Dennis Hopson at 2,096 points.
He’ll either need to increase his points per game, or increase his total games played from this season, but that number is attainable if things go right and he stays healthy. How close will he get?
This week’s question: Will Bruce Thornton become Ohio State’s all-time leading scorer?
Connor: Yes
By this time next year, I think Bruce Thornton will be the all-time leading scorer in Ohio State men’s basketball history. Thornton currently has 1,487 career points, so he’s 609 points away from tying the record, and 610 away from breaking it.
He’d need to put up another All-Conference-caliber season, but that’s sort of the expectation with Thornton at this point. It would also behoove Ohio State to make the NCAA Tournament next year for obvious reasons, but also to help Bruce get the record. A few extra games could be the difference between him finishing first, second, or third in the record book.
Thornton averaged 17.7 points per game last season. If he ups that a tiny bit to 18 points per game — which might be underselling him a little bit — then he’d need to play 34 games next season to claim the all-time scoring record.
This past season, Ohio State played 32 games, including one Big Ten Tournament game and zero NCAA Tournament games. This is a make-or-break year for Jake Diebler, so I’m going off of the assumption here that Ohio State will make the NCAA Tournament.
If the Buckeyes play two games in the Big Ten Tournament, and make it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament (hypothetically), that puts the Bruce at 35 games — assuming health. At an 18 points per game pace, 35 games would do it.
I also think the addition of former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly will help Thornton maintain and probably improve his scoring pace. Ohio State did not have any type of offensive presence under the basket this past season, so opponents didn’t have to respect Ohio State in that area. That made Thornton’s shots tighter, more pressured, and more contested. With Tilly next season, I think Thornton will get a few more open, less crowded shots.
Justin: No
It seems like I am being negative because I am saying no, but I am actually being positive.I don’t think Thornton will break the scoring record simply because I think the Buckeyes will be improved next year, and more guys will help out in the scoring column.
This past year, the only real help Thornton had scoring for most of the season was John Mobley, Micah Parrish, and Devin Royal — and all three of them were inconsistent for the most part. Mobley and Royal are coming back to Columbus and will both be ready to take scoring jumps this year.
Now, the Buckeyes have announced they are bringing in Christoph Tilley, a 7-foot center from Santa Clara who averaged almost 13 points per game last year. They also have two more spots to fill, and one of those spots will likely be filled by starting-level player and backup guard Taison Chatman, who is returning from a season-ending injury.
All of these guys can score the ball and will help take the burden off Thornton when it comes to scoring the ball. As we have seen from his three years in Columbus, Thornton is the opposite of a selfish player and will let others get their opportunity.
I think he will get close, but fall just short since so many others on the team can score.