Notably, Brunk's relationship with head coach Chris Holtmann – and assistant coaches Ryan Pedon and Terry Johnson – goes back to when they all recruited him to play for them at Butler. They landed a commitment from the Indianapolis native, coached him for one season, then left for jobs at Ohio State.
Nothing Brunk does could be described as flashy. He’s not a high flyer, top-flight athlete or elite outside shooter.
Rather, he’s a 6-foot-11, 255-pound brute who’ll add to Ohio State’s depth in the post as a true in-the-paint post player. He’s expected to pair with Zed Key, creating a duo at center which should allow E.J. Liddell – assuming he stays in college – to move to power forward where he and Kyle Young will spend most of their time. Brunk’s presence should both help the Buckeyes get through the meat of the Big Ten schedule, considering it’s a grinder for big men. It also gives Holtmann a bunch of different possible lineup combinations in the frontcourt with seven forwards and centers – Brunk, Liddell, Young, Key, Ibrahima Diallo, Seth Towns and Kalen Etzler – standing 6-foot-7 or taller.
Brunk, who’s a traditional five, will do the vast majority of his work in the post both offensively and defensively.
He has shot 56.1 percent from the floor across his four seasons of college basketball (2016-19 at Butler, 2019-20 at Indiana) and averaged 5.2 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game for the Hoosiers in his only playing season for them. His offensive rebounding rate that year (9.8 percent) was higher than that of every Buckeye but Key last season. At his size and weight, he’s unafraid to bang in the post in a physical league with which he has plenty of familiarity.
The drawbacks with Brunk largely center on his average athleticism, poor free-throw percentage (57.6 percent in his career) and lack of an outside shot. They’re largely the reasons why he hasn’t played more than the 19.6 minutes per game he averaged in 2019-20. He’ll again be a role player rather than someone who Ohio State relies upon to play a majority of minutes in the post.
Brunk’s back is also a notable concern. A December back surgery kept him out for the duration of the 2020-21 season. He’s said to be healthy at this point, per a source, but he hasn’t played a college basketball game since March 11, 2020.