Scoonie Penn watched the Ohio State basketball game at Wisconsin on Thursday night and felt like most fans: dejected, frustrated, upset.
But unlike most, Penn has a bit of a different perspective, and the former Buckeyes All-American point guard shared it — and more, including the overall state of Thad Matta’s program — with Eleven Warriors on Friday.
“It’s very difficult,” Penn said. “It’s so hard for me to sit there and watch because I care about the program and I want to see us do well. I want to see these young men play well.”
“I like Coach Matta a whole lot so to see this, it does hurt and it’s hard to watch. It’s very frustrating.”
The Buckeyes were blasted 89–66 by the Badgers on Thursday night to fall to 0–4 in the Big Ten for the first time since the 1997–98 season — the year before Penn’s arrival at Ohio State.
But this particular 23-point loss felt like a particularly low point in a multi-year span which has featured quite a few. Matta’s program may not be in shambles just yet, but if there isn’t a quick turnaround to at least somewhat salvage this season, it may get there.
“They’re in a rough patch right now; they really are,” Penn said. “I know Thad is working hard to kind of change it around and make things happen, but at the same time, it’s up to these young fellas. They’ve got to turn the ship.”
“It’s very difficult. It’s so hard for me to sit there and watch because I care about the program and I want to see us do well. I want to see these young men play well. I like Coach Matta a whole lot so to see this, it does hurt and it’s hard to watch. It’s very frustrating.”– Scoonie Penn
“Where it’s headed? I don’t know,” he continued. “They can make it better, but if they don’t here soon it’s going to get really bad. This is a very important game coming up on Sunday.”
Ohio State welcomes league-leading Michigan State to Value City Arena on Sunday with the hopes of getting off the schneid in league play. A tall task, of course, as the Spartans are a more than formidable opponent even though they may not be as strong as recent seasons.
The slow decline in the Ohio State program is a multi-layer issue, Penn said, but there’s one thing that jumps out to him above everything else as the reason. Penn doesn’t see the leadership necessary on the court from Ohio State’s veteran players.
“More than anything for me, I would say it’s the leadership. There’s not a clear-cut leader out there to take charge,” Penn said. “I think the coaching staff, they do a great job, but to be a great team, a winning team, it takes a leader that’s on the court. It takes a guy in a uniform that has to be your voice of reason per se and get things going and kind of pick up the pieces.
“That’s where upperclassmen come in. We’re still a very young team, we are, but those guys that are seniors and juniors, I think there’s a little more that’s expected of them.”
Penn said he’s a “firm believer” that leadership from the players is not something that can be taught. You either have it or you don’t, or you become a leader because of certain circumstances, he says.
“After awhile, it starts to not become about making shots and missing shots,” Penn said. “It comes down to how bad do we want this? Are we going to let people just come in and beat us? It comes down to not being embarrassed.”
“You’re on national television all the time, that has to come out,” he continued. “How bad do you want it? What does this mean to you? To wear that Ohio State across your jersey, what does that really mean to you? Does it really mean anything? It should."
“I don’t mind losing. I don’t like to lose, but I can understand that sometimes it might just not be your night, they might have more talent than you, whatever. It happens. But I’ll be damned if I don’t fight. I’ll be damned if you’re going to embarrass me. I think that’s what Buckeye Nation is having problems with: It seems like the guys don’t care. I personally think that they care, but body language, effort and some of the things we see out there, it just doesn’t seem like it.”
There's no doubt Ohio State basketball is in a rough patch. But Penn said he's optimistic Matta and Co. can get things fixed.
That all begins Sunday against the Spartans.
“I have a lot of confidence in him and why shouldn’t we? What he’s done in his 13-year career here has been spectacular," Penn said. "He’s proven that he is one of the best coaches not only in the Big Ten but in the country. These young men have talent. It’s not like these guys on the team are a bunch of bums; they’re not. These guys can play, they have some game. They’re a long, athletic team.”
“In my mind, there’s no reason why we can’t turn it around and go on a little streak. And I’m a firm believer it’s going to start on Sunday against Michigan State.”
