WASHINGTON — At this time last year, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta had a team featuring just two players with any sort of significant playing experience. The Buckeyes had no seniors and only one junior. The rest of the team was entirely made up of freshmen and sophomores.
Fast-forward to Thursday when Matta sat at the podium for Big Ten Media Day, the 13th-year Ohio State coach said things are much different. The Buckeyes have a core returning, one that saw plenty of playing time throughout an up-and-down 2015-16 campaign.
There is no more youth excuse for Ohio State.
“This year, the mindset is just a heck of a lot different in terms of just do it or you won’t play,” Matta said.
Last year, when things went wrong, a lot of it could be tied to the fact the Buckeyes were primarily getting their first real look at major college basketball. They had two freshman point guards. They started three sophomores. Their lone junior, Marc Loving, had never really played major minutes.
The Buckeyes return their top-six scorers from that team this year, however, so none of that youthful talk exists anymore.
“That’s out the window. We’re not young anymore,” junior forward Jae’Sean Tate said. “Even the ones that have only been here a couple years, they’ve got a year under their belt. We’re not looking for that excuse or any excuse this year.
“We look at ourselves, the ones that have been here, as the vets now. I think the two years what we’ve been here, it’s going to help. We’re not going to make the same mistakes as we did last year. We’re just hungry. We’re just hungry to get back.”
Ohio State won 24 games last season but missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008. The Buckeyes made the NIT but were eliminated in the second round by Florida. It was quite a rollercoaster-type season.
When it all ended, three members of Ohio State’s 2015 recruiting class — A.J. Harris, Daniel Giddens and Mickey Mitchell — transferred. Austin Grandstaff left in the middle of the season, too, which meant JaQuan Lyle was the lone member remaining from a once highly-touted class.
But the Buckeyes believe their strength this year will be those players who did come back; the core of the team. Tate, Loving and Lyle in addition to juniors Kam Williams, Keita Bates-Diop and Trevor Thompson.
These players are no longer young. This team is no longer young.
“Yeah, it’s thrown out the window. I’ve got a full year, Jae’Sean’s got two full years, Marc has three. All that, we’re past the young stage,” Bates-Diop said. “We have a lot of young guys and a lot of old heads at this point. The young thing isn’t really a thing anymore.”
With its core back, Ohio State should be an improved team. A NCAA tournament berth should be the outcome at the end of the season. Returning to the top half of the Big Ten standings also should happen.
Whatever success comes the Buckeyes' way this season is dependent on the improvement of the players and coaching staff from a year ago.
The whole "being young" thing is no longer an option.
“I think the one thing is you can’t make excuses because nobody cares. You’ve got to go play the games,” Matta said. “I think from that perspective, we’ve got to grow up quick and guys have to have an understanding and an appreciation for what we’re doing. They have to understand we’re going to do things a certain way and that’s the way it’s going to be.”
