Can Thad woo Thomas back for one more magical run???  Will Thomas decide to take his talents to the NBA level???

Buckeye Nation are praying for one last hoorah…

According to DraftExpress.com, Deshaun is currently ranked as the 51st pick in the upcoming 2013 NBA Draft.  If this is true, I don’t see Thomas leaving early as most 2nd round draft picks start out in the D-League.  Will he be enticed to go though after the gruesome, freak injury that occurred to Kevin Ware over the weekend?  If Thomas does leave, who is left to carry the offense?

Here are the projected returning players for the 2013-14 Ohio State Buckeyes:

Aaron Craft 10PTS/GM, 4AST/GM

Lenzelle Smith, Jr. 9.2PTS/GM

LaQuinton Ross 8.3PTS/GM

Sam Thompson 7.8PTS/GM

Evan Ravenel 4.9PTS/GM

Shannon Scott 4.9PTS/GM

Amir Williams 3.5PTS/GM

Amedeo Della Valle1 2.5PTS/GM

Trey McDonald 1.3PTS/GM

Jake Lorbach 0.7PTS/GM

Alex Rogers 0.2PTS/GM

Looking at this… where is the scoring going to come from?  The Buckeyes do have two fabulous incoming recruits coming in next year… 6’3 Guard – Kameron Williams and 6’7 Forward – Marc Loving.  Both have the potential to be elite scorers, averaging over 20 PTS/GM this past year for their AAU/High School teams.  Is the Buckeye Nation confident that a Aaron Craft led offense fueled by two freshmen can lead them back to the Elite Eight?  My guess is, no.

So many questions surround a significant part of this Buckeyes Elite Eight team… if Deshaun decides to come back, the Buckeyes will be a instant favorite – if not, an uphill climb awaits.

Arizona has a huge size advantage over Ohio State which may swing this into a game that the Buckeyes aren’t very comfortable with.  Ohio State has struggled against the more “physical” types of teams during the 2012-13 basketball season and have had issues rebounding the basketball all season long.  The Buckeyes have rebounded just 31.9 percent of their own misses this season, per KenPom.com, which ranks near the bottom at 158th in the country! This past Sunday showed a prime example of these struggles… Iowa State nearly upset OSU over the weekend, dominating the Buckeyes with a 35 to 20 rebounding advantage.

Thomas will be going up against the 7 footer from Arizona in the Sweet 16 this weekend.

The key match-up in this game will be Kaleb Tarczewski vs. Deshaun Thomas.  Arizona’s 7-foot freshman will have the daunting task of guarding the 6’7 Thomas who is smaller and much quicker.  Thomas is shooting an a ridiculous 61.5% so far from the field this March Madness while averaging 23 points a game.  If he can continue this current trend… the Buckeyes should be able to overcome the the bigger Arizona Wildcats.

Kaleb will have a tough task against the small Thomas of Ohio State.

The dark horse of this Sweet Sixteen Matchup will be Arizona’s Solomon Hill. Arizona’s Coach Sean Miller will look to go with a smaller, quicker power forward in Hill. Hill has all the tools to interrupt the Buckeyes run to the Final Four. He can shoot from all over the court, rebounds very well and provides an excellent compliment to the transfer from Xavier University, Mark Lyons. This postseason, Hill has averaged 11 points per game while blazing the nets from the 3-point line, shooting a red hot 71.4%. If Arizona pulls off the upset, it will be because Hill is able to create match-up problems for the Buckeyes on the offensive side of the court.

FINAL PREDICTION: Although Arizona will have the edge on the glass, Ohio State boasts one of the stingiest defenses in the country.  In Big Ten play this year, Ohio State held its opponents from the toughest conference in the NCAA to less than 60 points per game!  The Wildcats haven’t seen a defense this disciplined and in your face all year which will provide the edge for The Ohio State Buckeyes.

FINAL SCORE: Ohio State 66 – Arizona 60