With four of their top six scorers gone and seven newcomers stepping onto the floor, the Ohio State basketball program is facing a rare year of reloading. The Buckeyes were picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten and are enter the season in a strange role; as underdogs.
OHIO STATE BUCKEYES
Last Season: 6th, 11-7 in Big Ten, 24-11 overall
Predicted Big Ten Finish: 7th
Projected Depth Chart
C: Trevor Thompson (So)/Daniel Giddens (Fr)/David Bell (Fr)
F: Jae’Sean Tate (So)/Keita Bates-Diop (So)
SF: Marc Loving (Jr)/Mickey Mitchell (Fr)
SG: Kameron Williams (Jr)/Austin Grandstaff (Fr)
PG: JaQuan Lyle (Fr)/A.J. Harris (Fr)
Gone: G-D’Angelo Russell, PG-Shannon Scott, SF-Sam Thompson, C-Amir Williams, F/C-Anthony Lee, C-Trey McDonald
Strengths:
With all the new faces on the roster, Ohio State will lean heavily on their versatile trio of forwards. Marc Loving is a scoring forward who shot 46% from downtown a year ago. Ja’Sean Tate and Keita Bates-Diop bring more versatility and toughness to the floor. Tate is an undersized forward at 6-5 but plays with incredible intensity on both ends of the floor which helps offsets his lack of height. Bates-Diop is a combo forward who like Loving, can stroke it from downtown but also has some Tate in him thanks to his energy level.
Question Marks:
Besides the three forwards, Kameron Williams is the only returning Buckeye from a year ago. That leaves a ton of minutes and reserve roles up for grabs. Luckily, Thad Matta adds a deep recruiting class but how instantly ready that group is will be a lingering question.
Player to Watch:
With Aaron Craft, Shannon Scott, and D’Angelo Russell, the Buckeyes basketball program has been fortunate the past few seasons to have some terrific point guard play. This season, Jaquan Lyle gets handed the keys to the Ohio State offense. At 6-5, the former Louisville and Oregon commit and original class of 2014 prospect possesses a great combination of size, athleticism, and toughness to the point guard position. He can impact the game in a number of ways and could have a Russell-like impact as a freshman.
“He’s been tremendous up to this point,” Matta told me at Big Ten Media Day. “Just trying to get him to understand the value of every possession. This isn’t high school, a bad possession in the first half can cost you the game. I’m excited to watch him come into fruition.”
X-Factor:
Along with great point guard play, Matta has always seemed to have an anchor down low. This season that will be Virginia Tech transfer, Trevor Thompson. His size and strength should serve as an asset to complement the athletic forwards and his year sitting out due to transfer rules seems to have paid dividends in his development.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth in Trevor and a lot of it is on the mental side of basketball,” Matta stated. “He’s got great bounce and athleticism for a 6-11 kid. We’re going to need that around the rim, there’s no question about that.”
Looking Ahead to 2016-17:
With no seniors on the roster and the unlikelihood that any of their young guys leave early for the NBA Draft (Lyle would be the only one possibly ready), Ohio State should be locked and loaded next season. Matta already has two verbal commits from the 2016 class which should only add to the depth and talent.
Key Non-Conference Games:
11/22 vs, Memphis (in Miami)
12/1 vs. Virginia (B1G/ACC Challenge)
12/12 at UConn
12/19 vs. Kentucky (in Brooklyn)
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.