Ohio State women’s basketball head coach Kevin McGuff does not have a cutoff for how far the team is willing to travel to find talent. In recent years, the Buckeyes brought in players from Slovakia, Finland, Spain and Hungary. Even in North America Ohio State’s roster includes players from Canada, Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee.
This offseason, McGuff went to the transfer portal and came out empty-handed. However, that was by design, and the Buckeyes did not go far at all to add to their program. Ohio State went to their own backyard to add to the now 11-player roster.
The Buckeyes sent Sydney Mobley her first college offer when she was in sixth grade. Over the years, other sides came calling like head coach Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks, inter-conference foes Illinois and Notre Dame but soon after the Fighting Irish defeated Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Mobley stayed home and chose the Buckeyes.
Now the high school star, fresh off her junior season, opted for Buckeye basketball over another year of development at Big Walnut High School, just north of Columbus in Sunbury.
Name: Sydney Mobley
Position: Forward
Class: Freshman
High School: Big Walnut High School (Sunbury, Ohio)
2025-26 Stats: 20.2 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 2.7 spg, 1.6 bpg
Last Season
For only the eighth time in state history, voters selected a junior for its coveted Ohio Ms. Basketball award, given to the best player in Ohio.
Mobley played two seasons with the Big Walnut Golden Eagles and led them to the state semifinal in both. Before Mobley joined, Big Walnut never made the state tournament, so despite the final outcome, Mobley made an immediate impact.
In 2026, it was a loss against Mount Notre Dame where Mobley scored 23 of the side’s 43 points. The overpowering play of Mobley is so much that the opponent’s game plan was instead to go after her teammates and it worked in the 55-43 defeat.
Then the offseason came with a decision. According to head coach Kevin McGuff, the Mobley family already decided that the outstanding forward would join the Buckeyes and sit out for a redshirt freshman season. In that year she would learn, practice and prepare for year two when she would have normally been a freshman.
Instead, the 5-for-5 NCAA rule meant that Mobley could join the Buckeyes and not sit out. Instead, Mobley can learn on the court in actual competition.
What to Expect
In high school, Mobley did it all.
The big has physicality to find space in the paint. On defense that meant big blocks and teams had to second guess if they wanted to go in for layups. Offensively, Mobley also has speed that is not normal for post players, historically.
Mobley can also shoot midrange and deep. That makes for a perfect combination for head coach Kevin McGuff’s style of play.
The freshman called her style of offensive play “brute force.” That can work in high school but college will be a different challenge. How Mobley adjusts will determine how much time she can earn in a crowded group of post players.
Prediction
As a young freshman, especially one who initially decided on coming in as a redshirt freshman, a lot has to happen for Mobley to get regular minutes when the Big Ten schedule tips off.
The Buckeyes have three post players who will dominate a majority of the minutes in center Elsa Lemmilä, Kylee Kitts and fellow freshman Adriana Díaz. Due to the experience overseas and her national team time, Díaz is the likeliest of the group of bigs to see the court and backup the two starters.
Even so, the non-conference schedule has its fair share of mid-majors and even a Division II side in Grand Valley State. Mobley will get time on the court, even if it is not in moments where fans are sitting on the edge of their seats.
Highlights
Mobley showed her ability both with and without the ball in her hands in the following clips.
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