For the third straight year, Ohio State failed to qualify for the men’s NCAA Tournament.
But that doesn’t mean there won’t be rooting interests pertaining to the Buckeye State over the next few weeks or so. For the fourth straight year, we’ve taken the liberty to create a “players from Ohio rooting guide,” if you will, scouring NCAA Tournament qualifiers’ rosters for players with Ohio ties.
If any team in the entire tournament has even a single player from Ohio, whether they’re a superstar or benchwarmer, they’ll be listed here. In total, 34 players from 19 schools in the tournament hail from the Buckeye State. That’s up from 27 players from 13 schools in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
To get this out of the way, here are all the participants in the 68-team field that do NOT have a player on their roster from Ohio: Bryant, Omaha, Lipscomb, Montana, High Point, Norfolk State, Drake, SIUE, American University, Troy, Gonzaga, Auburn, Baylor, BYU, Colorado State, UCLA, Texas Tech, St. John’s, Duke, UConn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Iowa State, San Diego State, Maryland, Arkansas, Florida, New Mexico, Illinois, UC San Diego, Saint Mary’s, Oklahoma, Houston, Memphis, Georgia, Texas A&M, Yale, Wisconsin, Kansas, Utah State, Alabama, Alabama State, North Carolina, Texas, Grand Canyon, Mount St. Mary’s and Arizona.
THE BRACKET #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/fo6lA8hJ7g
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 16, 2025
Below, you’ll find the list of teams that do have players from Ohio, with each player listed along with their position, year of eligibility, hometown and stats (games played, points per game and rebounds per game this season). Schools are listed in order of how many native Ohioans they have on their roster. There are also three former OSU players competing in the NCAA tournament – one of whom is also among the list of Ohioans – which we highlighted in a separate section below.
Akron (9)
- Nate Johnson: Guard, junior, Liberty Township, 34 games, 14 points per game, 5 rebounds per game
- Armani Lyles: Forward, junior, Columbus, 33 games, 7.7 points per game, 5.3 rebounds per game
- Shammah Scott: Guard, senior, Cleveland, 33 games, 9.4 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game
- Bowen Hardman: Guard, junior, Cincinnati, 34 games, 6.7 points per game, 1.1 rebounds per game
- Seth Wilson: Guard, senior, Lorain, 33 games, 1.9 points per game, 1.9 rebounds per game
- Josiah Harris: Forward, junior, Canton, 6 games, 8.7 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game
- Zach Halligan: Forward, sophomore, Uniontown, DNP this season
- Eric Mahaffey: Guard, freshman, Cincinnati, DNP this season
- Conner Groce: Guard, freshman, Richfield, DNP this season
Most readers could have probably guessed Akron would lead the field of Ohio residents, as the Zips boast nine players from the Buckeye State on their roster. Johnson is the team’s leading scorer, while Lyles is second on the team in rebounds. Scott is the team’s fourth leading scorer, while Ohio State transfer Bowen Hardman provides a spark off the bench with his 39 percent shooting clip from beyond the arc.
Xavier (5)
- Dailyn Swain: Forward, sophomore, Columbus, 32 games, 10.5 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game
- Jerome Hunter: Forward, senior, Columbus, 32 games, 5.7 points per game, 3.3 rebounds per game
- John Hugley IV: Forward, senior, Cleveland, 32 games, 3 points per game, 2 rebounds per game
- Brad Colbert: Guard, senior, Loveland, 3 games, 1 point per game, 0.3 rebounds per game
- Ian Sabourin: Forward, junior, Hamilton, 2 games, 1 point per game, 0.0 rebounds per game
Xavier squeaked into the NCAA Tournament by its chinny chin chin, but it has the second-highest amount of players from Ohio in the 68-team tournament. Swain is the largest contributor of the five, as he’s the third-highest scorer on the team and shoots 52 percent from the field and converts 83 percent of his free throws. Hunter and Hugley are key bench players for Xavier, while Colbert and Sabourin didn’t see much action this season.
Saint Francis (3)
- Juan Cranford Jr.: Guard, freshman, Dayton, 33 games, 10 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game
- KJ Swain Jr.: Guard, junior, Hamilton, 7 games, 1.7 points per game, 0.4 rebounds per game
- Zachary Jones: Guard, freshman, Cincinnati, 4 games, 1 point per game, 0.3 rebounds per game
Cranford is the only major contributor for Saint Francis from Ohio, though he seems to have a promising future considering he was tied for third on the team in scoring.
UNC Wilmington (2)
- Sean Moore: Forward, senior, Columbus, 34 games, 8.8 points per game, 6.5 rebounds per game
- Joshua Corbin: Guard, senior, Gahanna, 21 games, 7 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game
Of the two, Moore is the bigger contributor for the Seahawks and has started 27 games this season while appearing in 34 after transferring from Farleigh Dickinson in the offseason.
Robert Morris (1)
- Amarion Dickerson: Forward, junior, Cleveland, 34 games, 12.9 points per game, 5.9 rebounds per game
Dickerson set a Robert Morris single-game record for blocks earlier this season, blocking seven shots against Stonehill. Dickerson is the third-leading scorer for Robert Morris this season and will need to be counted on if his squad has any hopes of pulling a first-round upset against Alabama.
Wofford (1)
- Corey Tripp: Guard, senior, Medina, 33 games, 14.3 points per game, 4 rebounds per game
Wofford may have made the Internet rounds because of a player who shoots his free throws granny style (no, seriously), but Tripp is the Terriers’ best player, as his 14.3 points per game lead the team.
McNeese State (1)
- Javohn Garcia: Guard, senior, Columbus, 33 games, 12.9 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game
While it’s unclear if Will Wade had to give Garcia a strong-ass offer to come to McNeese State, it’s plainly clear the team’s offense revolves around him. Garcia is the team’s leading scorer (not counting a player who averaged 17 points per game in just two games this season) and makes 81 percent of his free throws and 33 percent of his 3-pointers.
VCU (1)
- Zeb Jackson: Guard, senior, Toledo, 25 games, 10.4 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game
Jackson is the fourth-leading scorer for VCU despite not starting a game so far this season, though he averages 21 minutes per game and shoots a clip of 35 percent beyond the arc.
Vanderbilt (1)
- Grant Huffman: Guard, senior, Aurora, 28 games, 3.4 points, 1.9 rebounds per game
Huffman is a role player for the Commodores, converting 43 percent of his shots from the field.
Creighton (1)
- Jamiya Neal: Forward, senior, Toledo, 33 games, 11.5 points per game, 6.1 rebounds per game
Neal has started all 33 games this season for the Blue Jays, shooting 43 percent from the field and is the team’s second-leading rebounder. He’s fourth on the team in scoring, as Creighton has three other players averaging double figures.
Oregon (1)
- Ra’Heim Moss: Guard, senior, Springfield, 28 games, 1.6 points per game, 1.6 rebounds per game
While Moss appears in games frequently for the Ducks, his role isn’t overly large, as he only averages 10.5 minutes per game.
Liberty (1)
- Jayvon Maughmer: Guard, senior, Chillicothe, 33 games, 8.8 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game
Maughmer is a solid all-around player for the Flames who has started 31 contests, shoots 47 percent from the field and is third on the team in rebounding.
Mizzou (1)
- Jeremy Sanchez: Guard, senior, North Ridgeville, 5 games, 1.2 points per game, 0.2 rebounds per game
It’s very unlikely Sanchez will see any action in the tournament, as he’s spent most of the season on the Tigers’ bench.
Clemson (1)
- Daniel Nauseef: Forward, senior, Dayton, 7 games, 0.1 points per game, 0.0 rebounds per game
Nauseef has played only sparingly this season and will likely not see the floor in the tournament.
Kentucky (1)
- Grant Darbyshire: Guard, junior, Cincinnati, 1 game
Darbyshire only saw action in one contest this season and does not play a large role currently for the Wildcats.
Michigan State (1)
- Jesse McCulloch: Forward, freshman, Cleveland, DNP this year
McCulloch redshirted this season for the Spartans and hopes to see the floor more in year two.
Purdue (1)
- Raleigh Burgess: Forward, freshman, Cincinnati, 31 games, 1.9 points per game, 1.3 rebounds per game
The 6-foot-11 forward averages only 6.3 minutes per game this season for Purdue, but has appeared in most of the Boilermakers’ contests this year. Burgess shoots 53 percent from the floor and could be in line for a bigger role next season.
Marquette (1)
- Sean Jones: Guard, junior, Columbus, DNP this season
Jones elected to redshirt this season at Marquette as he continues to rehab an ACL injury he suffered last year.
Louisville (1)
- Kobe Rogers: Guard, senior, Cincinnati, DNP this season
Similar to Jones, Rogers is redshirting this season to rehab a leg injury suffered last season.
Ohio State transfers (3)
- Felix Okpara, Tennessee: Forward, junior, 33 games, 7.3 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game
- Roddy Gayle Jr., Michigan: Guard, junior, 9.6 points per game, 3.6 rebounds per game
- Bowen Hardman, Akron: Guard, junior, Cincinnati, 34 games, 6.7 points per game, 1.1 rebounds per game
Considering Ohio State was the third team out of the field, Buckeye fans probably have to be wondering how different the season would have gone if Okpara stayed in Columbus given the Buckeyes’ frontcourt struggles this year.
Gayle was a regular contributor for Michigan and nearly averaged double figures, but also struggled from the 3-point line this season (20 percent).
Hardman, who we’ve already discussed as one of Akron’s nine Ohioans, was also a member of Ohio State’s 2022 recruiting class who spent two years with the Buckeyes before transferring out of OSU alongside Gayle and Okpara last season.
