ROSEMONT, Ill. – Most of the high-profile games had already been announced, but the full Ohio State men’s basketball nonconference schedule was released Aug. 19. Four weeks later, the Buckeyes got dates for their 20-game Big Ten schedule.
The 32-game schedule was set. The rosters for the teams they would be playing were an entirely different situation. With eligibility lawsuits ongoing across the country, the NCAA’s lobbying Congress for the Protect College Sports Act and the ever-present need to find an edge somewhere, rosters across the sport remained unsettled as the Big Ten’s coaches and players converged for the league’s media day Oct. 8.
“I never would’ve really envisioned three years ago that when you put your schedule together it had a chance
to get significantly harder in October,” Ohio State men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler said.
The Buckeyes will open the season against BYU in Salt Lake City on Nov. 2. Since that game was announced, the Cougars have added Jaxon Kohler, a former Michigan State forward who averaged 12.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in his fourth season of college basketball. He filed a lawsuit in California, received a temporary restraining order and signed with BYU after spending time with the Utah Jazz in the NBA Summer League.
On Dec. 19, the Buckeyes will play Kansas in Madison Square Garden as part of the annual CBS Sports Classic. Always a formidable foe, the Jayhawks have added wing Tre White and guard Melvin Council Jr. since mid-September after both secured preliminary injunctions. White, who averaged 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds for Kansas in his fourth season, received his ruling in Indiana and Council, who averaged 12.7 points, 5.1 assists and 5.0 rebounds last year, got his from New York.
There are plenty of others across the league who are dealing with similar situations. Some, like Minnesota, are hoping one will fall in their favor.
Cade Tyson, who averaged a career-high 19.6 points for the Golden Gophers last year, is seeking a fifth year of eligibility and remains in limbo. At Big Ten media day, coach Niko Medved said the Gophers are supportive of his legal efforts to secure a fifth year and hopeful of getting a final determination soon.
“When would we want to know the answer to that? Today when I leave would be ideal,” he said Oct. 8. “You hopefully have a much better picture here before you tip off. Who knows where this is going to go?”
That is the big question more than a week later. On Oct. 14, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order preventing any Ohio colleges from enforcing NCAA rules prohibiting them from allowing players a fifth year of eligibility. Later that night, NCAA president Charlie Baker issued his own memo pushing back on DeWine’s order, and it’s not clear whether it will stand or not.
That’s just for Ohio. At the federal level, the pursuit of a blanket waiver for all members of the class of 2022 was initially granted only for the NCAA to win a stay in the case. That is still being argued but, for now at least, players from 2022 hoping for a fifth year have to be part of a state-issued injunction in order to be eligible.
Former Ohio State player Roddy Gayle Jr., who spent two seasons with the Buckeyes before transferring and playing two more at Michigan, is one of those. He is on Michigan’s roster and, like Tyson, practicing with his team, but Gayle did not participate in an exhibition game Oct. 11 against Eastern Michigan.
The reason? The injunction he received did not “address his participation in (NBA) Summer League,” coach Mike Boynton told reporters afterward. At Big Ten media day, his likely 2026-27 teammates spoke as if he would be part of the team.
“He’s going to help us tremendously,” guard Trey McKenney said. “I think he’s going to be super impactful this year.”
That is, assuming everything is ironed out legally and that nothing changes from there. While coaches debated whether or not players could or should be added to rosters, most Big Ten coaches were in agreement on one thing: once the season starts, hopefully more changes are not on the table.
“My hope is it’s not a situation where you have guys in and out of games,” Diebler said. “I hope it doesn’t get to that.”
Ohio State men's basketball beat writer 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: How eligibility lawsuits could reshape Ohio State's schedule, season
