Ohio State basketball: Kyle Young returning for one more year

The Ohio State basketball player announced on Twitter that he will be using his free COVID year to return to Columbus for one final year.

Kyle Young was sorely missed by the Ohio State basketball team in the NCAA Tournament. He was the team’s best defender and was underrated when it comes to scoring the ball in the post. If he was playing against Oral Roberts, the Buckeyes would have won that game.

Young will get that chance to play in the NCAA Tournament again because he is returning for another year. The senior will be using his free COVID year to come back and play for the Buckeyes. He is coming back to a team that should be very good.

This isn’t necessarily surprising. Young doesn’t have pro prospects. He is a hard-working player who is great at the college level. His season ended prematurely because of injuries, so he wanted to come back and give it another run to try and finish things off right.

It’s unclear whether or not Young’s decision affected Efton Reid. Reid, a five-star center, delayed his commitment announcement indefinitely after not choosing a school yesterday. Young coming back could have had an effect on him deciding to wait.

If Reid was thinking of coming to Ohio State, now he would likely be coming off the bench. Young is too valuable to come off the bench and is a fifth-year senior. E.J. Liddell won’t be knocked off his starting spot either. Maybe Chris Holtmann let Reid know that was the case and he decided to think about it more.

Whatever the case is, this is only good news for Ohio State. The Buckeyes get a solid player back to their roster and someone who plays hard every single minute of every single game. Buckeye fans should be happy that they get another year of Kyle Young.