Report: Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton returning for senior season with Buckeyes

Ohio State guard Bruce Thornton has made his decision regarding his future in Columbus. He’s returning for senior season with Buckeyes instead of declaring for the 2025 NBA Draft, according to the team’s head coach Jake Diebler, via Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch.

“Bruce Thornton is running it back one more time. After three seasons at Ohio State, the 6-2, 215-pound guard is planning to go through the NBA draft process and then return for a fourth and final year with the Buckeyes pending his feedback, coach Jake Diebler said,” Jardy wrote. “… Thornton has one season of eligibility remaining.”

This past season, Thornton was Ohio State’s scoring leader for the second consecutive season. He averaged a career-best 17.7 points, shooting 50.1% from the floor, and 42.4% from three. Additionally, he earned second-team all-Big Ten honors.

At the moment, Thornton is 21st all-time in scoring at Ohio State. He’s accumulated 1,487 points, and should be able to move up the list with another solid season as a Buckeye.

Time will tell what the future holds for Thornton professionally, but it’s evident he’s not ready to move on from Ohio State just yet. That’s music to the ears of Buckeyes fans, as they’ll be looking for a bounce-back season next year.

More on the Ohio State Buckeyes, NCAA Transfer Portal

In addition to Bruce Thornton, Gabe Cupps will be joining the fight for Ohio State next season. The former Indiana guard has committed to join the Buckeyes out of the transfer portal. He announced the news via his Instagram account.

Cupps is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound sophomore. He appeared in just four games for Indiana during the 2024-25 season, but had a much more productive freshman campaign. As a freshman in 2023-24, Gabe Cupps averaged 2.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. He played in 33 contests, starting in 22 of them.

In two seasons, Cupps has shot 33.3% from 3-point range. He shot 35.9% as a freshman but missed his only three attempts of the 2024-25 season. Cupps will have a decent shot at claiming a medical redshirt after suffering a meniscus injury just four games into the season. He played only 25 minutes total before the season-ending injury.

Prior to enrolling at Indiana, Cupps was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 101 overall player in the nation in the 2023 recruiting class. He also checked in as the No. 20 ranked player at his position and the No. 3 overall player in the state of Ohio, hailing from Dayton (OH) Centerville.

— On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this article.