Even though it is football season, college basketball season is just around the corner with the Buckeyes tipping off on Nov. 2 against BYU in Salt Lake City.
There were a lot of roster changes for the Buckeyes heading into the 2026-27 season, and over the next couple of months, we will be dropping one player preview a week to get you caught up on the current roster.
Name: Vuk Lazarevic
Position: Center
Class: Freshman
High School/Former School: Red Star Belgrade High School
Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia
Weight: 230 pounds
Height: 7-foot-1
Lazarevic was a late addition to the Buckeyes’ roster that came as a surprise.
He began his prep career playing for one of the top clubs in Europe with Red Star Belgrade, and then moved to the States. Once he made the move to the States, he attended Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah, in 2025-26, the same school as junior shooting guard John Mobley Jr.
At Wasatch, Lazarevic earned a starting role and averaged 8.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.5 assists and a team-high 1.2 blocks per game. He helped Wasatch earn a No. 7 seed in the Chipotle Nationals at the end of the season. He also visited UConn before committing to Ohio State.
Lazarevic is not expected to have much of a role in his first season since he was a late addition, and the Buckeyes have a crowded center room right now.
With Josh Ojianwuna and Ivan Njegovan on the roster, they will get the majority of the minutes allocated to the center position. Not to mention, Lee Aaliya just signed with the Buckeyes, and he could see some minutes there if he gets accustomed to the program quickly.
I also expect the Buckeyes to play Andrej Jelavic and Amare Bynum at times at the center position when they want to go small and athletic, so the minutes likely won’t be there for Lazarevic. He may play in the non-conference blowout games when the game is in hand, but he won’t see minutes in the regular rotation.