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More than half of the 2026-27 Ohio State men’s basketball team has yet to wear a team uniform. Of the 14 players on the roster, only six were with the Buckeyes a season ago.
Meshing multiple newcomers with a handful of holdovers is the nature of the game in this era of the sport. This year, as the Buckeyes prepare for the third year of the Jake Diebler era, they will have the benefit of some extended time together.
On July 29, Diebler’s team will begin a foreign exhibition trip that, after a two-day stopover in Miami, will take Ohio State to Puerto Rico for two games. Accordingly, the Buckeyes will be afforded extra summer practices to prepare for the games, an increasingly bonus with eight new faces on the roster.
“It’s really important,” Diebler said after his team’s July 21 practice. “It gives us an opportunity to speed up some game situations and learn a little bit about our guys, figure out how to handle adversity together. That’s all stuff that it’s hard to create organically. You need to go play against somebody else.”
As of July 21, Ohio State was unsure exactly who it would be playing. The Buckeyes had initially planned a trip to Israel but had to pivot earlier this year for a variety of reasons, safety concerns among them, leading them to a Puerto Rico trip instead. Ohio State will touch down on the island July 31, return Aug. 5 and play two games in San Juan, but Diebler said they don’t yet know much about the opponents they will be facing.
That’s just fine by him.
“It’s going to force us to think on our feet,” Diebler said. “We’re going to make our guys have to figure some stuff out. This is not meant to be an overcoaching trip. Our guys are going to have to figure some stuff out on the fly and I’m excited to see who steps up from a leadership standpoint.”
Diebler said the Buckeyes will treat the exhibitions differently than regular-season games. There won’t be detailed scouting reports on their opponents, forcing the Buckeyes to adapt to in-game adversity. Playing time will be largely distributed equally, save for perhaps some crunch-time situations, as the coaches look to see which players can handle whatever the exhibition games throw at them.
The preparation leading into both games will be more inwardly focused.
“We’ll be prepared from a limited basis of what we want to accomplish, but going into this a little blind as to who we’re going to play and what they’re going to do,” Diebler said. “That’s a great thing for us, because it’s going to force guys to talk more. It’s going to force them to figure some stuff out on the fly. That’s part of the adversity we’re excited to experience together.”
Plus, there will be time to get into more detailed scouting reports this fall. Ohio State will play Cincinnati in an outdoor doubleheader that will also feature Dayton and Xavier, will host another high-major team for an exhibition and play a closed, “secret” scrimmage before starting the season Nov. 2 against BYU in Salt Lake City.
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at [email protected], on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Ohio State basketball's Puerto Rico trip could fast-track its rebuilt roster
Continue reading...
Meshing multiple newcomers with a handful of holdovers is the nature of the game in this era of the sport. This year, as the Buckeyes prepare for the third year of the Jake Diebler era, they will have the benefit of some extended time together.
On July 29, Diebler’s team will begin a foreign exhibition trip that, after a two-day stopover in Miami, will take Ohio State to Puerto Rico for two games. Accordingly, the Buckeyes will be afforded extra summer practices to prepare for the games, an increasingly bonus with eight new faces on the roster.
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“It’s really important,” Diebler said after his team’s July 21 practice. “It gives us an opportunity to speed up some game situations and learn a little bit about our guys, figure out how to handle adversity together. That’s all stuff that it’s hard to create organically. You need to go play against somebody else.”
As of July 21, Ohio State was unsure exactly who it would be playing. The Buckeyes had initially planned a trip to Israel but had to pivot earlier this year for a variety of reasons, safety concerns among them, leading them to a Puerto Rico trip instead. Ohio State will touch down on the island July 31, return Aug. 5 and play two games in San Juan, but Diebler said they don’t yet know much about the opponents they will be facing.
That’s just fine by him.
“It’s going to force us to think on our feet,” Diebler said. “We’re going to make our guys have to figure some stuff out. This is not meant to be an overcoaching trip. Our guys are going to have to figure some stuff out on the fly and I’m excited to see who steps up from a leadership standpoint.”
Diebler said the Buckeyes will treat the exhibitions differently than regular-season games. There won’t be detailed scouting reports on their opponents, forcing the Buckeyes to adapt to in-game adversity. Playing time will be largely distributed equally, save for perhaps some crunch-time situations, as the coaches look to see which players can handle whatever the exhibition games throw at them.
The preparation leading into both games will be more inwardly focused.
“We’ll be prepared from a limited basis of what we want to accomplish, but going into this a little blind as to who we’re going to play and what they’re going to do,” Diebler said. “That’s a great thing for us, because it’s going to force guys to talk more. It’s going to force them to figure some stuff out on the fly. That’s part of the adversity we’re excited to experience together.”
Plus, there will be time to get into more detailed scouting reports this fall. Ohio State will play Cincinnati in an outdoor doubleheader that will also feature Dayton and Xavier, will host another high-major team for an exhibition and play a closed, “secret” scrimmage before starting the season Nov. 2 against BYU in Salt Lake City.
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at [email protected], on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Why Ohio State basketball's Puerto Rico trip could fast-track its rebuilt roster
Continue reading...
