Playing At High-Major Level With OSU Is A Dream Come True For Christoph Tilly

Photo courtesy of Santa Clara athletics

For the last few seasons, the center position at Ohio State has been a sore spot. Former head coach Chris Holtmann and current head coach Jake Diebler have both recruited their share of talented big men, but for one reason or another, the program has struggled to find an answer at the 5 spot.

It seemed that the Buckeyes had their center of the future when former five-star and Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw joined the program, but during an injury-riddled 2024-25 campaign, he only averaged 6.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and .2 assists.

In the offseason, the Buckeyes again went to the portal to improve their frontcourt, but this time Diebler’s solution was to go to the mid-major level to pick up former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly.

Unlike Bradshaw, Tilly wasn’t a five-star out of high school, but it’s easy to see why Diebler was interested. The Berlin, Germany-native averaged 9.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists during three years at Santa Clara, and last year had a career-best year, averaging 12.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists on 55.4 percent shooting, including 31.5 percent from 3-point range.

Despite leading the Broncos to a 20+ win season and an appearance in the NIT while earning second-team All-West Coast Conference honors, the 7-footer said he always had his eyes set on playing at the high-major level.

“I was very happy in three years at Santa Clara, it was a great time, but my dream was always to play at the high-major level,” Tilly said of his decision to enter the transfer portal during a media availability at the Schottenstein Center on Tuesday. “Everybody back home was telling me, ‘You need to play at a high major.’ And I think after my last year, I was ready for that.”

According to Tilly, his decision to come to Ohio State stemmed from the coaching staff making the first and best connection with him.

“They gave me a good feeling right away,” Tilly said. “The coaches did a great job, they really welcomed me, and I trusted them right away. Coach Diebler and (associate head coach Joel Justus) really tried to give me a good feeling about this, they answered all my questions, and so it was more like a gut feeling.”

Although Tilly was the 13th highest-ranked center in the transfer portal according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings, he feels he has plenty to work on ahead of his senior season.

“Something (I need to work on) is my shot, I need to shoot more, and obviously, I shoot more when I shoot better percentages,” Tilly said. “Then just rebounding and my overall game, pushing the ball in transition, playing in the low post, creating for my teammates.”

Tilly hasn’t been at Ohio State for very long, but he has already seen improvements in his game after practicing with the Buckeyes.

“I think I’ve gotten used to the physicality, it was always something I needed to work on, I think that got better, and then just playing against better competition, I feel like it makes you better,” Tilly said.