Ohio State men’s basketball bounced from NCAA Tournament, where do the Buckeyes go from

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann speaks with the team during a timeout during the Ohio State-Nebraska game March 1. Ohio State lost 78-70. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor

There was swirling buzz about Ohio State men’s basketball going into the NCAA Tournament.

With a 54-41 win against No. 10-seed Loyola Chicago Friday, built by a dominant defensive performance, the Buckeyes answered the big question — will they make it out of the Round of 64? Ohio State held the Ramblers to 26.7 percent from the field, 28.6 percent from deep and 30 percent from the free-throw line — the first time in NCAA Tournament history a team has shot 30 percent or less in all three areas.

No. 7-seed Ohio State’s momentum hit a brick wall against No. 2-seed Villanova Sunday, which outshot the Buckeyes en route to a 71-61 victory.

The Wildcats have a Sweet Sixteen date against No. 11 Michigan Friday, while the Buckeyes will be watching from the couch. 

Head coach Chris Holtmann’s fifth offseason is one of the toughest he will face, having to replace two assistant coaches, potentially junior forward E.J. Liddell and freshman guard Malaki Branham, and putting calls for his firing to rest.

Replacing Ryan Pedon and Tony Skinn

Assistant coaches Ryan Pedon and Tony Skinn received a head coaching position at Illinois State March 4 and an assistant coaching job at Maryland Thursday, respectively.

Pedon was vital in developing the Buckeyes’ offense, which produced a top-25 adjusted offensive efficiency, according to KenPom, in four of his five seasons on staff. In the two seasons prior to Pedon’s arrival — 2015-16 and 2016-17 — Ohio State’s adjusted offensive efficiency ranked 138th and 60th, respectively.

Skinn geared his services toward developing graduate guard Jamari Wheeler and Branham — a 1-2 duo that established itself as one of the best complementary backcourts in the Big Ten between Branham’s offensive and Wheeler’s defensive ability.

Jake Diebler is the only remaining assistant coach from this past season, assuming the acting head coaching role when Holtmann and Pedon were out with COVID-19 against Northwestern Jan. 9. 

Holtmann and his staff will have to find assistants with an offensive mind to develop the inexperienced remaining roster in guards freshman Meechie Johnson Jr. and sophomore Eugene Brown III and forwards freshman Kalen Etzler and sophomore Zed Key.

Getting next year’s recruiting class up to speed quickly

The Buckeyes are losing a lot this year.

Justin Ahrens and Harrison Hookfin are seniors, Justice Sueing is a redshirt senior and Wheeler, Kyle Young, Jimmy Sotos, Cedric Russell, Seth Towns and Joey Brunk are graduates.

Add Liddell and Branham — who are both projected first-round picks, according to CBS Sports — to the mix and 11 of the 15-man 2021-22 roster could potentially be moving on next season.

Ohio State is ranked fifth in the high school recruiting class of 2022, according to 247Sports — the highest nationally ranked class since 2015.

Four of the Buckeyes’ five incoming recruits are four stars, headlined by point guard Bruce Thornton from Alpharetta, Georgia, who received a 0.9839 247Sports composite score. For reference, Liddell was a 0.9828 coming out of Belleville West High School in Illinois.

Athletic director Gene Smith praised Holtmann’s ability to teach players Feb. 16, and that will need to show with the upcoming recruiting class, who will have to eat a lot of minutes.

The transfer portal is more important than ever

Ohio State will need to add a few established transfers to garner some veteran leadership to pass the torch to the inexperienced roster after next year.

The Buckeyes have reportedly reached out to transfer guards Camren Wynter  and Jaelin Llewellyn from Drexel and Princeton, respectively.

All three finished last season averaging over 14 points per game, headlined by Wynter’s 1,657 career points which are sixth-most in Drexel program history.

In football, the portal is referred to as “a wild, wild West,” so Holtmann will have to be Billy the Kid in aggressively recruiting transfers to fill the void that could see four of the five starters against Villanova departing.