The NCAA had a chance to do something creative.
It could’ve made a one-off alteration to the names of the four regions of the tournament, considering the entirety of it is based in the state of Indiana and everything beyond the first round will be in Indianapolis. Instead, it stuck with the classics – West, East, South and Midwest.
Thus, second-seeded Ohio State learned on Sunday it earned a No. 2 seed as part of the South Regional. To open play in the first round, it’ll travel north of the state’s capital to face 15th-seeded Oral Roberts on Friday afternoon in West Lafayette.
If all goes the way the Buckeyes hope, they’d play four games across two weekends and leave the South Regional destined for the Final Four. That would mean facing the Golden Eagles, along with three others from a list of schools that includes Baylor, Hartford, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Villanova, Winthrop, Purdue, North Texas, Texas Tech, Utah State, Arkansas, Colgate, Florida and Virginia Tech.
Understandably, most of those teams haven’t been on the top of mind for Ohio State fans the past several months. So, here are 20 non-Buckeye players set to suit up in the South Regional to know about.
Max Abmas (Oral Roberts - 6-foot-1, 165-pound guard)
24.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 48.4/43.3/89.9
Three years ago, Abmas was a nationally-unknown, two-star recruit with limited collegiate options. As he enters the postseason this year, the sophomore from Rockwall, Texas, is college basketball’s leading scorer. The Summit League Player of the Year doesn’t come off the floor much – playing 95.1 percent of his team's minutes, the fourth-most in the country – and is a high-percentage gunner who dropped 33 points on Oklahoma State and 28 on Wichita State, both in five-point losses. If Oral Roberts can hang with Ohio State, he’ll be a big reason why.
Keve Aluma (Virginia Tech - 6-foot-9, 235-pound forward)
15.6 points, 8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 48.9/35.1/72.6
Originally a role player for Wofford for two years, Aluma transferred to Virginia Tech in order to follow his head coach, Mike Young. It has proven to be a wise decision. After sitting out last year, he leads the Hokies both in scoring and rebounding, helping to turn them from a bottom-of-the ACC team to a group that finished third in the conference. Aluma, who has scored 23 or more in three of the past six games, could meet the Buckeyes in Round 2.
Armando Bacot (North Carolina - 6-foot-10, 240-pound forward)
12.2 points, 8 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 62.7/0.0/65.6
A familiar face to the Buckeyes who played against him a season ago. The one-time five-star recruit from Richmond, Virginia, has improved his efficiency from the floor while retaining his impact on the glass that's part of what makes him such a pain for opponents to deal with. Bacot leads the Tar Heels in both scoring and rebounding despite playing only 22.6 minutes per game. The third-team All-ACC honoree has recorded double-doubles in three of the past five games. North Carolina would have to make an Elite Eight run to see Ohio State.
Jordan Burns (Colgate - 6-foot, 175-pound guard)
17 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 40.8/42.2/89.6
Those who have had to deal with Burns on a yearly basis are surely ready for him to professionalize. Those who don’t know who he is will soon get to find out. Burns, who has scored in double figures four straight years, earned Patriot League Player of the Year honors for leading his team to a 14-1 record. Any chance of Colgate making a run in the tournament – and getting the Buckeyes in the Sweet 16 – begins with Burns.
Jared Butler (Baylor - 6-foot-3, 195-pound guard)
17.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 48.8/42.9/78.3
Baylor is the best team nobody in the midwest talks about, and Butler might be the best player nobody in the midwest talks about. It's a perfect match. For a bit, it seemed as though he might be an outside National Player of the Year candidate, but he’ll instead settle for both first-team All-Big 12 and conference All-Defensive selections. Butler, a Louisiana native set to become an All-American for the second straight year, can be found on plenty of NBA draft boards these days. Ohio State could see him in the Elite Eight if the South’s top-two seeds make it that far.
Traci Carter (Hartford - 6-foot-1, 175-pound guard)
11.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 40.1/37.3/75.5
Unless 16th-seeded Hartford makes the single most incredible run in NCAA tournament history, Ohio State won’t ever have to deal with Carter. He’ll be Baylor’s responsibility in Round 1. The fifth year senior – who began his career at Marquette before transferring to La Salle then to Hartford – is one of five players on the team averaging between nine and 14 points per game. He was second-team all-conference and on the America East's All-Defense team.
Colin Castleton (Florida - 6-foot-11, 231-pound forward)
12 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 58.1/0.0/76.2
An Ohio State-Michigan rematch isn’t possible unless both teams make the national championship. So, maybe the Buckeyes taking on Castleton – a transfer from the Wolverines – will have to do. Castleton came off the bench for limited minutes in two years at Michigan but has blossomed as a starter in Gainesville, leading them in rebounds and blocks (2.2). This has been the exact season that he hoped he’d have when he made the move to the SEC.
Javion Hamlet (North Texas - 6-foot-4, 193-pound guard)
15 points, 3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 49.2/41.9/87.3
Playing on a 13th-seeded North Texas team, Hamlet will be an underdog in every NCAA tournament game he plays. But every opponent – especially Purdue in the opening round – will key on him coming into each game. Hamlet, a two-time first-team All-Conference USA pick, was the league’s Player of the Year in 2019-20. He came to North Texas from the junior college ranks, where he played at Northwest Florida State College – which Alonzo Gaffney currently attends. In a region with plenty of studs, few have quite the accolades or took a path similar to that of Hamlet.
Tre Mann (Florida - 6-foot-5, 190-pound guard)
16 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 45.3/39.8/84.9
The high-scoring former McDonald’s All-American has come into his own as a sophomore after averaging 5.3 points per game a year ago, giving head coach Mike White somebody to rely on as they enter the postseason. He's coming off a 30-point outing against Tennessee, which follows three games of 20 or more points. As The Athletic’s SEC Player of the Year, Mann will try to get his seventh-seeded Gators past the Buckeyes in their potential second-round matchup.
Mac McClung (Texas Tech - 6-foot-2, 185-pound guard)
15.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 42.3/33.3/80.3
An ultra-popular junior with nearly 750,000 Instagram followers, much of the country has already been introduced to McClung, but he’ll try to further himself as a household name in his first NCAA tournament run as a Red Raider. He transferred in the offseason to join Chris Beard after two quality seasons at Georgetown and wasted no time becoming an impact player for Texas Tech, leading the team in scoring and eventually becoming the Big 12’s Newcomer of the Year. The Red Raiders will put the ball in his hands and let him cook, and maybe he’ll pull them to the Sweet 16 to face Ohio State.
Davion Mitchell (Baylor - 6-foot-2, 205-pound guard)
14.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 51.5/46.2/67.9
The Georgia native picked Auburn out of high school, but after his freshman season he transferred to Baylor where he has blossomed into one of the Big 12's most impactful players. He earned a spot on the first-team All-Big 12 squad while winning the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. He was second in the conference in steals (1.9) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3). Mitchell’s development into a two-way stud is one of the reasons why Baylor became such a fearsome team this season.
Moses Moody (Arkansas - 6-foot-6, 205-pound guard)
17.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1/8 assists, 44.2/37.9/81.7
The Arkansas native considered the Buckeyes out of high school, with Chris Holtmann using his friendship with E.J. Liddell to his advantage, but Moody chose to stay home where he has turned into a potential NBA lottery pick as a true freshman. The first-team All-SEC honoree leads the Razorbacks and is third in the conference in scoring. Moody has the size, length, athleticism and shooting ability that can make somebody – even a freshman – dangerous in the NCAA tournament. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he dropped 28 points in three of his past four games. If the Buckeyes get to the Sweet 16, they might meet Moody there.
Kevin Obanor (Oral Roberts - 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward)
18.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 50.3/46.9.88.1
Only 21 college basketball teams shoot 3-pointers more frequently than Oral Roberts, and just 10 hit triples as often. Obanor, a stretch forward, has something to do with that. He’s an adept shooter from all over the court, including a 50 percent 3-point stroke in conference play that was the best among individual players in the Summit League games. Much like his teammate Abmas, Obanor poses a significant challenge to Ohio State in Round 1. He picked up high-major scholarship offers out of high school yet opted for Oral Roberts, where as a fourth-year junior he has turned into a first-team All-Summit League pick.
Micah Potter (Wisconsin - 6-foot-10, 248-pound forward)
12.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 50.6/37.5/85.7
The most familiar face on this list would only see his former team if both of them made it to the Elite Eight. But it’s not impossible. Potter, who left Ohio State and a frontcourt pairing with Kaleb Wesson after two years, has turned into a key piece of the Badgers' rotation. In Madison, despite barely playing more than half of the available minutes, he's Wisconsin's second-leading scorer.
Neemias Queta (Utah State - 7-foot, 245-pound center)
15.1 points, 10 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 55.7/0.0/71.0
The Mountain West’s Player of the Year will try to extend 11th-seeded Utah State’s run through the NCAA tournament. Queta, now an NBA prospect, spent his formative years in Portugal before coming to the United States in 2018 to join the Aggies. Years later, it’s paying off. Queta, two years removed from conference Newcomer of the Year honors, has averaged a double-double this season, along with 3.2 blocks per game. He’s an absolute force inside.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Villanova - 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward)
15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 49.3/28.4/72.2
The one-time five-star recruit has developed into Villanova's go-to scorer and leading rebounder as a sophomore, and he'll be counted on even more now that Collin Gillespie is out for the season. Robinson-Earl, a possible first-round pick, would have to put forth a mammoth effort to get the Wildcats to the Elite Eight, where they'd possibly meet the Buckeyes.
Day'Ron Sharpe (North Carolina - 6-foot-11, 265-pound forward)
9.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 51.9/0.0/50.5
More like than not, Sharpe will leave for the NBA after this season as a potential first-round pick. Largely because of that, he’s on this list. But he is the only one of these 20 players to not be scoring in double figures. North Carolina will need a lot from Sharpe – and the other once-highly touted recruits who have the Tar Heels as a No. 8 seed – to make a run. The ACC All-Freshman team member will make much of his impact on the glass considering he has the nation’s best offensive rebounding rate (18.8 percent).
Justin Smith (Arkansas - 6-foot-7, 230-pound forward)
13 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 54.1/21.7/59.2
Eric Mussleman can thank Archie Miller for Smith, who transferred from Indiana to Arkansas in the offseason. The senior has been a boon to the Razorbacks who start him and appreciate every bit of his 30 minutes per game. He's Arkansas' third-leading scorer, leading rebounder and leader in field-goal percentage. The veteran forward is also a key piece of the country's 14th-best defense.
Chandler Vaudrin (Winthrop - 6-foot-7, 210-pound guard)
12.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists, 48.0/37.5/69.6
One of the more unusual stat lines has been put up by Vaudrin, who became the Big South Player of the Year despite averaging only 12.2 points per game. That makes sense considering he took one of the more unusual paths to get where he is. Vaudrin, a native of Uniontown, Ohio, began his career in Division-II at Walsh University before choosing to move to Winthrop at the Division-I level after a couple of seasons. He’s now a key piece of a 23-1 mid-major conference champion that’ll look to pull some upsets in the tournament.
Trevion Williams (Purdue - 6-foot-10, 265-pound forward)
15.6 points, 9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 52.7/0.0/50.5
There’s no mystery about Williams for Ohio State fans. Three times this year, he has taken on the Buckeyes, and three times he has given them fits. Most recently, he recorded 26 points and 14 rebounds against them in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. If both Purdue and Ohio State reach the Elite Eight, they’d meet for a fourth time this season, and E.J. Liddell and company would have to deal with Williams once again.
