# 2016–17 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 2016–17 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach is Thad Matta, in his 13th season with the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes played their home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio and were members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 17–15, 7–11 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for 10th place. As the No. 11 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they lost in the first round to Rutgers.
On June 5, 2017, the school announced that head coach Thad Matta would not return as head coach. On June 9, the school hired Butler head coach Chris Holtmann as head coach.

## Previous season

The Buckeyes finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 21–14, 11–7 in Big Ten play to finish in seventh place. They defeated Penn State in the second round of the Big Ten tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Michigan State. They received an invitation to the National Invitational tournament where they defeated Akron in the first round to before losing to Florida.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Mickey Mitchell | 00 | F | 6'7" | 232 | Freshman | Plano, TX | Transferred to UC Santa Barbara |
| Austin Grandstaff | 3 | G | 6'4" | 188 | Freshman | Rockwall, TX | Transferred to DePaul |
| Daniel Giddens | 4 | F/C | 6'10" | 228 | Freshman | Marietta, GA | Transferred to Alabama |
| A. J. Harris | 12 | G | 5'9" | 157 | Freshman | Dayton, OH | Transferred to New Mexico State |
| Jake Lorbach | 34 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Senior | Elyria, OH | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| C. J. Jackson | 3 | G | 6'1" | 175 | Sophomore | Charlotte, NC | Junior college transferred from Eastern Florida State College |

## Recruiting Class of 2016

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| D. J. Funderburk #14 SF | Lakewood, OH | Hargrave Military Academy | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Apr 1, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Micah Potter #15 C | Mentor, OH | Mentor High School | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Apr 20, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Andre Wesson #30 PF | Westerville, OH | Westerville South High School | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Apr 13, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 15, 2016. ||||||

### Recruiting Class of 2017

US college sports recruiting information for 2017 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Kaleb Wesson #C | Westerville, OH | Westerville South High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 300 lb (140 kg) | Jul 3, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Braxton Beverly PG | Hazard, KY | Hargrave Military Academy | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Oct 10, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014. |||||||

### Recruiting Class of 2018

US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Dane Goodwin SG | Columbus, OH | Upper Arlington High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 187 lb (85 kg) | Jul 3, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Darius Bazley SF | Cincinnati, OH | Finneytown High School | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Aug 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Justin Ahrens SF | Versailles, OH | Versailles South High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 181 lb (82 kg) | Aug 27, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: NR ESPN: NR |||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved June 4, 2014. |||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 6, 2016* 4:00 pm, BTN+ | | Walsh | W 85–67 | | 14 – Lyle | 6 – 2 Tied | 6 – Jackson | Value City Arena (11,724) Columbus, OH |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 11, 2016* 9:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Navy Veterans Classic | W 78–68 | 1–0 | 23 – Williams | 14 – Bates-Diop | 9 – Jackson | Alumni Hall (4,116) Annapolis, MD |
| Nov 14, 2016* 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | North Carolina Central Global Sports Invitational | W 69–63 | 2–0 | 21 – Tate | 10 – Tate | 8 – Jackson | Value City Arena (9,787) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 17, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Providence Gavitt Tipoff Games | W 72–67 | 3–0 | 21 – Lyle | 10 – Loving | 7 – Lyle | Value City Arena (11,089) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 21, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Western Carolina Global Sports Invitational | W 66–38 | 4–0 | 17 – Lyle | 11 – Tate | 5 – Lyle | Value City Arena (10,452) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 23, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Jackson State Global Sports Invitational | W 78–47 | 5–0 | 19 – Loving | 8 – Thompson | 11 – Lyle | Value City Arena (10,513) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 25, 2016* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Marshall Global Sports Invitational | W 111–70 | 6–0 | 20 – 2 tied | 14 – Loving | 7 – Jackson | Value City Arena (14,355) Columbus, OH |
| Nov 30, 2016* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 6 Virginia ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 61–63 | 6–1 | 14 – Tate | 9 – Tate | 5 – Lyle | John Paul Jones Arena (14,566) Charlottesville, VA |
| Dec 3, 2016* 4:30 pm, BTN+ | | Fairleigh Dickinson | W 70–62 | 7–1 | 18 – Loving | 13 – Thompson | 5 – Lyle | Value City Arena (11,570) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 6, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Florida Atlantic | L 77–79 $^{OT}$ | 7–2 | 16 – Thompson | 7 – 3 tied | 9 – Lyle | Value City Arena (11,862) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 10, 2016* 6:00 pm, BTN | | UConn | W 64–60 | 8–2 | 17 – Thompson | 17 – Thompson | 3 – Lyle | Value City Arena (12,313) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 17, 2016* 3:00 pm, CBS | | vs. No. 2 UCLA CBS Sports Classic | L 73–86 | 8–3 | 19 – Loving | 8 – Thompson | 6 – Lyle | T-Mobile Arena (19,298) Paradise, NV |
| Dec 20, 2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Youngstown State | W 77–40 | 9–3 | 15 – Tate | 15 – Thompson | 10 – Lyle | Value City Arena (11,417) Columbus, OH |
| Dec 22, 2016* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | UNC Asheville | W 79–77 | 10–3 | 17 – 2 tied | 10 – Thompson | 6 – Lyle | Value City Arena (11,480) Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten regular season |||||||||
| Jan 1, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | at Illinois | L 70–75 | 10–4 (0–1) | 26 – Lyle | 9 – Tate | 3 – Lyle | State Farm Center (12,221) Champaign, IL |
| Jan 5, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 20 Purdue | L 75–76 | 10–5 (0–2) | 17 – Tate | 8 – Loving | 4 – Lyle | Value City Arena (13,221) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 8, 2017 7:30 pm, BTN | | at Minnesota | L 68–78 | 10–6 (0–3) | 20 – Tate | 15 – Thompson | 6 – Lyle | Williams Arena (11,267) Minneapolis, MN |
| Jan 12, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 18 Wisconsin | L 66–89 | 10–7 (0–4) | 13 – Lyle | 9 – Thompson | 3 – Jackson | Kohl Center (17,287) Madison, WI |
| Jan 15, 2017 1:30 pm, CBS | | Michigan State | W 72–67 | 11–7 (1–4) | 22 – Lyle | 8 – Thompson | 6 – Lyle | Value City Arena (17,449) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 18, 2017 9:00 pm, BTN | | at Nebraska | W 67–66 | 12–7 (2–4) | 15 – Loving | 11 – Loving | 3 – Lyle | Pinnacle Bank Arena (13,842) Lincoln, NE |
| Jan 22, 2017 1:00 pm, BTN | | Northwestern | L 72–74 | 12–8 (2–5) | 14 – Tate | 15 – Thompson | 4 – Lyle | Value City Arena (13,369) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 25, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | Minnesota | W 78–72 | 13–8 (3–5) | 19 – 2 tied | 10 – Thompson | 4 – Lyle | Value City Arena (11,206) Columbus, OH |
| Jan 28, 2017 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Iowa | L 72–85 | 13–9 (3–6) | 15 – Tate | 7 – Tate | 6 – Lyle | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,138) Iowa City, IA |
| Jan 31, 2017 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 17 Maryland | L 71–77 | 13–10 (3–7) | 20 – Tate | 9 – Thompson | 6 – Lyle | Value City Arena (12,887) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 4, 2017 6:00 pm, ESPN | | at Michigan | W 70–66 | 14–10 (4–7) | 17 – Loving | 11 – Thompson | 3 – Tate | Crisler Center (12,196) Ann Arbor, MI |
| Feb 8, 2017 7:00 pm, BTN | | Rutgers | W 70–64 | 15–10 (5–7) | 23 – Williams | 13 – Thompson | 4 – Tate | Value City Arena (11,077) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 11, 2017 4:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 21 Maryland | L 77–86 | 15–11 (5–8) | 24 – Loving | 10 – Thompson | 3 – 2 tied | Xfinity Center (17,950) College Park, MD |
| Feb 14, 2017 9:00 pm, ESPN | | at Michigan State | L 66–74 | 15–12 (5–9) | 22 – Loving | 7 – 2 tied | 5 – Lyle | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Feb 18, 2017 6:00 pm, BTN | | Nebraska | L 57–58 | 15–13 (5–10) | 14 – Tate | 10 – Tate | 3 – 2 tied | Value City Arena (13,044) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 23, 2017 9:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 16 Wisconsin | W 83–73 | 16–13 (6–10) | 18 – Jackson | 12 – Tate | 4 – 2 tied | Value City Arena (11,505) Columbus, OH |
| Feb 28, 2017 8:30 pm, BTN | | at Penn State | W 71–70 | 17–13 (7–10) | 17 – Lyle | 9 – Tate | 4 – Lyle | Bryce Jordan Center (7,343) University Park, PA |
| Mar 4, 2017 12:00 pm, ESPN | | Indiana | L 92–96 | 17–14 (7–11) | 20 – Tate | 11 – Thompson | 6 – Tate | Value City Arena (15,560) Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Mar 8, 2017 7:00 pm | (11) | vs. (14) Rutgers First round | L 57–66 | 17–15 | 18 – Tate | 11 – Thompson | 6 – Jackson | Verizon Center Washington, D.C. |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source: