- Roddy Gayle Jr. was an important part of the Ohio State men’s basketball program for two seasons before transferring to Michigan.
- Gayle received significant online backlash over his decision to transfer from Ohio State to rival Michigan.
The question, asked so many times since April, brings a brief laugh.
So, Roddy Gayle, what does it feel like to transfer from Ohio State to Michigan?
“Man, how many times have I gotten that question?” Gayle said.
Answering the question with a question and a laugh feels like an appropriate response concerning one of the most scrutinized transfers in college basketball. After two seasons as an integral part of the Ohio State program, Gayle entered the transfer portal at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. There were multiple potential landing spots, including a return to the program where Gayle signed as part of what was supposed to be a transformative 2022 recruiting class.
Instead, Gayle chose not just to leave the Buckeyes, but to transfer to their biggest rival. On Sunday, Ohio State and Michigan will face off for the only time this season, and when the Wolverines enter Value City Arena Gayle will don the maize and blue rather than the scarlet and gray.
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He’s not the first player to go from one program to the other. Michigan walk-on guard Andrew Dakich left the program in 2017 and enrolled at Quinnipiac as a graduate transfer but, when Ohio State was in need of bodies for first-year coach Chris Holtmann, he changed course and signed with the Buckeyes.
Dakich heard plenty of boos and foul language when he committed and upon his return to Ann Arbor. That figures to pale in comparison to what could take place when Gayle returns to Columbus, at least based on the immediate, visceral reaction to his choice just to visit Michigan.
“My DMs were insane, even when I took the visit to Michigan,” he said. “Death threats. ‘Don’t come back to Columbus.’ Stuff like that.”
The backlash was so intense that Gayle said it made him reconsider whether he should go through with what he felt was the best decision for his future. Gayle deleted his social media for a time and said he was afraid to return to campus to collect his clothes after announcing his decision. Gayle said he told his father, half-jokingly, that he might need to hire security for his return to Columbus.
“I didn’t think I was that kind of kid to be able to have that kind of pressure or animosity,” he said. “It was weird for me, because if you open a DM it would be like, ‘Hey, great game today.’ Then a month or two later it was (the same person saying), ‘Traitor, F-you, blah blah blah.’ ”
Said Diebler: “I assumed there would be backlash, but I would hope there would never be any threats or anything like that at any level. There’s never a space for that.”
Why did Roddy Gayle leave Ohio State?
The shock of Ohio State’s midseason firing of Chris Holtmann, the coach Gayle had signed to play for, was significant within the team’s locker room. Although Diebler was promoted from associate head coach to interim coach and had been the lead recruiter on essentially the entire roster, the decision hit Gayle hard.
“I’d felt uncertainty weighing down on me ever since the coaching change,” he said. “I love Diebler, but nobody knew that he was going to be the new head coach going into next season. I feel like that uncertainty weighed on my mental a lot, especially toward the end of the season.”
When the Buckeyes bowed out of the NIT with a home loss to Georgia in the quarterfinals, Gayle and his family took a hard look at his situation. With a goal of eventually playing in the NBA, Gayle said he wanted to make sure he was in the best position to be successful. That meant putting his name into the transfer portal, where On3.com ranked him the No. 75 transfer in the nation.
First, Gayle had to tell Diebler, who had been promoted to head coach just prior to the start of the NIT.
“The relationship I have with Diebler goes for about 4-5 years, so (telling him) really messed me up for a while,” he said. “It took me a week or two to build the courage to even tell him that I was going to test the waters. I told him I was going to take a few visits and enter the portal and let him know after that. That’s how that unfolded. I did tell him that I was going to take a visit to Michigan. He was not very happy about that.”
Tennessee and Gonzaga were in consideration, but Gayle said three schools were atop his list: Michigan, Creighton and a return to Ohio State.
“It was down to a few schools that I felt would showcase my ability to play in transition, play fast and showcase my ability both offensively and defensively,” he said.
Ohio State Buckeyes:Roddy Gayle’s Unified Sports team ready to cheer on their friend at Ohio State
At Michigan, new coach Dusty May likened Gayle to Alijah Martin, a double-digit scorer during his three final years at Florida Atlantic and a critical component of the 2022-23 team that reached the Final Four. That, plus the pace with which the Owls played with, made his former rival an intriguing option. Ohio State made a strong push to keep him, with Diebler and assistant coach Dave Dickerson even meeting with him at his home in Youngstown, New York, but ultimately Michigan won out.
Gayle said it was an emotional conversation in his car with Diebler.
“Me and coach Diebler have been talking pretty much consistently since my sophomore year of high school,” he said. “It felt like almost coming to a parent telling them something they didn’t want to hear. That family aspect he really preaches with his team, he really stands by that and really means it.”
After obviously hoping for a different outcome, Diebler described Gayle as “family to me and my family” and said it was hard to lose him.
“When he was packing up and leaving campus for the last time, I vividly remember being in the parking lot of the Schott and seeing his mom and him and it was an emotional goodbye,” Diebler said. “In the aftermath of him making the decision, that was the moment I’ll always hold onto because we were really close.”
Roddy Gayle returns to Ohio State amid uneven season at Michigan
Although he has remained a fixture in the rotation, Gayle has been moved from a starter to a reserve during Michigan’s two most recent games. His average playing time is down from 30.9 minutes per game last year to 27.7, and his scoring has slightly dipped as well.
Gayle is averaging 10.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists after averaging 13.5, 4.6 and 3.1, respectively, for Ohio State last year. Those numbers came as Gayle was dealing with a right wrist injury suffered during the summer of 2023 that wasn’t fully diagnosed until after the season.
“I had a torn TFCC (triangular fibrocartilage complex) in my right wrist,” he said. “It was pretty difficult to shoot a basketball. It’s something that gradually kept lingering and getting worse throughout the season.”
He started 21 of Michigan’s first 22 games, missing one with a knee bruise. After shooting 42.9% on only 49 3-point attempts as a freshman, Gayle finished his sophomore year 29 for 102 (28.4%) from deep as his playing time nearly doubled from 16.3 minutes per game. This year, he’s shooting 22% (13 for 59) from deep and is 1 for 18 (5.6%) in 10 games this calendar year.
Sunday, he’ll get the opportunity to walk back into the first college arena he called home, the one where he spent two seasons. From the moment he announced his transfer, Gayle has had an idea of what kind of reception he might receive inside Value City Arena.
“I try my best to look at it as fuel,” he said. “I keep that in the back of my mind whenever I’m working out or practicing, that environment when I come back to Columbus is not going to be easy at all. That’s a game I’m looking for, because I know that will probably be the best game environment – if it’s clean – that I’ve played in in my career.”
May, who will be coaching his first Ohio State-Michigan game, joked at Big Ten media day in the fall about Gayle’s background.
“We laughed and said he learned to hate Michigan at the time so now he’s having to learn to hate Ohio State,” May said.
Both coaches expressed their hopes that the expected passion of a rivalry game comes from mutual respect and not over-the-top hatred of any individual player.
“I trust that we’ll operate with class because Roddy gave his all when he was here,” Diebler said. “Ohio State was important to him. I think the game needs to be about the rivalry and the game. It doesn’t need to be about Roddy Gayle.”
As of Thursday night, Ohio State still had tickets available for general purchase for the Michigan game. However big the crowd is, a national television audience on CBS will likely feel a certain way about a player moving from one side of the rivalry to the other.
Gayle said it all boils down to making what he feels was the smartest decision for his future.
“Morally, I understand that it’s wrong but from my perspective, I think it was the best decision for me and my family for me to be successful and for me to chase my dreams,” he said. “I had to learn to leave social media and fans out of it, because you can’t argue with a fan. Their way is the right way every time, and you’re not supposed to morally do certain things, but when you look at a kid trying to reach his goals, I feel like it was the best option for me. Simple as that.”
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