Kyle Young is Ohio State basketball’s most important player

The Ohio State basketball team will be playing in the Big Ten Tournament on Friday and will be doing so without their most valuable player.

The Ohio State basketball team wasn’t able to get the double-bye that they should have gotten because of their collapse down the season. Because of that, they get one less day of rest for the tournament. That may have made all of the difference for Kyle Young.

Young won’t be playing the game on Thursday night because of concussion symptoms that are still lingering around. It will be the third straight game that he will have missed. It’s unclear whether or not he’d be ready to play in a potential matchup on Friday.

Many people probably would say that E.J. Liddell is the most important player for the Buckeyes. He’s very clearly the best player on the team, that’s not a question. But as far as value goes and who makes the Buckeyes play at their ceiling, no one is more valuable than Young.

A big reason for that is Young’s defensive versatility. He can guard players that are much bigger than him if needed and switch onto smaller wings too. Not many people can go from guarding Kofi Cockburn one game and guarding Keegan Murray the next.

If Ohio State isn’t able to get out of the first round of the Big Ten Tourney, it will be because they Young’s presence. His offensive game is underrated as well. He can score with either hand in the post and is a competent enough three-point shooter.

The most important thing for the Ohio State basketball team now is to get Young healthy as quickly as possible. They need him if they want to win any games in the NCAA Tournament. We saw that last season.