Ohio State head coach Thad Matta strolled into the gym Wednesday, coffee in hand, to watch his team practice at the Schottenstein Center.
The Buckeyes opened up the first 20 minutes of their practice to the media, as well, and while the majority of the time was spent stretching and running through ball handling drills there were still some things that stood out.
Here are a few of observations from the brief time spent inside the practice facility:
- Former Ohio State star Greg Oden, and his lifelong friend and Buckeye teammate Mark Titus, were in attendance to watch practice and work out.
- After warming up, Ohio State split into two groups — with the big guys down at one end working on rebounding and finishing drills and the guards/wings working on shooting drills on the other end.
- Redshirt freshman Kam Williams is an explosive leaper. The 6-foot-2 guard from Baltimore, who redshirted last year after mono caused him to miss nearly three months of practice, threw down several high-flying dunks during the workout.
- Freshman D'Angelo Russell has a smooth jump shot. It's almost effortless the way he shoots the ball. Sure, they were just drills, but he still shoots the ball with ease.
- The Buckeyes also did backdoor cut drills where they set up a cut then went hard toward the hoop where they received a pass and were forced to finish around the rim.
- The big guys went through drills where they had to rebound the ball off missed shots then set themselves before going up for a dunk to finish the play.
Ohio State will hold a scrimmage open to the public Saturday at the Schottenstein Center, prior to the football game against Illinois. Doors open at 4 p.m. and the scrimmage is set to run from 4:30-6.
The Buckeyes will host Walsh for an exhibition Nov. 9 and open up their regular season Nov. 14 against UMass-Lowell.
