Although Keita Bates-Diop was widely expected to declare for the 2018 NBA draft, as he did during a press conference at Ohio State on Monday, that didn’t make his decision to do so easy.
While Bates-Diop ultimately made the decision that he felt was best for his future – an assessment that is easy to agree with, given that he already has his degree from Ohio State and is coming off a Big Ten Player of the Year season – choosing to leave Ohio State when he could have stayed for one more year was still a difficult decision for him to make.
"It was going to be the hardest decision I ever made," Bates-Diop said Monday. "I love this place. I’ve been here for four years."
That said, Bates-Diop will have plenty of fond memories to take with him as he moves onto the next phase of his life and begins his professional basketball career.
Many of those memories were made this past season, when the Buckeyes defied all expectations to finish second in the Big Ten regular season standings, make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 and complete the season with 25 wins.
"What I’m going to miss probably the most is the locker room," Bates-Diop said. "And the memories I’ve made here, just because there are ups and downs here, I’ve had a lot of teammates here, but the guys in the back, especially this past season, has been the best year of my basketball career, dating back to high school and AAU, just because no one thought we could do what we did. And we all kind of came together, the coaching staff, we all became a family this year."
Bates-Diop’s memories of his time on the basketball court and in the locker room with his teammates won’t be his only memories of his time at Ohio State. Driving down High Street and past Ohio State’s campus on his way to the Schottenstein Center for Monday’s press conference was bittersweet for Bates-Diop in more ways than one.
"I was remembering all the stuff, all the memories I had freshman year," Bates-Diop said. "And half the restaurants my freshman year are closed now on High Street. So just looking back and looking at the stuff, just how stuff has changed; there’s a bunch of apartments being built on High Street that weren’t there when I got here. I’ll remember all that stuff."
Bates-Diop’s parents, Richard and Wilma, will also look back on the past four years with fond memories of supporting and following their son through his Ohio State career over the past four years.
"We’re just so proud of him," Wilma Bates said. "We always knew what Keita was capable of. So to kind of pull it all together, on the court and off the court, finishing up his degree in December and kind of doing what we had always talked about, in terms of finishing his degree and having a successful career, and then seeing what the next level would hold for him, we’re just beyond proud. We always knew he could do it, and it’s just been a really exciting to watch and follow him and do everything that he set out to do."
Keita Bates-Diop and his parents, Richard and Wilma, during his NBA draft declaration press conference at Ohio State on Monday.
While Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann didn’t recruit Bates-Diop to Columbus, and only got to coach him for one year, Holtmann believes KBD set a standard for both the type of players he should strive to recruit and for what future Buckeyes should strive to become.
"Keita Bates-Diop, I think, is everything we as a coaching staff would want in a future Buckeye," Holtmann said. "He absolutely is a Buckeye. He’s selfless, he’s about continual growth and development, he’s not into his own stuff. He’s obviously got talent and potential. He’s been well-raised. He’s everything you want."
Bates-Diop’s career at Ohio State certainly had its ups and downs. The Buckeyes missed the NCAA Tournament in both his second and third years on campus, and he missed nearly all of the 2016-17 season due to a stress fracture in his left leg that ultimately required him to undergo surgery and take a medical redshirt.
After finishing his career on a high note this past season, however, Bates-Diop is glad he made the decision to attend Ohio State and be a Buckeye.
"It was the best decision I made, to come here," Bates-Diop said. "I wouldn’t change it for anything."
