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tBBC OSUMBB: Back To The Future?

Ken

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OSUMBB: Back To The Future?
Ken
via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
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I see I got off the golf course in time to catch up on some recent changes involving the Ohio State men’s basketball program. Two former Buckeye players/coaches are apparently returning to Columbus to assist Thad. In other news, OSUMBB received a commitment from a JUCO player at a position that was a bit thin. Here’s the latest and what I think.



Coaches


Chris Jent

According to Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch, Chris Jent will be joining the Buckeyes as an Assistant coach. Per Adam;


Chris Jent will interview to return to Ohio State and fill the void left by Jeff Boals on Thad Matta’s coaching staff, a source within the program confirmed to The Dispatch today.

The interview likely will be little more than a formality. Another source indicated that Jent is at Value City Arena today and on the court as players are working out in a non-official capacity.

This is an interesting move. Jent’s previous coaching stint at Ohio State, 2011-2013, was primarily focused on being a “shooting” and player development coach. Good god, Ohio State does need that type of mentoring… Although the (probable) hiring of Jent has been described as “a replacement for Jeff Boals”, that’s probably not accurate. The role of Boals was “defensive coordinator”. That’s not going to happen with Jent, for two reasons. First, I believe he’ll be brought on board to coach and to develop the Buckeyes’ shooting proficiency and offense. Second, Thad is a pretty good defensive coach. I’m sure that he can do some mentoring at that end of the floor. If nothing else, Greg Paulus and/or Dave Dickerson can take on some defensive coaching responsibilities. Hell, Urban has four coaches assigned to some sort of defensive responsibilities, I’m sure that Thad can figure this out to everyone’s satisfaction.



Greg Oden

Buffalo’s own, Greg Oden, appears to be returning to Columbus and to the Ohio State basketball program as the Buckeyes’ team manager, per Usport’s Tyler Waddell. Evidently, Greg will function as team manager while pursuing his degree at Ohio State.

Below is a current (pre-Jent/Oden) screen shot from Ohio State’s MBB site and there does not appear to be any job responsibility of “manager” listed. I have no idea what the hell Greg will be doing. This may/may not lead to a career in coaching. However, if it gets Greg Oden back on campus to complete his degree and to keep him involved in basketball, this is a good move.



Coaches
Thad Matta – Head Coach
Dave Dickerson – Associate Head Coach
Greg Paulus – Assistant Coach
David Egelhoff – Director of Basketball Operations
Vince O’Brien – Athletic Trainer
Dave Richardson – Assoc. Strength and Conditioning Coach
Kyle Davis – Recruiting and Operations Coordinator



Player(s)


Let’s start with the most recent. It was announced Tuesday that the Buckeyes have received a commitment from JUCO guard C.J. Jackson, who detoured to Eastern Florida State College for a season after graduating from Montverde Academy. Bill Landis of cleveland.com has a few words:


C.J. Jackson, a junior college point guard from Eastern Florida State College, announced on Tuesday that he is committing to the Buckeyes. Jackson averaged 16.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game last year.

Bill has a few more words (click on article above) and he seems to think that C.J. is a pretty good “get”. I think so, too. He appears to provide the point guard skill set and is a bit taller than the recently departed A.J. Harris. What I like about Jackson is that he was fairly productive and at 33 minutes per game, he got decently “seasoned” with playing time. In addition to being a ball-handler, C.J. also hits 45% of his field goals, so he can be a nice compliment to JaQuan Lyle. I think the exchange of one set of initials (A.J.) for another (C.J.) will work out well for the Buckeyes.

So, things are not standing still with the OSU MBB program. Next year will be interesting.



The post OSUMBB: Back To The Future? appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.

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