Before the “Thad Five” could arrive in 2006 and make Ohio State basketball a national contender again, the Buckeyes needed a player to help lead the program out of the darkness brought on by the NCAA violations committed under former coach Jim O’Brien. Enter Terence Dials.
As a senior, the burly 6-foot-7, 253-pound forward from Youngstown, OH, led Ohio State to the 2006 regular season Big Ten championship and its first official NCAA tournament appearance since 1992. (The Buckeyes’ appearances from 1999–2002 had been expunged as punishment for the O’Brien violations.) For his efforts, Dials was named the conference’s 2006 player of the year.
Despite scoring over 1,500 points and grabbing over 800 rebounds during his college career, Dials was not selected in the 2006 NBA Draft. He has since played pro basketball in France, Germany, Switzerland, China, Cyprus and Taiwan and is currently a member of France’s Hyeres-Toulon Var Basket.
Ohio State takes on Winthrop at home on Tuesday night and Kansas in a Final Four rematch on Saturday. Terence Dials profile
