Ohio State lands Duke transfer F Sean Stewart as Buckeyes reload frontcourt with promising prospects

USATSI

Ohio State added another big-name transfer to its offseason haul on Friday when former Duke forward Sean Stewart committed to the Buckeyes. Stewart is the No. 76 player in the CBS Sports Transfer Rankings after showing glimpses of promise in limited action for the Blue Devils as a freshman in the 2023-24 season.

The former McDonald’s All-American logged just 8.3 minutes per game while stuck behind a logjam of frontcourt players that included Kyle Filipowski, Mark Mitchell and Ryan Young. But his splits were encouraging, and his athleticism came through in his spurts of action. With No. 1 overall prospect Cooper Flagg coming in at forward to spearhead Duke’s attack in the 2024-25 season, Stewart opted to enter the portal last month amid an offseason of heavy roster churn for the Blue Devils.

Stewart is just the latest big-name get for first-year Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler. The Buckeyes already landed former Kentucky center Aaron Bradshaw, who was also a McDonald’s All-American.

While Stewart and Bradshaw are both young and relatively unproven after playing reserve roles for blue-blood programs this past season, they give Ohio State a high-upside tandem in the frontcourt. Both were considered top-25 prospects in the Class of 2023 by 247Sports, and their games are different enough to where they could potentially complement each other well. Landing reinforcements in the post was particularly critical for Diebler following the transfers of seasoned bigs Zed Key (Dayton) and Felix Okpara (Tennessee).