Ohio State’s Chris Holtmann updates on Meechie Johnson injury

No. 19 Ohio State is yet to play a game this year at full strength. The Buckeyes have missed forward Seth Towns, who is recovering from offseason back surgery, all season and forward Justice Sueing played just the first two games of the year before going out with an abdominal injury.

In the last two contests, the Scarlet and Gray were even more shorthanded with freshman point guard Meechie Johnson sitting out. The Ohio State availability report listed Johnson as out with a facial injury prior to the game against Wisconsin last Thursday. On Monday while speaking on his weekly radio show on 97.1 The Fan, head coach Chris Holtmann gave more information on Johnson and the injury.

“He’s taking steps forward,” Holtmann told hosts Paul Keels and Ron Stokes. “He got injured in practice, got hit in his face by I believe it was a forearm or an elbow. And I think he’s making strides.

“It was just a simple rebounding drill with two guys. It was almost coincidental, just two kind of guys came together.”

Prior to the injury, Johnson was regularly one of the first players off the bench for the Buckeyes, averaging just under 20 minutes per game while registering 6.6 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per contest as the backup to starting point guard Jamari Wheeler. While he’s only scored in double figures twice this year, in back-to-back games in mid-November, the freshman has played some important minutes and hit some big shots for his team.

Since Johnson has been out, the Scarlet and Gray have gone 1-1. Last week, Ohio State fell 78-68 on the road against the Badgers in a game where the team got just 14 points from its bench. The Buckeyes could have used Johnson’s on-ball defense, as well as his fearless ability on offense. On Sunday, the Scarlet and Gray defeated Penn State 61-56 in an offensive struggle.

“We obviously look forward to getting Meechie back,” Holtmann continued. “We miss his ability to kind of pressure the ball, make shots, play make, all those things. Hopefully this won’t set him back because he was in a pretty good rhythm and a pretty good groove. But we look forward to getting him back.”

The obvious question now is when Johnson will be able to get back on the court for Ohio State. As of now, Johnson is not cleared to do any type of exercise after suffering the injury. Once the Buckeye medical staff clears him, Johnson will be able to start his conditioning and get back into his rhythm. Holtmann said once he can make it through a full practice, Johnson can return to his role in games.

This week, the Scarlet and Gray have two home games, one against non-conference opponent IUPUI — an added game to help make up for the three Ohio State had to cancel in December — on Tuesday night and another versus Nebraska on Saturday afternoon. Johnson will not play against the Jaguars and it sounds unlikely that he is back on the court over the weekend based on Sunday’s broadcast crew saying it could be a couple of weeks before the freshman returns to action.

“That’s kind of what I anticipate,” Holtmann said after the game with the Nittany Lions. “It’s really day to day. Obviously, I feel bad for Meechie, we missed Meechie, we love having him out there. His burst and shooting helps us. But he won’t come back until his injury is healed, until he feels ready to do that and he’s completely cleared by the medical staff.”

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Johnson was seen watching his teammates warm up prior to Sunday’s game. There’s no doubt the young guard will be eager to return, but the Buckeyes will not rush him back to the court.

When he does return, Holtmann said Johnson will have to wear a face mask, something that has become a trend in the sport for players who have dealt with facial injuries, both at the college and NBA levels.

“We look forward to getting him back,” the head coach said. “He may look a little bit different with what they’re going to require him to wear to protect his face, but I’m sure he’ll look forward to unveiling that once it happens here.”