Ohio State Basketball: A look at players coming and going

Things have certainly been interesting in the Ohio State basketball program with players leaving after the season ended and others choosing to join it.

Three players have decided to transfer from the Ohio State basketball program since the season ended. One player will be moving on due to graduating and his younger brother is going to test the NBA waters once again.

Two players announced they would be transferring in and one will be eligible to play next season. A previous transfer will be eligible after sitting out a year and two outstanding recruits will be coming in soon.

Outside of that, not much is going on concerning the Ohio State basketball team at the moment.

Let’s first look at the impact of those leaving the program.

Of course the biggest loss will be if Kaleb Wesson turns pro, which most expect him to. It will be difficult to replace the center and his 14 points, 9.3 rebounds per game.

His older brother Andre will certainly be missed as he brought more to the table than 9.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He was Chris Holtmann’s Swiss Army Knife willing to do anything needed on a given night.

Point guard D.J. Carton was a fun player to watch and leaves a hole at the position. However, Duane Washington moved to the point to spell C.J. Walker during the season ending stretch drive and performed well. I just hope Carton finds the right situation and resolves his issues.

With Luther Muhammad leaving somebody will have to step up on defense. He made life miserable for whoever he was guarding.

It shouldn’t be difficult to replace Alonzo Gaffney’s 1.8 points, 1.4 rebounds and 6.8 minutes per game.

Now for the transfers coming in and one who has been in the basketball program for a year::

6 ft. 7 forward Seth Towns is from Columbus, Ohio. During the 2017-18 season he averaged 16 points, 5.7 rebounds and was the Ivy League Player of the Year. He has dealt with injuries the past two seasons, but if healthy will provide needed offense. Towns has two years of eligibility left.

6 ft. 6 Justice Sueing averaged 14.3 ppg and 6 rebounds during the 2018-19 season for California. You know he is chomping at the bit after sitting for a season.

6 ft. 3 guard Jimmy Sotos will have to sit a year but he is a great get as this will be C.J. Walker’s final season. Sotos averaged 11.5 points and 3.9 assists for Bucknell last season.

A look at the two recruits in this year’s class:

6 ft. 6 shooting guard Eugene Brown and 6 ft. 7 power forward Zed Key will each have an opportunity to earn playing time with the turnover on the roster.

I’ll look at how the new players will fit with those returning later. One thing you can be sure of though, the 2020-21 Ohio State basketball team will have a different look than last season’s group.