Kelsey Mitchell does not need to do anything to cement her legacy as one of the greatest Buckeye athletes of all time.
Mitchell is the program and conference's all-time leading scorer, is just 31 points shy of passing Jackie Stiles for second on the Division I all-time scoring list. She's the three-time Big Ten Player of the Year, has hit more three-pointers than anyone at any level of college basketball, and owns an impressive collection of other school, conference and national records.
“She’s focused on one thing, and one thing only, and that’s winning, and winning as much as she can."– Kevin McGuff
If she didn’t play another game in a Buckeye uniform, Mitchell would be remembered as one of, if not the greatest player in program history.
But her career isn’t over yet. And as long as there are still games to play, Mitchell will be doing everything she can to win them. She'll have time look back at the accolades and accomplishments later.
“She’s focused on one thing, and one thing only, and that’s winning, and winning as much as she can,” Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said. “They’ll certainly be a time for all of us to kind of take inventory on what’s been accomplished – it’ll be somewhat mind blowing when we get a chance to do that – but I think that’s the good thing about her – she’s not thinking about it.”
When Ohio State opens NCAA Tournament play on Saturday afternoon against No. 14 George Washington, Mitchell’s curtain call begins.
Thanks to a late-season push which earned the Buckeyes both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles, that journey will begin in Columbus as Ohio State earned the right to host the opening weekend’s games as a No. 3 seed.
This means the Buckeyes are heading neck to St. John Arena – the site where Michell manufactured some March magic he last time Ohio State hosted the NCAA Tournament.
"I’m not sure there’s another player in America that could have done that on that day.”– Kevin McGuff
Facing West Virginia in the second round, the Buckeyes had a depleted roster with their second leading scorer, senior Ameryst Alston, battling a sprained wrist rendering her mostly ineffective.
To have any shot at winning, Ohio State needed Mitchell to play massive minutes and put up a ton of points. And she did. Mitchell dropped 48 points, playing all 40 minutes, to lead the Buckeyes to an 88-81 victory while breaking a few school records in the process.
“She really put us on her back and willed us into the Sweet 16,” Kevin McGuff recalled. “She was still a young player at the time, and I thought on that day you kind of saw her go from incredibly talented to special to really that next level: 'wow.'
"I’m not sure there’s another player in America that could have done that on that day,” McGuff said.
Two years later, Mitchell returns to the NCAA Tournament as that same special player, and then some. She’s now more disciplined, more mature, a better leader, more experienced, and a much-improved defender.
More than just a volume scorer, Mitchell is a complete player capable of doing whatever it takes to lead her team to victory. And that was on full display in her two most recent games.
At the end of a high-scoring battle with Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, Mitchell made a clutch one-on-one transition block to preserve the lead and propel Ohio State to the championship game.
The very next day, Mitchell buried a surging Maryland team with 12 fourth quarter points, six coming on back-to-back step-back three-pointers, to lead the Buckeyes to the Big Ten Tournament title.
“If you feel like you’ve got a chance to make a play, make it," Mitchell said simply.
That’s what Mitchell has done throughout her career – make a play. And heading into her final NCAA Tournament, Mitchell will be leaned on to make a play a few more times. And if history's to be believed, she's going to deliver.
The Buckeyes open NCAA Tournament play against No. 14 seed George Washington on Saturday at approximately 1:30 p.m. in St. John Arena on ESPN2.
