PORTLAND, Ore. — Inside Ohio State’s locker room moments after its 73-58 loss to Arizona in the third round of the NCAA tournament Saturday night, freshman forward Jae’Sean Tate had a sudden realization: He was about to be one of the older guys.
As the Buckeyes' season came to a close, it also meant the end of the road for seniors Sam Thompson, Shannon Scott, Amir Williams, Trey McDonald and Anthony Lee. Superstar freshman D’Angelo Russell will also likely be gone should he opt to declare for the upcoming NBA Draft where he is a projected top-five pick.
A large departing senior class from leaves the program with only one player, Marc Loving, in the junior and sophomore class. Guys like Tate, despite having just one full season at the college level, are now the veterans in the program.
Sometimes, it’s crazy how quickly things can change.
“You just have to bring it every day. You can’t take days off in practice or in the games,” Tate said. “The thing I probably learned the most from my freshman year is every play counts. Every little thing counts.”
Should Russell decide to turn pro — and that seems to be the general consensus right now — Loving, Tate, redshirt freshman Kam Williams and true freshman Keita Bates-Diop would be the only players who saw any significant playing time this year on next year's squad. That's it.
A pair of big men had to sit out this season for the Buckeyes: Dave Bell was a true freshman who redshirted and Trevor Thompson had to sit out a year because of transfer rules. So with them in the equation, Ohio State would have six guys returning to next year’s team, five of which have played at the college level before.
“No days off. That’s been our thing all year is toughness so I’m gonna continue to try to build the toughness in our team with the young guys coming in.”– Jae'Sean Tate
So, where exactly does the Ohio State program go from here? The Buckeyes have had back-to-back underwhelming seasons under head coach Thad Matta and don’t return a ton to next year’s team, again, assuming Russell declares for the Draft.
For starters, Ohio State has a strong incoming recruiting class. The Buckeyes have the sixth-ranked class by 247Sports and it includes five players who fill a number of holes that this team has going forward.
The biggest is at point guard, where Scott and (most likely) Russell essentially leave Ohio State without one. A.J. Harris, the nation’s 12th-ranked point guard, should fill in nicely at that position to run the show. Also capable of running the point is JaQuan Lyle, a 6-foot-5 combo guard the Buckeyes got a commitment from midway through the season — likely because Matta needed a back-up plan should Russell depart. Lyle is the same type of player in that he can play either guard slot.
Ohio State also has a sharpshooter in this incoming class in Austin Grandstaff and a do-everything kind of player in Mickey Mitchell, whom Matta said can probably play four different positions with the Buckeyes. Finally, to go along with Bell and Thompson in the front court, Ohio State has signed a 6-foot-11 defensive presence in Daniel Giddens.
It’s a pretty impressive group, but it’s also one that has a lot of pressure on it. If the freshman class isn't as dynamic as people hope, if it takes a few guys a year or two to develop, Ohio State could be in for a long season in 2015-16 because it doesn't have a ton coming back from this year’s team.
“Next year, we’re going to have a whole new team, a whole new feel,” Tate said. “We’ll be more athletic and younger so toughness is going to be one thing to work on with such young guys we’re just going to have to run the system.”
It will be a weird transition for Tate, who will go from impact freshman to team leader in just one offseason. But if we've learned anything about the 6-foot-4 forward from his first year in Columbus it’s that no challenge is too tall for him.
“No days off,” Tate said. “That’s been our thing all year is toughness so I’m gonna continue to try to build the toughness in our team with the young guys coming in.”
