Ohio Bobcats basketball: What you need to know for 2023-24 season
Jeff Boals enters his fifth season at Ohio University with hopes of getting his alma mater back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.
The Bobcats have the experience to make it—five of the top six scorers from last season’s 19-14 team returns. Guards Jaylin Hunter and AJ and Miles Brown were all double-digit scorers for Ohio last season and AJ Clayton and Elmore James were part-time starters who will provide veteran leadership.
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Ohio returning starters
Hunter is a senior and the player that makes the Bobcat go. He is the leading returning scorer at 13.2 points per game and led the squad in assists, steals and minutes played last year. The 6-foot guard is also the second-leading returning rebounder after pulling down 3.6 per game last year.
AJ Brown returns after playing in 26 games, including eight starts, and putting up 10.3 points per game as a freshman.
Fifth-year player Miles Brown is back after averaging 10 points per game last season and leading the team from outside last year, shooting .447 on 3-pointers.
Clayton started 16 games and Elmore 15 last year. Clayton, a 6-8 junior forward, averaged 7.8 points and is the team’s leading returning rebounder at 4.7 per game last season. He was also the team’s top free-throw shooter, connecting at a .897 clip. James averaged 6.8 points per game in his freshman campaign last year.
Ohio basketball newcomers
With such a veteran group returning, this year’s Bobcats are only adding two transfers and one freshman to the roster.
Shereef Mitchell is a 6-1 graduate student who is transferring from Creighton. Mitchell played in 99 career games, including seven NCAA Tournament games while at Creighton.
Sophomore Ike Cornish, a 6-6 guard-forward, is a transfer from Maryland where he averaged 1.4 points in 21 games last year.
Ben Nicol, a 6-7 forward from Charleston, W. Va., is the lone freshman.
Ohio schedule highlights: A trip to the Bahamas for Thanksgiving
The Bobcats will be part of an eight-team field for the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship held on Nov. 24 — the day after Thanksgiving.
They will face George Washington in the opening round. The field also includes Middle Tennessee, UIC, Brown, Delaware, UNC Greensboro and Kansas City. The three-day tournament will conclude on Nov. 26.
2023-24 Ohio University basketball roster
ACADEMIC YEAR | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | G | 6-1 | 185 | So. | Dublin, Oh. / Dublin Coffman | |
1 | G | 6-3 | 205 | So. | Cleveland, Oh. / Brush | |
2 | G | 6-1 | 180 | 5th | Rochester, N.Y. / Northstar Christian Academy | |
3 | G | 6-4 | 195 | So. | Orlando, Fla. / Orlando Christian Prep | |
4 | G | 6-1 | 170 | Gr. | Omaha, Neb. / Omaha Burke | |
7 | F | 6-7 | 208 | Fr. | Charleston, W. Va. / George Washington | |
10 | F | 6-8 | 190 | So. | Lafayette, Ga. / Lafayette | |
11 | C | 6-11 | 240 | Sr. | Walhalla, S.C. / Hargrave Military Academy | |
12 | G | 6-0 | 195 | Sr. | Manchester, Conn. / East Catholic | |
14 | G | 6-1 | 170 | So. | Southlake, Texas / Southlake Carroll | |
15 | G | 6-3 | 170 | So. | Columbus, Oh. / Upper Arlington | |
21 | F | 6-8 | 240 | Jr. | Raleigh, N.C / Hargrave Military Academy | |
23 | F | 6-8 | 225 | Jr. | Roseville, Oh. / Philo | |
24 | G/F | 6-6 | 190 | R-So. | Baltimore, MD / Legacy Charter |
2023-24 Ohio University basketball schedule
Date | Time | At | Opponent | Location |
Nov. 2, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Home | Otterbein (Exhibition) | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Nov. 8, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Home | Troy | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Nov. 11, 2023 | 6 p.m. | Away | Cleveland, Oh. | |
Nov. 18, 2023 | 2 p.m. | Home | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center | |
Nov. 24, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Neutral | George Washington | Nassau, The Bahamas |
Nov. 25, 2023 | TBA | Neutral | TBA | Nassau, The Bahamas |
Nov. 26, 2023 | TBA | Neutral | TBA | Nassau, The Bahamas |
Dec. 2, 2023 | 2 p.m. | Home | Delaware | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Dec. 6, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Home | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center | |
Dec. 9, 2023 | 4 p.m. | Home | Marshall | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Dec. 18, 2023 | 7 p.m. | Home | Defiance | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Dec. 22, 2023 | TBA | Away | Clarksville, Tenn. | |
Dec. 30, 2023 | 1:30 p.m. | Neutral | Davidson | Cleveland, Oh. |
Jan. 2, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center | |
Jan. 6, 2024 | 2 p.m. | Home | Northern Illinois | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Jan. 9, 2024 | TBA | Away | Bowling Green | Bowling Green, Oh. |
Jan. 13, 2024 | TBA | Away | Kalamazoo, Mich. | |
Jan. 16, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Central Michigan | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Jan. 20, 2024 | 4 p.m. | Home | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center | |
Jan. 23, 2024 | TBA | Away | Akron, Oh. | |
Jan. 27, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Away | Kent State | Kent, Oh. |
Jan. 30, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Buffalo | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Feb. 3, 2024 | 2 p.m. | Home | Miami | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Feb. 6, 2024 | TBA | Away | Muncie, Ind. | |
Feb. 10, 2024 | TBA | Away | Sun Belt (TBA) | TBA |
Feb. 17, 2024 | TBA | Away | Toledo | Toledo, Oh. |
Feb. 20, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Kent State | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
Feb. 24, 2024 | TBA | Away | Northern Illinois | DeKalb, Ill. |
Feb. 27, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Home | Akron | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
March 2, 2024 | 2 p.m. | Home | Bowling Green | Athens, Oh. / Convocation Center |
March 5, 2024 | 7 p.m. | Away | Buffalo | Buffalo, N.Y. |
March 8, 2024 | TBA | Away | Miami | Oxford, Oh. |
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio University basketball: 2023-24 roster, schedule preview
