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Ohio State men’s basketball player preview: A’mare Bynum

Even though it is football season, college basketball season is just around the corner with the Buckeyes tipping off on Nov. 3. There was a lot of roster changes for the Buckeyes heading into the 2025-26 season, and over the next couple of months we will be dropping one player preview a week to get you caught up on the current roster.

Name: A’mare Bynum
Position: Forward
Class: Freshman
High School/Former School: Link Academy
Hometown: Omaha, Nebraska
Height: 6-foot-8
Weight: 220 pounds

Bynum came out of Link Academy as a four-star prospect and was ranked No. 47 in the 2025 class, according to 247Sports. He spent his first three high school seasons at Bryan High school in Omaha, Nebraska and played his senior season at Link Academy in Branson, Mo.

Bynum helped Link Academy to the Chipotle Nationals after averaging 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds for the season. He excelled against top competition, scoring 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting in a win over No. 1 Christopher Columbus HS and scoring 19 points and tallying six rebounds against La Lumiere School.

During the 2024 EYBL summer season, Bynum averaged 11.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting over 34 percent from three-point range.

As a junior at Bryan, he averaged 21.1 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.3 blocks per game.

Eric Bossi, the National Basketball Director for 247Sports, had this to say about Bynum as he was playing his senior season of basketball at Link Academy:

“Live bodied, energetic and versatile, Bynum is a player whose best days are ahead of him on the college level. A long and wiry strong 6-foot-8 interior player, Bynum is a capable defender at either the power forward or center position. Offensively, he’s in the process of going from a player who relied on hustle points, lobs and quick drives from the high post for his scoring to a much more skilled player. Bynum can now step out and make threes, his passing out of the low post and from the free throw line extended has also improved.”

Bossi added, “He’s a good rebounder thanks to his high running motor and he’s a glue guy who communicates and brings maximum effort each day. He still needs to add some bulk to his frame and continue to improve on his shot selection from the perimeter but he’s a player who has been steadily improving.”

Bynum is the No. 1 pick for a guy whose role can expand throughout the season on this team. Honestly, I would be shocked if it didn’t.

Bynum will start as a contributor off the bench, but as he gets more comfortable playing college ball and catching up with the speed of the game, his physical attributes are strong enough that he could easily be the sixth man off the bench or even see starting minutes, depending on how Brandon Noel is adjusting to the Big Ten.

Between Malaki Branham, Bruce Thornton, Brice Sensabaugh, and John Mobley Jr., the Buckeyes have a recent history of true freshman taking large roles and playing well. Bynum likely won’t have to take on as much of a role as those guys because he won’t be starting initially, but he is as talented as those guys and will be a valuable rotation piece that could play 15-20 minutes a game and possibly be a starter later in the season.