Even though it is football season, college basketball season is just around the corner, with Ohio State tipping off on Nov. 2 against BYU in Salt Lake City.
There were a lot of roster changes for the Buckeyes heading into the 2026-27 season, and over the next couple of months, we will be dropping one player preview a week to get you caught up on the current roster.
The Lee Aaliya File
Name: Lee Aaliya Position: Forward Class: International Transfer High School/Former School: UCAM Murcia Hometown: La Plata, Argentina Weight:
225 pounds Height: 6-foot-9
Breakdown
Aaliya spent three years training with the Argentinian National Team and competed in the 2026 AmeriCup and World Cup Qualifiers for his home country. At the club level, he played with UCAM Murcia in Spain, playing in the Liga ACB, one of Europe’s top leagues
In 2025-26, he played on UCAM’s top team and averaged 18.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He shot 60 percent from the floor.
He played the 2024-25 season with Argentina’s most successful club team, Atenas de Córdoba. With the club, he helped lead them to an appearance in the final four of the South American Basketball Champions League while averaging 7.4 points and 3.5 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game.
At the 2023 U19 World Cup, he averaged 17.1 points and 9.0 rebounds while shooting over 56 percent from the floor in seven games for Argentina.
The Buckeyes have made it a priority to find international players to help fill out the roster.
“You fast forward to the last few years, where the draw for high-level international players to come over to the United States has increased,” Diebler said on 97.1 The Fan in June. “And essentially, now, where you’re recruiting, you have this bigger bucket or additional bucket to build your roster from. So, we’ve leaned into it. We’ve embraced it.”
Expected Role
It is almost impossible to know exactly how much he will play or what his role will be. Aaliya is a talented player, but he just recently got to campus, and it is hard to get acclimated that quickly to the program and the culture.
However, Aaliya is older than most new guys on campus, being a 21-year-old and a guy who has played professional basketball, so he might be able to catch up faster.
I think he will play a little, but early on in the season, and a lot of his possible role could be dictated by the frontcourt depth and whether he is needed or not throughout the season.
