Image via Wright State Athletics
Ohio State garnered its third transfer portal commitment of the offseason on Tuesday, earning a pledge from former Wright State forward Brandon Noel.
Noel, a Lucasville, Ohio, native joins the Buckeyes after a successful redshirt junior season with the Raiders, where he started 33 of 33 games and averaged a team-high 19.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from three (35.8 percent). Noel’s efforts helped him earn a second-team All-Horizon League honor after the season.
The 6-8 forward has produced for Wright State in each of his first three seasons with the program. He averaged another 14.5 points and 8.0 rebounds on his way to his first second-team all-conference honor, and was named the league’s freshman of the year in 2022-23 after logging 13.0 points and 8.7 rebounds per contest.
Noel, who took redshirt seasons in both the 2020-12 and 2021-22 seasons, will look to add his frontcourt prowess and experience to his home state team of Ohio State which struggled mightily on the inside in 2024-25, a glaring weakness that caused it to miss the NCAA tournament for the third straight season.
Noel joins a Buckeyes’ frontcourt that also includes a second-team all-conference mid-major player in 7-0 Santa Clara forward Christoph Tilly — who they earned a pledge from last week — as well as returners Devin Royal, Sean Stewart and Ivan Njegovan. Royal announced he is coming back for his junior season last week, while Stewart and Njegovan have yet to make public comments about their plans for next season.
Noel is also the third portal commitment for head coach Jake Diebler this offseason, joining the aforementioned Tilly and former Indiana guard and Mr. Ohio Basketball winner Gabe Cupps.
