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Sports TwitterOnce again, OSU hoops very young
For the third straight year, Buckeyes men's squad will feature more newcomers than veterans.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
COLUMBUS — Here is the Ohio State men's basketball team in a nutshell: no seniors, missing its top three scorers, but lots of promise, lots of possibilities.
For the third year in a row, coach Thad Matta will be overseeing a Buckeyes team that has more newcomers than veterans, more freshmen than anything else, more questions than answers.
"I really like this team," Matta said Monday, Oct. 13, during the team's media day. "But there are so many unknowns. We have to get into it and see what happens and how things shake out. There are some pieces here."
The first time Matta had to rebuild with youth was two years ago, when freshmen Greg Oden, Michael Conley and Daequan Cook led the Buckeyes to the national championship game where they lost to Florida. Then all three left early for the NBA.
A year ago, with the trio and several other players gone, Matta built a team around senior Jamar Butler and freshman 7-foot post player Kosta Koufos and a few other young, interchangeable parts. They ended up going 24-13, missing out on an NCAA tournament berth but going on to win the National Invitation Tournament.
Now Butler and two other frontline players — Othello Hunter and Matt Terwilliger — have graduated. Koufos jumped to the pros (Utah Jazz). And Matta is left with eight new faces, seven of them freshmen and sophomores. Only one scholarship recruit (David Lighty) was around even for that oh-so-recent NCAA title game.
"I guess you could say with so many people leaving my freshman year and then so many people leaving last year and then so many new people coming in this year, it is kind of like three different teams," said Lighty, the elder statesman of the team with just two years on campus.
Give the Buckeyes this much, they do have talented personnel on paper.
The roster includes two McDonald's All-Americans in Ohio Mr. Basketball William Buford, 6-5 from Toledo, and 7-0 post player B.J. Mullens from suburban Columbus. Several scouting services tabbed Mullens — who is an inch taller than Oden was as an incoming freshman — as the nation's top recruit among big men.
The Buckeyes also will enlist the help of recruits Anthony Crater (Flint, Mich.) and Walter Offutt (Indianapolis). Matta also signed a pair of junior-college transfers, Jeremie Simmons (Chicago) and Nikola Kecman, a sophomore from Belgrade, Serbia. Kecman, (pronounced KETZ'-muhn) is awaiting word from the NCAA regarding his eligibility after he reportedly played for a club team in his homeland which may have included professionals.
Those are just the newcomers. The veterans include three juniors: Lighty, a 6-5 defensive specialist, 6-9 former Vanderbilt transfer Kyle Madsen, and holdover point guard P.J. Hill.
The sophomore class features returning starter 6-7 Evan Turner, along with two others who saw considerable action: 6-8 Dallas Lauderdale and 6-6 Jon Diebler.
Comments
By LC
October 16, 2008 1:27 PM | Link to this
JungleDawg32
Line score for Wright in the OSU game
C Wright
18min 5-9FG 2-3FT 3Off Reb 4Reb 0A 2Pf 12Pts
Best line of any Forward OSU or Dayton(Unless you consider Koufos a F instead of a C)and if you consider only 18 minutes, maybe the best line of any player in the game.
Now does your name suggest you listen to Rome and are a Cleveland fan as well as having an IQ of 32?
By jungledawg32
October 14, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this
Hey idiot…how did Chris “no jump shot” Wright do against the Bucks in that whipping that was called an NIT game last year? Just curious….
By sam in clayton
October 14, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this
Players improve tremendously from freshman to sophomore years. Deibler’s problem was confidence last year. I think he will have much more confidence in letting it fly this year. Buford is a great player, much like Evan Turner, except probably better. Mullens is an athletic freak for a 7’1 player. He is not just big, but can run and jump well too. I think a lineup of Mullens, Lighty, Turner, Deibler and Juco all american PG Jeremie Simmons will be a tough team for others to match up against.
By idiot
October 14, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this
The only one theyll miss is Koufos, oh yeah, and the best player in Ohio not named Lebron, Chris Wright. How does Matta pass up on him for Lighty?? OOOOPS!!
By dwight
October 14, 2008 9:42 AM | Link to this
didnt we just overeact to Diebler! I see guys at the ymca downtown dayton better than diebler
By Eric
October 14, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this
They’ll probably do alright, Thad Matta is a genious at teaching the game and getting the most out of his players. What’s more disturbing though is alot of his players seemingly taking a hike after a year or two. This is happening with more and more frequency. The NCAA needs to change the rules involving college players. Schools are investing a lot of money in these students who are using the schools as springboards for other things involving their careers; and doing it as they possibly can.
By jeff
October 14, 2008 8:33 AM | Link to this
when does college bball start?