"What individual (honors) are you referring to? I'm sorry," asked Kelsey Mitchell to a larger than usual media contingent, Monday evening.
About an hour earlier, Mitchell had been named one of just three unanimous first team All-Big Ten selections – her second first team selection in as many years. The Buckeye star was blissfully unaware.
Why had nobody bothered to tell her? It's possible she was told, and it simply went in one ear and out the other. But likely, she was spared the news because she simply didn't care.
“I’m pretty sure people know this about me – I’m just not that into it," said Mitchell. "That’s why I just don’t speak on it. It’s not my thing.”
Instead of the accolades she'd just learned she received, all Mitchell wanted to discuss was the team's back-to-back losses. Specifically, she wanted to criticize her own performance which included a program-record 48 points against Michigan State.
While others were focused on her record setting scoring performance, she was reminding everyone that she also had 10 turnovers, and she could have played better.
“Well, we didn’t win," she explained. "It’s all about winning.”
"It's all about winning" – that's Kelsey Mitchell in a nutshell. Despite all the individual recognition she's earned throughout her young career, the one thing she still values most is winning basketball games. And in a "win or go home" scenario, that's exactly attitude this Ohio State squad needs from its young star.
The truth is, while Mitchell may downplay her individual performance, her team generally goes as she goes. The sophomore leads the team in points (25.3 ppg), three-pointers (105), three-point field goal percentage (40.2 percent), free-throw percentage (84.8 percent) and steals (51). She's also claimed the program's single-game scoring record twice on the season, scoring 42 points against No. 10 Texas A&M and 48 against No. 20 Michigan State.
It's now March, and the Buckeyes will need Mitchell to be at her best. Ohio State opens the post season, Friday where they'll be the No. 2 seed in this weekend's Big Ten Tournament. To bring home the program's first tournament win since 2011, the Bucks will likely have to go through Michigan State, who handed the team a 107-105 triple-overtime loss to close the season, as well as powerhouse Maryland, who they'll need to beat for a third straight time.
It's a daunting task, but that's not quite how Mitchell sees it. To her, the idea of playing three highly competitive basketball games in as many days is a dream come true.
“That's one of the best things ever,” said Mitchell with an ear to ear grin. “I love playing two or three games back to back to back. It’s the funnest thing possible – why not do it?”
Kelsey Mitchell loves winning, but she loves basketball even more.
Realistically, the star sophomore may not lead her team to a Big Ten tournament title or a deep NCAA tournament run, and she might not always be the best player on the court (although Cait Craft would beg to differ). But one thing is for certain – she's going to love every minute of this post-season and leave everything on the court, starting with this weekend.
