Ohio State women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff had a reason for scheduling nonconference games the way he did in 2026-27.
To be more precise, he had at least eight reasons. When the McGuff built a schedule that includes Connecticut, Ole Miss, Texas, Stanford and one more comparable opponent yet to be announced, he did so largely because he's bringing back eight players. His team last year went 27-8, finished tied for fourth in the Big Ten and earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
“I think we returned enough that we wanted to see where we measured up against some of the country’s best programs, and we’re going to get that opportunity,”
he said. “Also as we look toward the end of the season, the opportunity to play in the postseason, we want to put ourselves in the best chance possible to get a great seed. The only way you can do that is playing good competition.”
McGuff's willingness to embrace that challenge stems from the fact that he's returning four of five starters, adding three impactful first-year players.
The fact that he can bank on the continued development of the core of last year’s team is what roster building used to look like before the transfer portal. Standing by the main floor at the Schottenstein Center on Sept. 21, McGuff said the Buckeyes had kicked tires on a handful of players in the portal but ultimately didn’t find any who seemed like the right fit.
“We have certainly been successful in the portal in filling some needs, but we want the core of our team to come from people who have been here for multiple years,” he said. “We’re lucky to be able to do that. Hopefully that experience will pay dividends this year.”
The only starter from last year who departed is Chance Gray, now in the WNBA. She averaged 14.7 points per game in 2025-26, and McGuff said the Buckeyes are counting on a few players to step into bigger roles to fill in for her.
“We did consider some people in the portal but nobody really worked out and we also felt like we had some people,” McGuff said. “[Third-year guard] Ava Watson has a chance to step up and help this season and score a little more than she has in the past. [Second-year guard] Bryn Martin’s been really good. Those two in particular, I think, are going to have to have really good years and step up to offset what we’re going to miss with Chance, particularly her perimeter scoring.”
The four returning starters give plenty of reason for optimism. Fifth-year guard Kennedy Cambridge has her eyes set on being named the nation’s top defensive player while growing her offensive game. Her younger sister, Jaloni, was a second-team All-American in her second year, becoming the second player in program history to score at least 800 points in a season.
Third-year junior center Elsa Lemmila led the Big Ten in blocks and was eighth in rebounding average while forward Kylee Kitts was named to the Big Ten’s all-freshman team.
“We have eight returners and that’s something you don’t see a lot,” Kennedy Cambridge said. “It says a lot about this culture of this team and our relationship with each other. I love my teammates to death. I’m excited for the show.”
Then there are the three newcomers, two of whom were not with the team during the summer. Ohio State was without Sydney Mobley, who graduated high school early and reclassified to the 2026 class in early July, and Adriana Diaz spent the summer playing for Spain in the U18 FIBA Eurobasket Championship.
Atlee Vanesko, a guard from New Jersey, was the only one of the three to spend the summer with the team.
“All three of them will have an impact on this season,” McGuff said.
Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social, on Instagram at @cdadamjardyor on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kevin McGuff bullish on Ohio State's season thanks to roster retention
