Kevin McGuff wasted little time in replacing some of his backcourt attrition from the transfer portal.
On Sunday, the Buckeyes landed a commitment from former Oregon point guard Chance Gray, their first portal pickup of 2024.
So excited to be a buckeye!! #home #Committed @OhioStateWBB pic.twitter.com/8xYQ78i9T0
— chance gray (@chancegrayy) April 14, 2024
Gray finished second on the Ducks with 13.9 points per game this past season, adding a team-high three assists per contest. She shot 33.7% from behind the 3-point line but only 34.7% from the field in her sophomore campaign.
The Gray File
- Year: Junior
- Size: 5-9
- Pos: Point Guard
- School: Oregon (2022-24)
- Stats: 13.9 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3 APG
A heralded in-state recruit, Gray attended Lakota West High School in Beckett Ridge, Ohio for her first three prep seasons before transferring to Cincinnati's Winton Woods High School. Gray was a five-star recruit and the No. 7 overall prospect in the class of 2022, per ESPN.
The Buckeyes weren't a finalist in her initial recruitment, which centered on the Pac-12 as she chose Oregon over UCLA. Gray earned All-Ohio honors three times in high school and averaged an impressive 26.7 points with 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.2 steals per game as a senior at Winton Woods.
Gray earned immediate playing time as a freshman at Oregon in 2022-23, starting all 35 games for the Ducks that year and scoring 10.3 points with 2.2 assists per contest.
Five players are gone from this year's Ohio State roster at guard. Longtime star Jacy Sheldon is out of eligibility, as is Duke transfer and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Celeste Taylor. Emma Shumate, Diana Collins and Rikki Harris have all hit the transfer portal.
Madison Greene will complement Gray in the backcourt, entering her sixth year at Ohio State finally stringing healthy years together after back-to-back season-ending injuries in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Kaia Henderson and Kennedy Cambridge join her to round out the Buckeyes' expected returnees in the backcourt.
Incoming five-star recruit Jaloni Cambridge and four-star prospect Ava Watson will join the team this summer to bolster the backcourt roster. McGuff could still look to add another transfer in the backcourt, too, as the Buckeyes still have two open scholarships for the 2024-25 season – a number that could increase to three if Eboni Walker is not granted an additional year of eligibility.
| Pos | Expected to Return | Incoming Freshmen | Incoming Transfers | Status Uncertain | Not Returning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Faith Carson (0.6 ppg, 1.1 rpg) | Elsa Lemmilä |
Rebeka Mikulasikova (out of eligibility) Taiyier Parks (out of eligibility) |
||
| F |
Cotie McMahon (14.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg) Taylor Thierry (11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg) |
Ella Hobbs (No. 92 overall) Seini Henry |
Eboni Walker (2.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg) | Karla Vres (out of eligibility) | |
| G |
Madison Greene (2.7 ppg, 1.6 apg) Kennedy Cambridge (redshirt) Kaia Henderson (0.8 ppg, 0.7 rpg) |
Jaloni Cambridge (No. 3 overall) Ava Watson (No. 51 overall) |
Chance Gray (Oregon, 13.9 ppg, 3.0 apg) |
Jacy Sheldon (out of eligibility) Celeste Taylor (out of eligibility) Diana Collins (transfer) Emma Shumate (transfer) Rikki Harris (transfer) |
Gray will arrive at Ohio State with two years of eligibility remaining.
