Under Jake Diebler, Lindy’s projects NCAA Tournament return for Ohio State in 2024-25

A return to the NCAA Tournament and a top-five Big Ten finish are projected for Ohio State in Lindy’s annual college basketball preseason magazine.

The 2024-25 preview issue features Ohio State’s Evan Mahaffey as one of the three primary cover stars alongside Cincinnati’s Dan Skillings Jr. and Zavier’s Zach Freemantle while Dayton’s Nate Santos is related to his own spot at the top right corner. Notably, Freemantle is Xavier’s cover representative for a fourth straight year as Lindy’s has used the same photo of him for both the 2022-23 and now 2024-25 seasons.

The Buckeyes enter the season ranked No. 22 nationally with the following prediction from Lindy’s: “The Buckeyes will have a more traditional Selection Sunday this season.” Ohio State has missed the last two NCAA Tournaments and fired coach Chris Holtmann last February, leading to associate coach Jake Diebler being promoted to interim and then full-time head coach.

Ohio State is one of 10 Big Ten teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament. Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, Oregon, Purdue, Rutgers, UCLA, USC and Washington are all projected to play in March Madness, but only the Hoosiers are picked to make it to the Sweet 16, where their season is projected to end. Overall, the conference rates No. 2 nationally behind only the Big 12.

The cover of the 2024-25 Lindy’s college basketball preview magazine.

The Big Ten “legit looks like 18 good teams, and not sure there’s a single one that’s better than a 4 seed,” the magazine reads.

No Buckeyes appear on Lindy’s three All-America teams and just one player appears on the magazine’s list of the top 150 players in the sport: junior guard Bruce Thornton, who checks in at No. 100. Ohio State is not included among the nation’s top 10 frontcourts or backcourts, and Thornton is the team’s lone representative on the all-conference team as a third-team pick.

“Bruce Thornton gets to play with portal pickups Aaron Bradshaw, Sean Stewart, Meechie…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/under-jake-diebler-lindys-projects-100404986.html

Author : The Columbus Dispatch

Publish date : 2024-09-19 10:04:04

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