While Ohio State will have to wait until the fall to see what Mathieu Grujicic can do, the world will get its latest chance starting July 26.
Grujicic, a German international who will also be a freshman for the Buckeyes this year, will open FIBA U18 EuroBasket 2025 group play against Italy in Belgrade, Serbia. The game, which will tip at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, will be streamed for free on YouTube.
It will be the first organized competition for Grujicic in a while. After signing with Ohio State in early June, he arrived on campus to begin the acclimation process and get to know his teammates without being allowed to participate in any structured team activities. Although he will be full-go when Ohio State reconvenes for fall classes, Grujicic did not arrive in time to enroll for the summer and was forced to watch his new teammates from the sidelines.
In the time spent with him, Ohio State coach Jake Diebler said he’s been impressed with the attitude the 6-6, 205-pound guard has brought with him.
“You saw, on film, a high basketball IQ,” Diebler said before Ohio State’s July 25 practice. “I’ve been even more impressed in spending time with him, the way he talks about the game, the way he loves the game, the things he sees. He has a high level of understanding and seems to have a quick processor. When we get to coach that and experience that every day on the court, I’m going to be excited to see what he can do.”
Grujicic was born in France, raised in Germany and most recently played in Spain for FC Barcelona’s U18 team. In his final season there, he averaged 13.6 points, 3.5 assists and 2.7 rebounds while shooting better than 40% from 3-point range. He projects to play either guard spot or small forward for the Buckeyes.
“What we were most excited about with him and bringing him in was his positional size, which gives him great versatility, and certainly he’s highly skilled,” Diebler said.
The tournament runs through August 3. Germany will play Israel on July 27 at 10 a.m. Eastern and finish out group stage play against Bulgaria the following day at 12:30 p.m.
Grujicic has represented Germany before, playing for his country’s U16 team at the 2023 European Championships. There, he led the team in scoring at 14.4 points per game and was second in rebounds (5.7) and steals (2.4) and third in assists (1.9) as Germany went 5-2 to finish fifth out of 16 teams.
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Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State’s Mathieu Grujicic playing for Germany in U18 EuroBasket tournament