http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/107247/looking-ahead-ohio-state-buckeyes
Looking ahead: Ohio State Buckeyes
Eamonn Brennan, College Basketball Reporter
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What the immediate future holds: The 2014-15 season offered two unexpected turns: First that Russell was so good, and later, that his team wasn't better. It's hard to imagine 2015-16 matching those surprises, mostly because it's so hard to be surprised about a team you know so little about.
Put more simply, Ohio State has a lot of new dudes. Russell is off to June's NBA draft (where he has a legitimate chance of being the best pro among a group that includes Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns). All four remaining members of Matta's 2011 class -- Scott, Thompson, forward Amir Williams (who never quite matched his hype as an incoming freshman in 2011) and career reserve Trey McDonald -- have graduated. Returners include lights-out wing shooter Marc Loving and three talented, intriguing sophomores (Jae'Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop and Kam Williams) who were nonetheless mere role players a season ago. As usual, Matta has a stocked, five-player class of incomers, all of whom rate as four-star players, none of whom is obviously a star and most of whom will be expected to contribute immediately. How good are Austin Grandstaff, Daniel Giddens, A.J. Harris and Mickey Mitchell? How good is Virginia Tech transferTrevor Thompson, who scored just five points in Blacksburg as a freshman in 2013-14, but whose promise earned him interest from a swath of elite programs before he settled on OSU?
Most of all: How good is JaQuan Lyle? The former Oregon signee chose Ohio State as his fallback plan after a credit issue kept him from enrolling last year. Is he an immediate star? A project with a bright future? A four-year rotation guy?
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Looking ahead: Ohio State Buckeyes
Eamonn Brennan, College Basketball Reporter
...
What the immediate future holds: The 2014-15 season offered two unexpected turns: First that Russell was so good, and later, that his team wasn't better. It's hard to imagine 2015-16 matching those surprises, mostly because it's so hard to be surprised about a team you know so little about.
Put more simply, Ohio State has a lot of new dudes. Russell is off to June's NBA draft (where he has a legitimate chance of being the best pro among a group that includes Jahlil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns). All four remaining members of Matta's 2011 class -- Scott, Thompson, forward Amir Williams (who never quite matched his hype as an incoming freshman in 2011) and career reserve Trey McDonald -- have graduated. Returners include lights-out wing shooter Marc Loving and three talented, intriguing sophomores (Jae'Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop and Kam Williams) who were nonetheless mere role players a season ago. As usual, Matta has a stocked, five-player class of incomers, all of whom rate as four-star players, none of whom is obviously a star and most of whom will be expected to contribute immediately. How good are Austin Grandstaff, Daniel Giddens, A.J. Harris and Mickey Mitchell? How good is Virginia Tech transferTrevor Thompson, who scored just five points in Blacksburg as a freshman in 2013-14, but whose promise earned him interest from a swath of elite programs before he settled on OSU?
Most of all: How good is JaQuan Lyle? The former Oregon signee chose Ohio State as his fallback plan after a credit issue kept him from enrolling last year. Is he an immediate star? A project with a bright future? A four-year rotation guy?
...