John Mobley Jr. will be back with Ohio State men’s basketball in 2026-27.
After finishing as the Buckeyes’ second-leading scorer as a sophomore, Mobley announced that he was entering his name into the NBA draft process while retaining his collegiate eligibility. If he were to play college basketball next season, Mobley said, it would be with OSU.
On May 18, Mobley announced that he would be withdrawing his name from the draft by posting a video to Instagram.
Collegiate players can declare for the draft, get NBA feedback on their potential stock and opt to return to school without impacting their eligibility.
Mobley is known to have worked out for Memphis and Boston but did not receive an invitation to either the NBA combine or the G League equivalent.
At Ohio State, Mobley is expected to be a featured player for coach Jake Diebler, so his return was prioritized. As a sophomore, Mobley averaged 15.7 points, 2.8 assists and 2.4 turnovers while starting 31 games. He shot 41.1% (97 for 236) from 3-point range, the third-best shooting percentage in the Big Ten. Mobley missed three midseason games after an injury to his right pinky finger/hand forced him to have surgery, but he finished playing the final seven games and scored in double figures in all seven
He was voted honorable mention All-Big Ten by the media.
In two seasons at Ohio State, Mobley has averaged 14.3 points, 2.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 39.9% from 3-point range.
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: John Mobley Jr. withdraws from NBA draft, clearing return to Ohio State
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
