Justice Sueing already had to sit out the entire 2019-20 season after transferring to Ohio State from California, and now he won’t be able to participate in practices for a while.
The junior forward had foot surgery on Tuesday, Chris Holtmann said, so he wasn’t on the bench that night to watch the Buckeyes snap their four-game losing streak by beating Nebraska.
“I don't want to get specifics on the timeline, but we believe it could be three to four months,” Holtmann said Tuesday night. “Surgery went really well.”
Sueing’s father flew in from the West Coast for the surgery, Holtmann said.
“He'll be fine for a healthy offseason,” Holtmann said.
When Sueing returns to full health, he’ll have two seasons of eligibility to play for the Buckeyes. The 6-foot-6, 210-pound junior from Hawaii is expected to help make up for the loss of Andre Wesson, a senior, and potentially start at small forward in 2020-21.
In his two seasons at California, Sueing started 61 of 63 games and was immediately one of the team’s top scorers. He averaged 14.1 points in 33.2 minutes per game, shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 30.7 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. He added 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game over the two years as a Golden Bear.
Sueing’s ability to get to the free-throw line – he attempted 5.3 free throws per game as a sophomore and hit 78.2 percent of them – made him an attractive transfer target for Ohio State in the offseason. He announced that he will become a Buckeye on May 22.
“We just watched him and we felt like we needed a guy that had the ability to get to the paint and create free throw opportunities and be a physical presence,” Holtmann said in June. “And he’s been able to do that. It was right there at the end, did he want to stay at Cal or come east, and we’re excited to have him.”
