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Ohio State Basketball: Season preview as Buckeyes prepare for opener

By Jeremy Stevens

BOISE, ID - MARCH 17: C.J. Jackson #3 of the Ohio State Buckeyes dribbles against Josh Perkins #13 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 17, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID - MARCH 17: C.J. Jackson #3 of the Ohio State Buckeyes dribbles against Josh Perkins #13 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs during the second half in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 17, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The Ohio State basketball team will open the season tonight against Cincinnati so it is time to look at what we might expect from Chris Holtmann’s squad.

Last year people were picking the Buckeyes to finish anywhere between 8-10 in the Big Ten in coach Holtmann’s first year at the helm. Ohio State ended up finishing tied for 2nd with Purdue, going 15-3 in conference and 24-8 overall, which earned them a 5th seed in the NCAA tournament. In the middle of the season,

The Buckeyes won 17 of their 19 games putting them into position for that seed. They defeated South Dakota State and then lost their next game to Gonzaga for the second time last year.

Ohio State comes into the 2018-2019 season having lost three of their five starters from last year as Keita Bates-Diop was off to the NBA and Kam Williams and Jae’Sean Tate graduated. It will be a challenge for coach Holtmann to replace those 3 players, but it seems that will be a challenge he can handle.

Ohio State has two 4-Star recruits and two 3-Star recruits that are looking to make a statement for the Buckeyes. Luther Muhammad, who is our highest rated recruit, will fit perfectly next to C.J. Jackson, which will make for a fun back-court to watch.

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Along with Muhammad, the other freshman are Jaedon LeDee, Duane Washington and Justin Ahrens as Ohio State comes in this year with a very young core.

Going into the season, we are going to rely on C.J. Jackson (Sr.), Kaleb Wesson (So.) and CJ Walker who is the grad transfer from Florida State. Walker gives this team experience, leadership and a high basketball IQ.

Walker and Jackson will be the guys these younger players learn from and hopefully look up to as their mentors. With Kaleb Wesson coming into his sophomore year, he is expected to have a jump in points and rebounds per game. He is in for a very productive year coming off a solid freshman year.

This season should be a fun and entertaining one with a bunch of younger players trying to adapt to a new team and gain chemistry throughout the year. This team might go through a couple losing streaks with the youth they have, but this talented group also has the ability to pull off multiple winning streaks and become very competitive towards the end of the season.

People are picking this team once again to finish somewhere between 8-10, but after last season and the success they had under Chris Holtmann, 5-7 sounds more reasonable. The Big Ten is a weaker conference this year, so besides like Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan, the rest could be a toss-up.

Who’s up, who’s down in the Big Ten after week 10. dark. Next

I’m interested to see just what Chris Holtmann can do with these young Buckeyes after losing three starters from last year’s team.

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