The night after Selection Sunday was a restless one for Jamari Wheeler.
Having never heard his team’s name called in March during his previous four years at Penn State, it was a brand new experience for a college basketball veteran that has played in 156 games over the course of his career without ever playing in the NCAA Tournament.
“When we first got selected, I don't think I slept that night,” Wheeler said. “I was just so excited and ready to play, just like a dream come true, and I'm glad I'm here.”
For Wheeler, playing under college basketball’s brightest lights is a true culmination of his long tenure in the sport, and a vindication of his decision to come to Ohio State after transferring out of the Nittany Lion program last offseason.
Wheeler has started each of the 29 games he’s appeared as Ohio State’s floor general this season, and he’s now in the Big Dance for the first time in a half-decade of college hoops.
“There's just something I was looking to for my next school and also being here where I'm at now, I wanted to help lead my team to March Madness,” Wheeler said. “So just to be able to be on this stage right now, I feel like a dream came true. And also I just wanted to play with players like E.J. (Liddell), Joey (Brunk), KY (Kyle Young). Just going through that whole process again, I feel like Ohio State was the best decision for me, and at the end, I'm glad I picked here.”
Wheeler’s role for the Buckeyes has not been the exact one the Ohio State coaching staff envisioned for him when they reached out to the Florida native after he entered the transfer portal last March. Ohio State’s 2020-21 scoring leader Duane Washington, the Buckeyes’ starting shooting guard last season, was expected to remain in the program at the time. Wheeler seemed to be the ideal point guard to pair with Washington, given his defensive prowess and ability to impact the game without the ball in his hands.
That’s not how things went. Washington opted to remain in the draft process, which meant Wheeler had to take on more of a leadership role in a backcourt that included multiple freshmen in Malaki Branham and Meechie Johnson.
“Jamari has been great. We initially brought him in expecting that our guy that's with the Indiana Pacers, Duane Washington would be back,” Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said Thursday. “We went after Jamari right after the season last year so it was really quick. And so we thought it would be a great component there, kind of a scoring-minded 2 guard and then a guy that could really ball hawk.
“Obviously Duane stayed in the draft, so Jamari has had to pick up a little bit of offensive load. He's done a good job. I think he's been able to kind of be Jamari for us, and we're certainly going to need that tomorrow.”
Now Wheeler, averaging a career-high 7.4 points per game and leading the Buckeyes with three assists per night, must focus his efforts on the most important game he’s ever played in. Ohio State takes on 10th-seeded Loyola, a team that possesses several gritty, veteran guards of its own, and Wheeler will be tasked with matching that intensity.
But even the location of the game itself is something of a full-circle moment for Wheeler, who returns to the city where he was once signed to play college basketball at. On Sept. 11, 2016, Wheeler became the first commit in Duquesne’s 2017 recruiting class, and eventually signed with Jim Ferry’s program. By March 2017, Ferry was fired, and Wheeler went with him to Penn State.
— Jamari Wheeler (@Jamariwheeler5) September 11, 2016
Five years later, Wheeler will be playing his first NCAA Tournament game at PPG Paints Arena, just a stone’s throw away from Duquesne’s home court at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
“Just being back here, it's kind of funny how life just all comes full circle and things like that,” Wheeler said. “Right now I'm just focused, locked in on personnel, and just winning games at this point. It all didn't hit me yet as I think it's going to hit me when the season is done, but right now I'm just focused on winning.”
The challenge for Wheeler will be dialing back the emotions and nerves that come with the stage at hand. Excitement is understandable, but Wheeler knows he can’t get out of character just because the stakes have been raised.
“(I have to) just take it day by day, just learn from the guys that already been here and competed here. Just go out there and do what I do best, like don't overthink it, don't overdo it, just go out there and have fun at the end of the day and see how many games we can win,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler’s zest for the opportunity indicates he’s not ready for his long collegiate tenure to end just yet. In order to extend his career and “dream” a few games longer, Wheeler must start with a standout performance against Loyola, a team whose strengths mirror his own in many ways.
“We know also they hang their hat on the defensive end, so just knowing it's going to be a grind-it-out game through the whole 40 minutes of it,” Wheeler said. “So just be ready to win every possession because every possession is going to matter.”
