Randy Ayers left the Ohio State basketball program in a state of disarray back in 1997.
The Buckeyes went 26-56 across his last three seasons, leading to his firing after the 1996-97 season and the hiring of Jim O'Brien from Boston College. Things got worse in his first year.
Ohio State had to replace the top three scorers from Ayers' final 10-17 squad – Damon Stringer, Jermaine Tate and Shaun Stonebrook – and toppled down to an 8-22 record in O'Brien's first campaign. That included a 1-15 mark in Big Ten play, placing the Buckeyes last in the conference.
There was a bright spot, however, and that was the emergence of freshman guard Michael Redd. Redd started from the first game of the 1997-98 season and O'Brien rode him to the tune of 37.9 minutes per game, and he delivered by racking up 21.9 points per game. Unfortunately, he lacked a quality co-star as no other Buckeye averaged more than 10.7 points. That would change in 1998-99.
As Redd brought fame to his name in Ohio State circles, a Boston College transfer was waiting in the wings, sitting out a season in a time well before the transfer portal era. That player was guard Scoonie Penn, and his first year suiting up for the Buckeyes proved worth the wait.
Penn racked up 16.9 points and 4.3 assists per game but proved equally dominant on the defensive end of the floor, where he swiped 1.9 steals per contest. He took home 1998-99 Big Ten Player of the Year honors as Redd proved his freshman year was no fluke with 19.5 points per game.
Center Ken Johnson proved one of the nation's elite rim protectors with 2.8 blocks per game, and forward Jason Singleton contributed 1.8 steals and 8.9 points per game on a ruthlessly efficient 63.5% from the field. Ohio State opened the season on a six-game winning streak to notch a 22-7 regular season record. Its Big Ten Tournament run ended in a second-round disappointment, however, as the Buckeyes fell to Illinois in a 79-77 game.
That was still plenty to make the 1999 NCAA Tournament, where Ohio State entered as a four seed. They cruised through favorable matchups against Murray State and Detroit Mercy, but many thought their run would end in the Sweet 16 against No. 1 seed Auburn.
Instead, Redd and Penn combined for 48 points as the Buckeyes pulled away on a 9-0 run in the final two minutes to take a 61-61 ballgame and make it a 72-64 victory.
That brought them to the Elite Eight, on the doorstep of a Final Four run with No. 2 seed St. John's standing in the way. Ohio State led most of the contest, up 69-59 with less than six minutes to play and 73-64 with less than three minutes to play. But the Red Storm came storming back, cutting their deficit to 75-73 with less than 20 seconds left and possessing the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead.
But St. John's guard Chudney Gray missed the first of two potential game-tying free throws and the Buckeyes clung to a 77-74 victory to secure the school's first Final Four in more than 30 years. It was their first Big Dance, period, in seven seasons.
The Buckeyes lost in the national semifinals to eventual national champion UConn, 64-58. Ohio State had to vacate the Final Four trip and alongside all wins from the 1999-2002 seasons due to NCAA sanctions from a $6,000 loan O'Brien gave to Serbian prospect Aleksandar Radojevic, among other violations.
The banner may have been removed from Value City Arena, but the memories of a Final Four run from a team that finished last in the Big Ten one year prior live on.
