Ohio State will have a 6-11-sized hole to fill in its frontcourt rotation for next season.
Felix Okpara has entered his name in the transfer portal after two seasons with the Buckeyes.
Okpara was Ohio State's top rebounder in 2023-24, pulling in 6.4 boards per game to pair with 6.6 points. He not only paced the Buckeyes but finished second across the entire Big Ten in blocked shots with 2.4 per game. He started 34 of the Buckeyes' 36 games, missing one with the flu and sitting to allow Zed Key to start on Senior Day. Key also entered the transfer portal this April, ultimately landing at Dayton.
Ohio State added Aaron Bradshaw at center from Kentucky this portal cycle, a five-star prospect from the recruiting class of 2024. Bradshaw is likely to fill Okpara's spot in the starting lineup in 2024-25. Okpara initially elected to return to Columbus in a post on April 1, but has changed his mind 20 days later.
Hailing from Nigeria, Okpara exited high school at Link Acadamy in Branson, Missouri as a four-star prospect. The No. 66 prospect and No. 14 center in the 247Sports composite rankings, he made a strong addition down low to Ohio State's 2022 recruiting class, which ranked eighth nationally.
Just one of the four players from that class, Bruce Thornton, remains in Columbus for a third season. Brice Sensabaugh became a first-round selection in the 2023 NBA draft following his lone year at Ohio State and Roddy Gayle Jr. entered the portal earlier this cycle.
Okpara started just two of his first 26 games in his freshman year before starting each of the Buckeyes' final nine contests of the season. He averaged four points on the year with 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
He closed his Buckeye career on a 43-game block streak that started in that freshman year. He broke the school record of 40 consecutive games with a block set by Ken Johnson from 1998 to 2000.
Okpara leaves Ohio State one swat shy of 10th on its career blocks list with 127 during his two-year tenure.
The Buckeyes now have two scholarships open to fill out their 2024-25 roster. Ohio State will likely use those spots to add a versatile forward that helps replace some of Jamison Battle's production from this past season and another physical frontcourt defender to replace the loss of Okpara.
As versatile forwards go, Oakland's Trey Townsend, Central Arkansas' Tucker Anderson and Alabama's Sam Walters have all visited Ohio State in the past week.
