The Drought is Over
Caleb Downs has Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown since 2014.
It is one thing to get to a Final Four, but being fortunate enough to make it more than once in your career puts you in NCAA Tournament lore forever.
Just think about the names and teams that have done it — the individuals and squads who seem to always be in the conversation for a national title when the calendar turns from March to April in the Big Dance.
Duke, led by some guy named Christian Laettner, made it to four consecutive Final Fours from 1989-92. Current NBA players Darren Collison, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love led UCLA to three straight Final Fours from 2006-08. And lest we forget how the Wizard of Westwood, John Wooden, led the Bruins to immortality and 10 NCAA titles in 12 seasons from 1964-75.
It might not feel like it, but Thad Matta's current Ohio State senior class has the chance to be talked about in the same breath as those great teams depending on what happens in the next two weeks.
"We want to be a class that made the Final Four twice," senior guard Shannon Scott said March 7, a day before the Buckeyes got housed by Wisconsin, 72-48, on Senior Day. "A lot of players in the NCAA can never say that. If we can find a way to be able to do that for us would be a great accomplishment."
It would be a great accomplishment, especially considering the season's Matta's latest senior class has headed this year.
Ohio State sits at a good, but not anywhere near great, 23-10 overall and finished sixth in the Big Ten standings with an 11-7 conference record. It's only the fifth time in what is now Matta's 11th season in Columbus that one of his teams will finish with double-digit losses. Despite all the frustration, though, getting back to the Final Four has been part of the conversation all along. And, it's within striking distance. Just like the other 63 teams still left in the tournament.
"That's something we talked about early on, maybe a few months ago, actually," senior center Amir Williams said. "Being one of the few senior classes that was able to get back to the Final Four. I know that is the goal of this whole team, but it would be special for us as seniors to get back there a second time."
The first time was the group's first year on campus, 2012, when consensus All-American Jared Sullinger nearly paced the Buckeyes to college basketball's zenith. Scott, Williams, Sam Thompson and Trey McDonald — excluding graduate senior Anthony Lee here because he's only been at Ohio State this year — combined for 5.8 points in 30.7 minutes per game that season.
They weren't significant players on a team that fell to Kansas, 64-62, in the National Semifinals, but still mark it as one of their significant memories from college. It's hard not to.
"I think it wasn't really a game, but it was after the Final Four when we pulled up to the Schott and all the fans were still there supporting us," Scott said. "That was probably the biggest moment for me. I felt the love from them even though we lost the game that everybody still had our back."
They did then, they did the following year when Ohio State made a run to the Elite Eight, and they do now — but it hasn't been easy in 2014-15.
This season's Ohio State team is arguably Matta's most inconsistent in his tenure. He's seen them blow out a good Maryland team at home, then lay an egg at Michigan against a Wolverine squad who finished the season .500 and didn't even earn an NIT bid.
The Buckeyes came from behind to notch a huge win against Purdue March 1, but then fell flat on their face against the Badgers in the regular season finale with a chance to really make a statement.
"The couple of games before Wisconsin and Wisconsin are very different," Thompson said Sunday. "Yeah, we want to play our best basketball. We’re not gonna beat anybody playing the way we did versus Wisconsin and conversely we’re going to beat a lot of people playing the way we did versus Purdue."
Ohio State's best player, D'Angelo Russell, turned 19 less than a month ago and has never experienced an NCAA Tournament in his life. The team needs him to be at his best in order to win games, because if he's not, things get ugly.
"We want to be a class that made the Final Four twice."– Shannon Scott
That's not exactly something you'd expect from a senior-laden team that's dead set and confident it has the necessary pieces to get back to the Final Four.
"I think from the standpoint of we'll see what those guys are made of in terms of how much, how prepared they want to be, how they want to work and how long they want to play," Matta said Friday night after Ohio State fell to Michigan State, 76-67, in the Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals. "A lot of that is on them and I trust that we'll be better than we were last year in the (second) round, I hope."
Dayton ousted Ohio State, 60-59, last season in the second round to end the illustrious careers of seniors Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr., two more players who wanted to get back to the Final Four again before leaving.
They obviously didn't, but while the hill seems difficult to scale for this Ohio State team as a 10-seed facing uptempo 7-seed VCU Thursday, anything can happen in March. The chance is still there for the seniors to put themselves into the conversation as guys who went to the Final Four more than once in their career.
"In my mind I think for our seniors it is a great opportunity to make somewhat of a statement in terms of what they're remembered for," Matta said Sunday. "Here it is: You've been to a Final Four. You've been to an Elite Eight. You've been knocked out in the first round. What's going to happen now?"
We all find out around 4:40 p.m. Thursday in Portland, Ore.
