Ohio State will be down a fourth scholarship player and a second starter from its roster when it plays Valparaiso on Tuesday.
Guard Meechie Johnson Jr. is taking a leave of absence from the team while attending to a personal matter, an Ohio State spokesperson told Eleven Warriors. It's unclear what the personal matter pertains to.
Johnson has started all 10 games for the Buckeyes this year, averaging 9.1 points and 2.7 assists per contest after transferring back to Columbus, where he started his career, from South Carolina. Freshman John Mobley Jr., currently averaging 12.1 points per game and shooting 54% from 3-point range, will likely start in his place.
The Buckeyes will be exceptionally thin at guard with Ques Glover also out dealing with an injury. Guard Taison Chatman is also out for the season with a torn ACL from the summer. With that, point guard Bruce Thornton and Mobley will be the only two true scholarship guards available for Ohio State against the Beacons, though starting wing Micah Parrish is listed as a guard and handles plenty of ball-handling duties for the team.
With freshman wing Colin White also out due to injury, coach Jake Diebler will likely opt to run some combination of Parrish and Mobley at the 1 and 2 when he wants to give Thornton a break. Small forward Evan Mahaffey could be in line for more minutes to help give Parrish and company some rest.
Walk-ons Braylen Nash and Colby Baumann will be the only other guard options off the bench.
Starting center Aaron Bradshaw also remains out for the Buckeyes as he works his way back after being removed from team activities for five games while under university investigation for a domestic incident. It will be the seventh game Bradshaw has missed in total.
Ohio State tips off against Valparaiso at 8 p.m. Tuesday in Value City Arena. The game will be streamed on Peacock.
