Ohio State basketball freshmen showing promise after St. Francis win
It’s been seven years since Ohio State enjoyed a game like it had Saturday against St. Francis (Pa.).
With 2:55 to play and the Buckeyes well on their way to a comfortable win against the Red Flash, freshman Felix Okpara stepped into a wide-open 3-pointer that he had asked associate head coach Jake Diebler to call for him. The 6-11, 220-pound center swished his first career 3-point attempt, pushing the lead to 94-57 and giving Okpara his first career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
It also made him the fourth Ohio State freshman to score in double figures against the Red Flash, joining Brice Sensabaugh (15 points), Bruce Thornton (13) and Roddy Gayle (10). Together, the four were the first to accomplish that together since the 2014-15 season.
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In a season contingent on the four freshmen continuing to progress as the calendar creeps toward March, this was a new milestone.
“Good just to see them play,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “Sometimes guys will play these kind of minutes, sometimes they won’t. When they have these kind of moments in front of them, they have to continue to grow and get better.”
The last four to do it were Kam Williams (18), D’Angelo Russell (15), Keita Bates-Diop (12) and Jae’Sean Tate (10) in a 93-55 win against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 22, 2014. There is a qualifier – Williams was a redshirt freshman – but the other three are all now playing in the NBA.
‘I just feel like all four of us are getting comfortable’
In this game, the four freshmen accounted for 52.1% of the team’s scoring while playing 41.5% of the minutes.
“I just feel like all four of us are getting comfortable,” Gayle, who had scored 5 points in the prior four games all against high-major competition. “I feel like with Felix and Bruce and Brice and me, we’re all getting used to this college play and the physicality and speed of the game. It was great because it felt like we got to regain some of the stuff we lost … we don’t take any game for granted but it was a great game to build our confidence back up.”
That’s an important factor as No. 25 Ohio State welcomes Rutgers into Value City Arena on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN2) in the Big Ten opener for the Buckeyes. Of the 23 games left on the regular-season schedule, only two of them are against teams outside of power conferences. Confidence for the freshmen, who comprise four-ninths of Holtmann’s current rotation, will be key to further their development.
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Of the four, only Thornton is a starter and he leads the group at 27.5 minutes per game. Sensabaugh has been a first option off the bench and leads the team in scoring (14.3 points) in only 17.8 minutes per game, Okpara is the second option at center behind third-year big guy Zed Key and Gayle is a two-way player whose defense is ahead of his offense, Holtmann said. While all four are integral parts of the plan, Holtmann has been reluctant to play them all together.
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The Buckeyes have spent 13:47 with four freshmen on the court together this season, scoring 30 points and allowing 28. Including fifth freshman Bowen Hardman, who sits outside the primary playing rotation, Ohio State has played 68:27 with three freshmen, 93:51 with two freshmen and 113:07 with just one on the court – a number buoyed by Thornton’s inclusion in the starting lineup. Those five have logged a team-high 84:43 together.
That could change as the season progresses, Holtmann said.
“I don’t know if that puts them in the best position to be successful,” he said. “I think that’s what you’re trying to do as a coach right now is also figure out how to put our team in the best place but put them in the best place. Against really good teams, that’s a lot of inexperience to put out there together.”
In practice, Sensabaugh and Gayle said the four will be pitted against four veterans with each of the teams assigned one of the captains.
“The four of us are special, man,” Gayle said. “For real. We have great runs, especially in practice I feel like we get in on the older guys. They do have experience so some knucklehead plays we might make, but I feel like as a whole we’re in pretty good shape.”
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