On Monday, just two days before Ohio State opened the season against Cincinnati, the program announced the transfer of junior forward Micah Potter.
The timing of the transfer – just a couple days before the Buckeyes open the season and four days after he led them in scoring in Thursday’s exhibition – didn’t just surprise people outside of the locker room. Keyshawn Woods, a graduate transfer from Wake Forest, said no one knew of Potter’s intentions before Monday.
“Everybody found out yesterday before practice,” Woods said Tuesday afternoon. “We didn't know anything. Coach told us before practice. We were all pretty shocked. We didn't know until yesterday.”
Neither Woods nor Kyle Young has spoken to Potter since Ohio State announced his decision to leave the program.
“Micah's a great kid. He is a great kid and we wish him well. We really wish him well in his next move.”– Chris Holtmann
“We wish him the best with what he plans on doing, but we've just got to focus on our next step and getting better with it every day,” Young said.
Chris Holtmann said he did not want to get into specifics of Potter’s decision, but said he had a “real, honest conversation” with the 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward in “the last day or two.”
“Micah's a great kid. He is a great kid and we wish him well,” Holtmann said. “We really wish him well in his next move.”
Holtmann said he’s not sure how the loss of Potter will affect the locker room, noting he’d “only be projecting.”
Potter has not announced a destination or offered reasoning for his decision, but Holtmann expressed his wish that he could play every single player on the team as much as possible.
“I think I'll just say generally on transfers, we all know that it's very much a part of our game, and I think, as a coach, you would always love to be able to start all 13 guys and have everybody play as much as they really want to play,” Holtmann said. “We know that's not possible. It's our job to try to figure out what we feel like is best at the time. We wish him well, and we'll assist in any way we can.”
Without Potter, the Buckeyes will be down a big man when they travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bearcats at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The challenging three-game, eight-day stretch to begin the season includes games versus Purdue Fort Wayne and at Creighton.
Not having Potter will put extra pressure on Ohio State’s forwards.
Kaleb Wesson, the starting center, has touted improved conditioning this offseason, which will be important for him remaining on the court. Backing him up at center will now be freshman Jaedon LeDee. At last month’s Big Ten media day, Holtmann named LeDee as an example as a big man who might need extra time to develop. Without Potter, he won’t be afforded that luxury.
So, is LeDee ready to play the minutes Ohio State will require of him?
“We'll see. I think his attitude has been tremendous,” Holtmann said. “He's got to get in better shape and he has to continue to learn kind of what our expectations are and how we want him to play on both ends. The thing that translates for Jae, right now, is he goes and pursues the ball at a really high level. He always has.”
Young called LeDee a “super skilled big man” with impressive physicality and rebounding ability, though he said the freshman needs to get more repetitions in games.
Potter was expected to back up Wesson at center. Without him, not only will LeDee play more minutes than expected, but the Buckeyes could go small with Kyle Young at center, a wing – such as Andre Wesson, Musa Jallow or Justin Ahrens – at power forward and three guards.
Holtmann said he wasn’t ready to give a “definitive answer” about how the rotation will change with Potter gone.
“Obviously, (Potter) was a guy that was going to be a significant part of our rotation,” Holtmann said. “So, how that dynamic changes our rotation moving forward, I've got to continue to look at it. Obviously Jae, we'll need to continue to get Jae ready. And then there might be some guys that positionally, there might be some times that we (don't) play with a center, just play with a couple forwards. We've got to look at that. And we did some of that last year, as well.”
