Skull Session: Kyle Young Says Farewell, Malaki Branham Gets First-Round Grades, and NCAA Tournament Has New Ball

Hey, at least one Buckeye team took care of business yesterday.

The national champions are back in Columbus #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/ann7967MnT
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) March 21, 2022

Word of the Day: Idiosyncrasy.

AN ODE TO KYLE YOUNG. Losing Kyle Young to an apparent head injury right as it looked like Ohio State had the momentum and was mounting a comeback was an unpoetic, yet completely fitting end to Ohio State's season.

It sucked for the Buckeyes, it sucked for Chris Holtmann, and it sucked for the fans. But most of all, it sucked for the dude who has given everything he has to this team and this sport despite it continually doing very unkind things to almost every part of his body.

It sucked that after everything, he didn't get to finish his career on the court, but in the locker room, going through concussion protocol for like, the fourth time in his career.

But as always, he took it all in stride and with nothing but class.

Ive loved every minute I got to play in a Buckeye uniform and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to compete for this university. Im going to miss this with all of my heart but want to say thank you for all the love and support over the years https://t.co/Uo7oZbthAC
— Kyle Young (@kyle_young25) March 20, 2022

Kyle Young was by no means the best player on this team and he was far from the most consistent, but his importance to the roster was seen so clearly by just how quickly things went to shit when he was sidelined for any extended time. And in a weird way, maybe that's a better legacy than anything he could have left in the statbook.

I'm not going to say he was the team's most valuable, or even second-most valuable player over two eventual first-round picks, but he gave everything he had to this team, and meant everything to this team. And that will be missed.

SHOULD HE STAY OR SHOULD HE GO? Speaking of future first-round picks, Malaki Branham has a decision to make.

I've gone back and forth on whether or not he'd leave. At this time last month, I would have said he was absolutely gone. About two weeks ago, I would have said he would absolutely be coming back. Now, I'm somewhere in between.

See, if he comes back next year, I think he could absolutely be a top-10 or top-five pick. But the thing is, I'm not all that sure he'd be *that* far off from that even this year.

Here's a look at where he's projected in a few mock drafts.

Bleacher Report: Round 1, Pick No. 19
The Athletic: Round 1, Pick No. 19
NBA Draft Room: Round 1, Pick No. 11
NBADraft.net: Round 1, Pick No. 20
CBS Sports: Round 1, Pick No. 28
ESPN: Round 1, Pick 18

Now, to get the disclaimers out of the way, most of these were done heading into the NCAA Tournament and these are obviously sources of varying prestige and validity. But the larger point is that most draft knowers expect that he'd pretty comfortably be a first round pick if he left this year.

The question is whether he'd want to stick around for another year, be The Man, and likely be a lottery pick, or cash out this year.

It's tough to blame him either way.

NEW BALL, WHO DIS? You may or may not have noticed the spanky new extremely orange basketballs that every team is using throughout the NCAA Tournament.

You also may have noticed them seeming to bounce like an overinflated rubber ball from those old Walmart ball rack displays.

Regular basketballs shouldnt do this pic.twitter.com/YvcJAkoyhC
— Colton Denning (@Dubsco) March 18, 2022

Turns out, the players felt a difference too.

It’s undeniably different, and it’s seemingly been responsible for errant bounces, rebounds lost out of bounds and a few wonky shooting numbers. Different teams use different basketballs during the season according to their various corporate partnerships, but this Wilson EVO NXT ball is a new experience for everyone.

The adaption has not been seamless.

“For me as a point guard having the ball a lot, the ball kind of bounces different from the other ones,” Illinois guard Andre Curbelo said. “And it's just kind of tricky because not everybody is Nike, not everybody is Adidas, not everybody is Under Armour. When you're playing in your conference and you play with a Nike and Adidas ball, which is – mostly the Big Ten is Nike and Adidas – and you come to a tournament and play with a different ball, it can affect you in some ways.”

...

Ohio State plays with a Nike ball while at home. The seams on this Wilson ball are comparatively not as deep, and those who have used it describe it as harder and stickier with more grip than its Nike counterpart. It plays like a brand-new ball that needs worn in and feels more like a rubber ball than Nike’s ball, which is more of a leather composite feel.

I'm not sure I have all that many thoughts on types of basketballs, but if it's distracting enough that multiple members of the media felt the need to ask about it and talk about it on social media, that probably means the NCAA should have simply chosen a more normal basketball.

But then again, I know almost nothing.

WINNING NATTIES IS A BIG DEAL. While most of us were watching Ohio State lose in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament, the women's hockey team was busy winning a natty.

But it's not lost on me that even with the revenue-generating basketball team playing in Pittsburgh, Gene Smith (and Ohio State President Kristina Johnson, for that matter) were in attendance to watch the Buckeyes win the national title.

Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall getting that natty hug from athletic director Gene Smith pic.twitter.com/Cka8GNW8rk
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) March 20, 2022

Smith has always talked about how important the non-revenue sports are to him and things like this show that those words aren't just lip service. And I appreciate that.

SONG OF THE DAY. "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" by The Clash.