Ohio State Head Coach Jake Diebler Announced Future Plans For  21-Year-Old Guard Amid NBA Return Rumors

Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler announced on97.1 The Fan’s Morning Juice that Thornton plans to test the NBA waters but is expected to return for his senior season in Columbus.

“He’s gonna go through the NBA draft process, which I’m really excited for him to go through and get feedback,” Diebler said. “If he can stay in and be an NBA player, great, because I think he is an NBA player. Maybe he’s not yet, and if he’s not, he’s gonna come back to Ohio State. That’s something that should be celebrated. It says something about what we have going here. Someone in today’s landscape who is gonna be a Buckeye. We have a saying in our program: ‘Once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye.’ Who better lives that out than Bruce?”

Almost certain to be the first four-time captain in school history after he held a captaincy each of his first three Ohio State seasons, Thornton has started since his first game donning the scarlet and gray as a freshman. With a career assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly four to one and 14.6 career points per game, he had his best season yet in 2024-25, collecting 17.7 points and 4.6 assists per contest. He took home second-team All-Big Ten honors for his efforts.

Thornton stands 21st on Ohio State’s all-time scoring list with 1,487 points and 10th all-time in assists with 408. Having recorded at least 148 assists each of the last two seasons, he can reach third in dimes all-time with another 121 in 2025-26 and second if he posts a career-high 172.

With fellow starting guard John Mobley Jr. also announcing his return, the Buckeyes will return their full starting backcourt for Jake Diebler’s pivotal second season as head coach. Redshirt sophomore Indiana transfer Gabe Cupps, redshirt sophomore Taison Chatman and incoming freshman Dorian Jones are currently set to round out the depth chart in Ohio State’s backcourt