​Five days before the start of the season, Ohio State men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler isn’t sure how healthy his roster will be for game one.On Oct. 25, the Buckeyes saw junior guard John Mobley Jr. leave in the final minutes of an 82-73 exhibition win against Butler at the Schottenstein Center after he stepped on a teammate’s foot while backpedaling on defense. After the game, Mobley told reporters that he just rolled an ankle and didn’t try to return to the game because there was no need for him to do so.’Brotherhood’ of Ohio State: How J.J. Sullinger’s gift of a kidney saved fellow Buckeye Terence DialsThree days later, he has not returned to action.“He hadn’t been back on the court yet but we don’t anticipate it taking too long,” Diebler said Oct. 28. “We’re just, for all the obvious reasons, being cautious and hopefully get him out there sooner rather than later.”At 15.7 points per game, Mobley is Ohio State’s leading returning scorer and the fourth-leading returner in the Big Ten. He had 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting in 32:51 against Butler.Ohio State’s season opener is Nov. 2 against No. 25 BYU in Salt Lake City. The hope for Ohio State is that Mobley and the rest of his teammates will be available, but this far out Diebler said he’s not certain.“We’ll have more clarity come (Oct. 30),” he said. “Then we’ll have a pretty good feel for what we’re looking at because obviously we’ve got to start getting our rotations locked in and things. As of right now, I don’t think we’re in a position to say we’re going to be missing anybody but I’m not in a position to say we’re not going to be missing anybody yet. Hopefully we’ll have a good feel the next couple of days.“We’ve been healthier, but we’re trending in the right direction.”With that uncertainty leading into the game, Diebler said the focus will remain internal for the next few days.“For these couple days we’re focused on getting better,” he said. “We’re certainly going over some BYU stuff and what we’ve been able to see from some of their exhibition games and obviously what they’ve done over the last year and beyond that, but we’re focused on getting better at a couple specific things and watching film on BYU. Our guys have access to that all week. Then we’ll dial it up a little more specifically after the midpoint of this week.”Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social, on Instagram at @cdadamjardy or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State men’s basketball dealing with injuries as season-opening game nears