Ohio State Basketball: 3 questions as new season draws near
By Riley Thomas
Believe it or not, Ohio State basketball and college basketball is almost here as the season tips off beginning November 9th.
Last season ended up being a massive disappointment for the Buckeyes after having a great year, securing a second seed in March Madness. Ohio State will be back and hungrier than ever starting with a ranking of 17 in the AP Poll. With players departing and new members on the squad, there are many unknowns about OSU basketball even with the year being so close.
Here are three pressing questions ahead of the new season.
Who starts in the Ohio State backcourt with new faces arriving?
The obvious one is who replaces the starters C.J. Walker and Duane Washington? There are many options on this year’s team since it is a rather deep team.
From last year’s team, Meechie Johnson is back and could show great growth in his second college season after being an early enrollee. Johnson showed the ability to handle the ball well and caught fire from three sometimes. He is young and has plenty of upside to turn into a formidable point guard for the Buckeyes.
Jimmy Sotos, the Bucknell transfer, returns off his shoulder injury that ended his first season with OSU last year. Sotos is another fundamentally sound guard that can shoot the ball well. Perhaps the knock on Sotos is the uncertainty in his defense. Sotos should be in more of a shooting guard role playing off the ball and readying for catch and shoot situations.
Eugene Brown played sparingly in his true freshman season with Ohio State. Brown struggled at times but does bring an intriguing 6’6 frame with the ability to play shooting guard or even small forward, a traditional wing player. Brown’s role could be expanded this season, but has a very slim chance of starting or being one of the first off the bench.
The deadly shooter Justin Ahrens could have a huge year this season. There is a real chance Ahrens is one of the best shooters in college basketball during the 2021-22 season. He has some versatility like Brown at wing being able to play the two or three. Ahrens fills that need in modern basketball to have a dangerous shooter on the floor that defenses must account for.
Now for the new players, the true freshman Malaki Branham from St. Vincent St. Mary comes in with high expectations. Branham was one of Chris Holtmann’s biggest recruiting wins yet as he was a high four-star, borderline five-star talent. His upside alone makes him an intriguing player.
Jamari Wheeler is a senior graduate transfer from the in-conference Penn State Nittany Lions. Wheeler will be in a point guard role and seems to already have the starting spot locked up. Wheeler will mainly be a distributor on offense with the ability to lock up on the defensive end, proven by his All-Defensive Big Ten honors last season.
Another senior transfer Cedric Russell comes from Louisiana. Russell was a bucket last year averaging over 17 points on 41.9% shooting and 40% shooting from three. He will likely be in a shooting guard role, looking to add offense to the team. Russell even stated he can offer some scoring ability for the Bucks in an interview,
"It’s no secret that I can score the ball, shoot the ball at a high level. Just really being able to give another scoring option."
Russell seems like the safest bet to start at shooting guard alongside Wheeler at the point.
As you can see, there are so many options and combinations the Buckeyes can go with in their backcourt. Wheeler should be the starter at point guard, but the shooting guard spot seems uncertain. More than likely, either Ahrens or Russell will grab the spot. Sotos probably has the third-best odds to start at SG.