Happy Monday!
Coming out of the second round of the NCAA Tournament without a Sweet 16 berth, Ohio State’s basketball season is complete, while spring practice ramps back up after a week off for spring break. There’s still a lot of things to get into heading into this week of Ohio State sports.
Let’s start with what transpired in Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon.
Would having Justice Sueing and Seth Towns have changed things for Ohio State?
In short, yes. Here’s why:
“We have been searching for that third and fourth guy,” Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said after the Buckeyes’ loss to Villanova in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. “It's been Kyle (Young) a lot, other guys at times but it's been Kyle when we have been at full strength, sometimes Zed (Key). I thought he gave us a good lift on the glass, he missed a couple of baskets but I thought he gave us a great lift on the glass. We have been kind of searching for that and we have missed that third, fourth and sometimes fifth option.”
Justice Sueing would have been that third option.
The 6-foot-7 wing forward brings consistent offense when healthy, shooting 49.1% from the field in 28.3 minutes per game for the Buckeyes in 2020-21, averaging 10.7 points per game. Instead, he was sidelined with an abdominal issue that kept the redshirt senior sidelined for all but two games this season, scoring 12 points making five of his 13 attempts from the field in 31 total minutes against Niagara and Akron.
But against Villanova in the NCAA Tournament, while Sueing’s offense was missed, his versatility was missed even more.
Something both Sueing and redshirt senior forward Seth Towns, who was out for the season recovering from back surgery, brought was athleticism in a bigger body, following in the tradition of a player like Kyle Young, who was able to switch onto whatever forward, center or guard that came his way at any given time.
It’s something that would have helped the Buckeyes against Villanova tremendously, facing a team without much size on paper, but with bigger and more athletic guards that can post up and play physically inside at any moment.
But really, the loss of Towns and Sueing for the season gave Holtmann less options. He didn’t have the tools he thought he would be able to work with. The responsibility, in turn, was given to a freshman wing and a rotating cast of characters, which worked, sometimes, but not as consistently as someone like Sueing would have been.
How different would things have been in 2021-22? Who knows, maybe? Honestly, probably better.
But one thing is for sure: Holtmann would have felt a lot more comfortable.
So, is Malaki Branham coming back?
First, let’s take a minute to take in and understand the progress Malaki Branham has made over the course of a season.
In the first 10 games of his collegiate career, Branham was a freshman. He was tall, lanky, uncomfortable, inconsistent, shooting 38.8% from the field and averaging just over six points per game.
With one breakout road performance against Nebraska — one that gave folks a preview of what the freshman would become in 2022, something Holtmann, time and time again, tried to qualm expectations about — Branham turned into the true No. 2 scorer, averaging 17.8 points per game, ending the season with a 49.7% shooting percentage, while connecting on 42% of 3-point attempts.
Branham was a silky smooth scorer, showing an ability to nonchalantly score 20 points without seemingly breaking a sweat.
So, will he come back?
E.J. Liddell set the precedent, returning for his junior season after a solid sophomore campaign and turning into one of the more dominant players in the country.
Branham was dominant at points, earning himself Big Ten Freshman of the Year. But he wasn’t consistent, coming on strong late and peaking, giving the Buckeyes a taste of what they could see all of next season.
The freshman has the tools and natural scoring ability to make NBA scouts swoon. But he’s raw, young, still a tall and lanky player, who would need to fill out a bit to compete at the next level.
And at the college level, he would have the keys to Holtmann’s program, taking the baton from Liddell and developing the reputation of, “wherever Branham goes, Ohio State follows.”
It’s enticing, and it’s not clear what he will do. But if Branham returns, he has the opportunity to grow and mold into one of the best players not only in the Big Ten, but in the country.
What will the rest of the roster look like?
We did this a couple weeks ago, but I thought we could revisit it with the season complete.
The roster hinges on two main questions/assumptions: whether or not Branham comes back, and the status of both Towns and Sueing moving forward.
Assuming Branham returns and that at least one or both of Towns and Sueing come back for one final campaign — something Holtmann seems to be pushing for — here’s what things would likely look like:
G Meechie Johnson Jr. — Ohio State could possibly insert a play-making transfer guard here, one that can run the offense more than Jamari Wheeler did, who was brought on primarily for his defensive efficiency, but worked his way into that role.
G Malaki Branham
G Eugene Brown III — I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Brown’s going to be massive for Ohio State next season if he develops some semblance of an offensive game.
F Justice Sueing — If no Sueing than probably a transfer target here too. This could be Brice Sensabaugh’s job to lose by the end of the season, but if it starts out that way, the Buckeyes are in a bad spot.
C Zed Key
Depth
F Kalen Etzler — Unproven piece after redshirting first year. Could take that starting spot if Sueing isn’t there/if transfers don’t work out.
F Seth Towns — Same situation as Sueing
C Felix Okpara
G Bruce Thornton
G Roddy Gayle Jr.
G Bowen Hardman — I think he could redshirt his first season with Ohio State.
Note: Transfers will be brought in to fill out the rest of the roster, especially with how young the bench pieces are. Expect one or two that can plug-and-play in the starting lineup, with a couple of pieces in the same vein as Jimmy Sotos or Cedric Russell off the bench.
A quick note on Chris Holtmann:
I understand the frustration.
Ohio State was a perennial Sweet 16 team, one that found itself in the hunt for a high seed and a deep run each and every year it took the floor in the mid aughts and the early 2010s under Thad Matta.
But y’all need to chill out about Holtmann’s job status.
There’s only two other coaches for Power 5 teams — Oregon’s Dana Altman and Kansas’ Bill Self — that have led their teams to 20-win seasons for the past five years. Jay Wright, Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo haven’t.
Ohio State has made four-straight NCAA Tournaments, something Matta didn’t do until the fourth season of his career with the Buckeyes.
Yes, the struggles are real. The inability to create a run with players like Keita Bates-Diop, Jae’Sean Tate, Kaleb Wesson, E.J. Liddell and Malaki Branham on his roster. And there are questions that have to be answered.
But not yet.
Those are coming soon, maybe as soon as the end of this next season with the Buckeyes’ highest-rated class of his coaching tenure coming in, testing Holtmann’s recruiting ability from the word go with a lacking of veterans heading into 2022-23.
Is there moves that have to be made? Sure, starting with a defensive base that’s much more stable than it was this year, finding consistency out of more than two scorers.
But I’m going to go back to what Villanova head coach Jay Wright said, who had similar struggles with his team 10 years ago.
“It's just part of the journey,” Wright said. “You've got to accept what your journey is and you've got to learn from it. I think we played really good teams in the second round. I don't think we ever lost a second round game where we didn't show up to play. So if that was the case, we would have changed some things, but I thought our guys brought it.
“I can give you a different story for each one but never something that we thought, okay, we gotta change what we're doing. We just understand that's the experience of playing in the NCAA Tournament. You can get tough match-ups, you can get a tough night and as long as you're bringing great effort and great attitude every game you accept what the outcome is. We understand we have to answer to that. We get it.”
College basketball is hard. Is that an excuse? It’s just the reality. And it’s a reality that Holtmann has seen, and will have to continue to get used to. But it’s not something that should be questioned up to this point.
Onto football: Should Ohio State be considered the national championship favorite heading into 2022?
Could this be a stupid question for you all? Maybe.
But I was listening to a podcast that brought this up and it made me think. Where does Ohio State sit? Sure, it’s one of the top three programs heading into 2022, but is the return of C.J. Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and TreVeyon Henderson enough to warrant a No. 1 preseason rating?
Yes.
Bill Connelly put the Buckeyes up top in his SP+ rankings, as we covered earlier this year.
The interesting aspect is where Ohio State stands with its defense. Alabama has an other-worldly defensive piece returning in Will Anderson, along with the transfer of cornerback Elias Ricks. Georgia’s losing A LOT on defense. And Ohio State is keeping a lot, while revamping the entire scheme with Jim Knowles as the mastermind.
Should this hold Ohio State back from high national title expectations because of how unproven the defense is? Should it keep them behind Alabama, but in front of Georgia?
I don’t know. But we have time to answer them before the fall.
Pro Day is this week.
The boys are back in town.
Players like Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Tyreke Smith, Haskell Garrett, Nicholas Petit-Frere, Thayer Munford and Jeremy Ruckert are expected back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to participate in the school’s Pro Day.
Expect players like Master Teague III, Antwuan Jackson and Demario McCall to be there too after not earning invitations to the NFL Combine.
I’ll be there giving you all the news you need to know: the heights, the weights, the times, the NFL coaches and scouts in attendance. All that fun stuff
But there’s one thing I’m excited most for…
C.J. Stroud.
Wilson, Olave and Ruckert will have to have someone throwing to them during drills. And who better than Ohio State’s record-breaking quarterback who made each of them, at points during 2021, look good.
It will likely be the first time we see Stroud throw extensively since the Rose Bowl. Honestly, I’m expecting this to be the main thing I take away from Ohio State’s Pro Day: an idea of what Stroud’s ceiling could be in 2022.
In other news, Ohio State added two national championships this weekend.
Turns out, Ohio State is pretty good at some other sports too.
First, Ohio State’s women’s hockey team earned its first national championship in school history, beating Minnesota Duluth, 3-2, Sunday afternoon.
Also, Ohio State took home the team air pistol championship and the team standard pistol championship.
That’s pretty good.
Here's a quick story about Greg Oden.
My seating arrangements for the NCAA Tournament were pretty unique.
First, I was courtside, which is always cool, and sitting behind the Ohio State bench, getting an up close and personal view of Holtmann’s coaching style — along with Illinois’ Brad Underwood in the game before.
But this time, it was me, Cleveland.com’s Stephen Means and Greg Oden. Yes, that Greg Oden: the AP All-American, the former first overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
The former Ohio State center is on Holtmann’s staff as a graduate assistant with aspirations to continue coaching in the future. But they didn’t have room for him on the bench, instead placing him next to us lowly reporters and the team doctor on press row.
It was incredibly entertaining, saying Meechie Johnson Jr.’s 35-foot 3-pointer in the first half against Villanova was “his favorite spot,” while banging on the table and yelling at refs.
It was a good time, that’s for sure, something that likely won’t happen again.
It’s a cool story though
Here’s the song of the week.
I’ll pick the song I was quoting to my brother on my drive to PPG Paints Arena Sunday morning, and the song I heard covered on my drive back from Pittsburgh Sunday night.
You can’t get much better than this.
See you on the board.
Coming out of the second round of the NCAA Tournament without a Sweet 16 berth, Ohio State’s basketball season is complete, while spring practice ramps back up after a week off for spring break. There’s still a lot of things to get into heading into this week of Ohio State sports.
Let’s start with what transpired in Pittsburgh Sunday afternoon.
Would having Justice Sueing and Seth Towns have changed things for Ohio State?
In short, yes. Here’s why:
“We have been searching for that third and fourth guy,” Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said after the Buckeyes’ loss to Villanova in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. “It's been Kyle (Young) a lot, other guys at times but it's been Kyle when we have been at full strength, sometimes Zed (Key). I thought he gave us a good lift on the glass, he missed a couple of baskets but I thought he gave us a great lift on the glass. We have been kind of searching for that and we have missed that third, fourth and sometimes fifth option.”
Justice Sueing would have been that third option.
The 6-foot-7 wing forward brings consistent offense when healthy, shooting 49.1% from the field in 28.3 minutes per game for the Buckeyes in 2020-21, averaging 10.7 points per game. Instead, he was sidelined with an abdominal issue that kept the redshirt senior sidelined for all but two games this season, scoring 12 points making five of his 13 attempts from the field in 31 total minutes against Niagara and Akron.
But against Villanova in the NCAA Tournament, while Sueing’s offense was missed, his versatility was missed even more.
Something both Sueing and redshirt senior forward Seth Towns, who was out for the season recovering from back surgery, brought was athleticism in a bigger body, following in the tradition of a player like Kyle Young, who was able to switch onto whatever forward, center or guard that came his way at any given time.
It’s something that would have helped the Buckeyes against Villanova tremendously, facing a team without much size on paper, but with bigger and more athletic guards that can post up and play physically inside at any moment.
But really, the loss of Towns and Sueing for the season gave Holtmann less options. He didn’t have the tools he thought he would be able to work with. The responsibility, in turn, was given to a freshman wing and a rotating cast of characters, which worked, sometimes, but not as consistently as someone like Sueing would have been.
How different would things have been in 2021-22? Who knows, maybe? Honestly, probably better.
But one thing is for sure: Holtmann would have felt a lot more comfortable.
So, is Malaki Branham coming back?
First, let’s take a minute to take in and understand the progress Malaki Branham has made over the course of a season.
In the first 10 games of his collegiate career, Branham was a freshman. He was tall, lanky, uncomfortable, inconsistent, shooting 38.8% from the field and averaging just over six points per game.
With one breakout road performance against Nebraska — one that gave folks a preview of what the freshman would become in 2022, something Holtmann, time and time again, tried to qualm expectations about — Branham turned into the true No. 2 scorer, averaging 17.8 points per game, ending the season with a 49.7% shooting percentage, while connecting on 42% of 3-point attempts.
Branham was a silky smooth scorer, showing an ability to nonchalantly score 20 points without seemingly breaking a sweat.
So, will he come back?
E.J. Liddell set the precedent, returning for his junior season after a solid sophomore campaign and turning into one of the more dominant players in the country.
Branham was dominant at points, earning himself Big Ten Freshman of the Year. But he wasn’t consistent, coming on strong late and peaking, giving the Buckeyes a taste of what they could see all of next season.
The freshman has the tools and natural scoring ability to make NBA scouts swoon. But he’s raw, young, still a tall and lanky player, who would need to fill out a bit to compete at the next level.
And at the college level, he would have the keys to Holtmann’s program, taking the baton from Liddell and developing the reputation of, “wherever Branham goes, Ohio State follows.”
It’s enticing, and it’s not clear what he will do. But if Branham returns, he has the opportunity to grow and mold into one of the best players not only in the Big Ten, but in the country.
What will the rest of the roster look like?
We did this a couple weeks ago, but I thought we could revisit it with the season complete.
The roster hinges on two main questions/assumptions: whether or not Branham comes back, and the status of both Towns and Sueing moving forward.
Assuming Branham returns and that at least one or both of Towns and Sueing come back for one final campaign — something Holtmann seems to be pushing for — here’s what things would likely look like:
G Meechie Johnson Jr. — Ohio State could possibly insert a play-making transfer guard here, one that can run the offense more than Jamari Wheeler did, who was brought on primarily for his defensive efficiency, but worked his way into that role.
G Malaki Branham
G Eugene Brown III — I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Brown’s going to be massive for Ohio State next season if he develops some semblance of an offensive game.
F Justice Sueing — If no Sueing than probably a transfer target here too. This could be Brice Sensabaugh’s job to lose by the end of the season, but if it starts out that way, the Buckeyes are in a bad spot.
C Zed Key
Depth
F Kalen Etzler — Unproven piece after redshirting first year. Could take that starting spot if Sueing isn’t there/if transfers don’t work out.
F Seth Towns — Same situation as Sueing
C Felix Okpara
G Bruce Thornton
G Roddy Gayle Jr.
G Bowen Hardman — I think he could redshirt his first season with Ohio State.
Note: Transfers will be brought in to fill out the rest of the roster, especially with how young the bench pieces are. Expect one or two that can plug-and-play in the starting lineup, with a couple of pieces in the same vein as Jimmy Sotos or Cedric Russell off the bench.
A quick note on Chris Holtmann:
I understand the frustration.
Ohio State was a perennial Sweet 16 team, one that found itself in the hunt for a high seed and a deep run each and every year it took the floor in the mid aughts and the early 2010s under Thad Matta.
But y’all need to chill out about Holtmann’s job status.
There’s only two other coaches for Power 5 teams — Oregon’s Dana Altman and Kansas’ Bill Self — that have led their teams to 20-win seasons for the past five years. Jay Wright, Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo haven’t.
Ohio State has made four-straight NCAA Tournaments, something Matta didn’t do until the fourth season of his career with the Buckeyes.
Yes, the struggles are real. The inability to create a run with players like Keita Bates-Diop, Jae’Sean Tate, Kaleb Wesson, E.J. Liddell and Malaki Branham on his roster. And there are questions that have to be answered.
But not yet.
Those are coming soon, maybe as soon as the end of this next season with the Buckeyes’ highest-rated class of his coaching tenure coming in, testing Holtmann’s recruiting ability from the word go with a lacking of veterans heading into 2022-23.
Is there moves that have to be made? Sure, starting with a defensive base that’s much more stable than it was this year, finding consistency out of more than two scorers.
But I’m going to go back to what Villanova head coach Jay Wright said, who had similar struggles with his team 10 years ago.
“It's just part of the journey,” Wright said. “You've got to accept what your journey is and you've got to learn from it. I think we played really good teams in the second round. I don't think we ever lost a second round game where we didn't show up to play. So if that was the case, we would have changed some things, but I thought our guys brought it.
“I can give you a different story for each one but never something that we thought, okay, we gotta change what we're doing. We just understand that's the experience of playing in the NCAA Tournament. You can get tough match-ups, you can get a tough night and as long as you're bringing great effort and great attitude every game you accept what the outcome is. We understand we have to answer to that. We get it.”
College basketball is hard. Is that an excuse? It’s just the reality. And it’s a reality that Holtmann has seen, and will have to continue to get used to. But it’s not something that should be questioned up to this point.
Onto football: Should Ohio State be considered the national championship favorite heading into 2022?
Could this be a stupid question for you all? Maybe.
But I was listening to a podcast that brought this up and it made me think. Where does Ohio State sit? Sure, it’s one of the top three programs heading into 2022, but is the return of C.J. Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and TreVeyon Henderson enough to warrant a No. 1 preseason rating?
Yes.
Bill Connelly put the Buckeyes up top in his SP+ rankings, as we covered earlier this year.
The interesting aspect is where Ohio State stands with its defense. Alabama has an other-worldly defensive piece returning in Will Anderson, along with the transfer of cornerback Elias Ricks. Georgia’s losing A LOT on defense. And Ohio State is keeping a lot, while revamping the entire scheme with Jim Knowles as the mastermind.
Should this hold Ohio State back from high national title expectations because of how unproven the defense is? Should it keep them behind Alabama, but in front of Georgia?
I don’t know. But we have time to answer them before the fall.
Pro Day is this week.
The boys are back in town.
Players like Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Tyreke Smith, Haskell Garrett, Nicholas Petit-Frere, Thayer Munford and Jeremy Ruckert are expected back to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to participate in the school’s Pro Day.
Expect players like Master Teague III, Antwuan Jackson and Demario McCall to be there too after not earning invitations to the NFL Combine.
I’ll be there giving you all the news you need to know: the heights, the weights, the times, the NFL coaches and scouts in attendance. All that fun stuff
But there’s one thing I’m excited most for…
C.J. Stroud.
Wilson, Olave and Ruckert will have to have someone throwing to them during drills. And who better than Ohio State’s record-breaking quarterback who made each of them, at points during 2021, look good.
It will likely be the first time we see Stroud throw extensively since the Rose Bowl. Honestly, I’m expecting this to be the main thing I take away from Ohio State’s Pro Day: an idea of what Stroud’s ceiling could be in 2022.
In other news, Ohio State added two national championships this weekend.
Turns out, Ohio State is pretty good at some other sports too.
First, Ohio State’s women’s hockey team earned its first national championship in school history, beating Minnesota Duluth, 3-2, Sunday afternoon.
Also, Ohio State took home the team air pistol championship and the team standard pistol championship.
That’s pretty good.
Here's a quick story about Greg Oden.
My seating arrangements for the NCAA Tournament were pretty unique.
First, I was courtside, which is always cool, and sitting behind the Ohio State bench, getting an up close and personal view of Holtmann’s coaching style — along with Illinois’ Brad Underwood in the game before.
But this time, it was me, Cleveland.com’s Stephen Means and Greg Oden. Yes, that Greg Oden: the AP All-American, the former first overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
The former Ohio State center is on Holtmann’s staff as a graduate assistant with aspirations to continue coaching in the future. But they didn’t have room for him on the bench, instead placing him next to us lowly reporters and the team doctor on press row.
It was incredibly entertaining, saying Meechie Johnson Jr.’s 35-foot 3-pointer in the first half against Villanova was “his favorite spot,” while banging on the table and yelling at refs.
It was a good time, that’s for sure, something that likely won’t happen again.
It’s a cool story though
Here’s the song of the week.
I’ll pick the song I was quoting to my brother on my drive to PPG Paints Arena Sunday morning, and the song I heard covered on my drive back from Pittsburgh Sunday night.
You can’t get much better than this.
See you on the board.
