Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr. makes a major announcement about his basketball future.
Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr. made a major announcement on Tuesday afternoon. Just a week and a half removed from the Buckeyes first-round dismissal from the NCAA Tournament, he announced that "if" he doesn't enter the NBA Draft, he will be returning to Ohio State.
In his statement, he said that "there will be only one place for me and that is here in Columbus with Buckeye Nation."
This is a big keep for the Buckeyes basketball program that is going to have its back against the wall in the 2026-27 season. It took a miracle in 2025 for them to get to the tournament, and unfortunately, just getting there is not the standard. Just getting there and losing in the first round is also not the goal.
Ohio State basketball needs to be making runs in the tournament, and they need to be a consistent second weekend and beyond team in March. That has just simply not been the case over the past several seasons in Columbus.
Now, heading into next year, they will be losing their team leader and point guard, Bruce Thornton, as his time in college is up.
On Monday, Amare Bynum announced that he is staying in Columbus for his second year, and now Mobley made the same thing official.
Building the foundation for the basketball program is a critical part in this for head coach Jaek Diebler.
Through his first three seasons, Diebler holds a 46-31 record with just one tournament appearance to his name, this year's.
Diebler is tasked with turning the program around from where he picked it up. Keeping around his players for more than just one year is not only a relief, but it is a serious advantage as he looks towards the future.
In the year, Mobley was the number two scoring option for the Buckeyes as he poured in 15.7 points per game to go with two rebounds and two assists.
He is a legit scorer and shoots the three-ball at a ridiculous 41 percent clip. He is a major piece of the Buckeyes team and will be called upon next year to lead the group.
That is, if he doesn't declare for the NBA Draft.
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