Ohio State Athletic Director Weighs In on Men’s Basketball Revenue Share

It was about time that the Ohio State athletic department started investing money in other programs.

Following the disappointing conclusion to the 2025 campaign for the football team, many supporters of the scarlet and gray hoped to see the men's basketball team put the university in the spotlight come March.

Unfortunately, though, a 15-8 overall record and 7-6 conference record have potentially knocked them out of a March Madness appearance. They've taken a few tough losses, including one to the program's rival up north.

With this lackluster campaign nearly over, athletic director Ross Bjork came out and shared plans for the program next year.

"Basketball will have a bigger (revenue share) number next year. And then it's about, again, the race to build out third-party NIL opportunities is here," Bjork said. "We've done it on the football side and we're doing it on the basketball side. We've got to build that number up."

He went on to share that he knows he cannot give money to every program across the board, but wants to focus on making sure men's basketball can strengthen the roster and start trending the right direction. After all, many universities are able to increase overall brand exposure by participating in March Madness.

“All of our sports would love a revenue share allocation, but we can't do it,” Bjork said. “We have to make decisions the best that we know how, and so that's what we're doing with basketball. We're pouring into it.

"We need to be resourced at a higher level. So we're working on that to make sure that we do have the roster to compete at the highest level. That's the goal.”

Ohio State athletics director Ross Bjork says the men’s basketball program will get a higher revenue share next season.

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The Buckeyes' Chance to Land High-Profile Athletes

As the year approaches its conclusion, the Buckeyes have eight games remaining. And while sometimes, teams will be able to glide through the final through opponents on their schedule, that won't be the case for Ohio State. They've got No. 10 Michigan State, No. 13 Purdue and No. 15 Virginia left on the docket.

What do each of these top-ranked programs have in common? They each have some of the nations top players, some of which are making a good chunk of change to suit up for their respective programs.

Purdue's Braden Smith has a reported NIL evaluation of $1.8 million and Michigan State's Jeremy Fears' evaluation is in the Top 15 in college basketball, both are according to On3 metrics.

Yes, Ohio State is reportedly giving Bruce Thornton a good chunk of change as well, but it's nothing compared to what some of the top talents in the nation are getting. The best basketball programs that are consistently competing for conference and national championships are handing out hundreds of thousands to top recruits.

Ohio State's doing that on the gridiron, but it's time for them to start doing so on the hardwood.

Down the stretch of the season, the Buckeyes will look to finish on a high note. When previewing what's to come, Bjork spoke to the program's need to deliver. Whether or not they have money to give, college athletes want to be able to win and will make a decision on where to play based on that factor.

“There's winnable games down the stretch, but we have to deliver, period,” Bjork said. “That's what every program here at Ohio State has to do. We have to deliver. We have to get better. And I keep using the word with our basketball program is consistency. We need to be consistent performers in everything that we do, and we're not quite there yet.

"And with that just comes a lot of work that we're pouring into it and supporting Jake and the staff and making sure that we can finish this season strong.”

While they continue to try to march through the rest 2025-26 season without taking too many more losses on, the Buckeyes will next square away against the USC Trojans on Wednesday, Feb. 11. Tip-off between the two sides is set for 6:30 p.m. EST from Columbus.