It looks like the Buckeyes are going to be banged up to start the season as both redshirt junior forward Seth Towns and redshirt junior wing Musa Jallow have not fully recovered from their injuries, Chris Holtmann said on Friday.
Towns, a redshirt junior graduate transfer from Harvard, has been recovering from a knee injury sustained in the 2018 Ivy League championship game. He most recently had follow-up surgery in January. Though Holtmann said Towns has made "good progress," he doesn't believe he will be ready to play games when the Buckeyes start the season in late November.
"I think right now, while he's made progress, I think in terms of being ready to play actual games in late November, I certainly think that is in question, whether he'll be ready for that," Holtmann said. "At this point, I'm not sure he will be ready, and I think he probably feels the same way. He's going to need more time than that. But we'll know more, obviously, in the coming weeks."
Towns had previously said there was "no question" that his knee would be healthy by the start of Ohio State's 2020-21 hoops season.
Jallow has been sidelined since the 2018-19 season with an ankle injury. He had arthroscopic surgery prior to last season, then he required reconstructive surgery back in January. He redshirted last season. While Holtmann never previously specified a timetable for Jallow's return, he did in say in January that he would be back "in time for a good offseason." He hasn't been fully healthy throughout it, though.
"He's a little further along than Seth, but he's not been able to do workouts yet," Holtmann said. "We'll see, as far as the start of practice (in about two weeks). I think there's a possibility with him with the start of practice."
The Buckeyes did have one positive injury update ahead of the season, however, as Justice Sueing has been fully cleared. He's been participating in practices for a couple of weeks.
