The soon-to-be four time captain will finish his career having only played at Ohio State.
Even in the age of name, image, and likeness, a player announcing that they will return to play for the same team that they signed a letter of intent to play for may seem redundant, but this was an announcement Ohio State fans have been nervously waiting for:
Bruce Thornton will start and end his collegiate career as a Buckeye, as head coach Jake Diebler announced on Thursday morning that the star guard will test the NBA Draft waters but ultimately return for his senior campaign in Columbus.
Already sitting in 21st all-time on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,487 points, Thornton will have an opportunity to become Ohio State’s all-time leading scorer next season.
The soon-to-be four-time captain led Ohio State in scoring for the second consecutive season this year, averaging 17.7 points per game and playing 36.2 minutes per contest. He set a career-high in three-point shooting at 42.4%, and scored 20+ points 14 times. Thornton was named All-Big Ten Second Team at the conclusion of the season.
There were options for Thornton this off-season. Nearly 2,000 players have entered the transfer portal since last week, and Thornton would have been one of the most sought-after players had he entered. The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported on Monday that the premier players in the transfer portal have been seeking deals worth upwards of $2.5-million dollars.
Even though Thornton did not enter the transfer portal, it’s feasible that he or his family could have received calls and inquiries this spring about entering the transfer portal and cashing in on a substantially large payday.
Instead, credit goes to the Ohio State men’s basketball program and Ohio State’s NIL collectives for helping keep the face of the program in Columbus for his final year. NIL deals aren’t public information, but on top of loyalty, Thornton’s return also could’ve been incentivized by a large raise in compensation from his various NIL agreements according to sources sources.
Last fall, an anonymous poll of over 100 college basketball coaches put Ohio State in the top 20 of all men’s basketball programs in terms of NIL resources.
He also could have entertained other options that would’ve given him better odds to play in the NCAA Tournament after not making it to the Big Dance in each of his first three seasons. His decision to stay put reflects not only Bruce’s confidence in himself, but also in head coach Jake Diebler to make that leap this season and play in the NCAA Tournament.
Thornton talked about how important winning games, specifically at Ohio State, was to him in the fall, at Ohio State’s media day, saying:
“That’s the whole reason I came here. I’m just trying to win – there’s just no other way. You see like, the banners and the 20 Big Ten championships, 10 Final Fours, like, they put a lot of work in. This probably wasn’t the plan I wanted for myself, but these are the cards I was dealt. My last two years were a learning curve, learning each and every day. Now I’ve grown. I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of college basketball. And I’ve learned to tell these guys, like ‘It’s going to be a long season. No one practice, no one game is going to define who we are as a team.’ But what we do each and every day to better ourselves as a team (and) as a program. To win at Ohio State means way more than any other program.”
Thornton will enter the NBA Draft to test his draft stock and get feedback from pro teams, but he is not projected to be taken in the 2025 NBA Draft. Thornton will get a better idea of what NBA teams will want to see from him before making the transition to the next level, but is expected to withdraw before the June 16 deadline.
Loyalty is a big thing for Thornton, who spoke at length about it last year after Chris Holtmann was fired.
“I just never felt it was okay just to go separate ways, especially being a captain, you have a responsibility,” he said. “Especially as a man, you don’t just quit… that’s the thing my mom always taught me, just to finish things out.”
Ohio State now has verbal commitments from John Mobley Jr. and Bruce Thornton for the 2025-26 season. Unlike last year, it doesn’t look like every single returning player — there could be up to 11 — will make a full-throated announcement that they’re coming back.
However, Mobley and Thornton were two-thirds of a pivotal core that Diebler needed to retain. The third — Devin Royal — has not made any formal commitment or comment, but his public lobbying for former Xavier forward Dailyn Swain (who transferred to Texas) and former Indiana guard Gabe Cupps (who did transfer to Ohio State) to come to Ohio State this spring seem to indicate which way he is leaning.
There will be immense pressure on Diebler, Thornton and this Ohio State team to not only make the NCAA Tournament in 2026, but to win games in said tournament. The roster churn will continue throughout the spring, but with the biggest piece of the puzzle deciding to run it back will certainly put Diebler and his staff at ease.