When Ohio State took the floor Sunday for its exhibition game against Walsh, a hard-to-believe thought popped into the mind of Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta. He was about to coach a game with a team consisting of just three guys who had ever played a game before at Ohio State.
With sophomore forward Jae’Sean Tate sidelined due to a sprained ankle and former walk-on senior Jake Lorbach out with a concussion, junior Marc Loving and sophomores Keita Bates-Diop and Kam Williams were the only players available who had ever suited up in the scarlet and gray.
That amount of inexperience wasn’t necessarily shocking to Matta — he knew his team was going to be one of the youngest in all of college basketball this season — but it sort of all hit him at once as he prepared for his team’s first game of the year last Sunday.
It maybe hasn’t sunk in yet for Ohio State fans, either. This may be a year filled with growing pains as there are going to be plenty of new faces on the floor this season for the Buckeyes. The team is going to look drastically different than it has in year’s past.
With Ohio State’s season-opener just a few days away, here’s a breakdown of all seven scholarship newcomers for this season’s team.
JaQuan Lyle
The prized recruit of Matta’s 2015 class, Lyle has had quite a journey to get to Columbus. He was originally a Louisville commit before signing with Oregon. An academic issue caused Lyle to be removed from the Ducks’ roster prior to last season, though, so he then enrolled at IMG Academy for one year of prep school before ultimately committing to Ohio State in October.
Like D’Angelo Russell, Lyle is a bigger point guard; he’s listed at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds. Lyle can score, rebound and pass the ball at a high level — he had 19 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the team’s exhibition — and will be the Buckeyes’ starting point guard this season. The two have very similar games, but to expect Lyle to be Russell at this point just isn't a realistic idea.
Nevertheless, Ohio State’s success this season will largely hinge on the play of its freshman point guard.
Daniel Giddens
Of the three new big guys on this year’s team, Giddens is perhaps the most physically gifted. The 6-foot-10, 230-pound former four-star recruit is an athletic freak and someone who should make an immediate impact on the defensive end as he has a college-ready body as just a true freshman.
Giddens scored five points and grabbed one rebound in 16 minutes in Ohio State’s exhibition win Sunday as the first big guy off the bench behind starter Trevor Thompson. Right now, it appears his role will be to bring energy and a defensive presence off the bench for the Buckeyes.
Austin Grandstaff
A former four-star recruit, Grandstaff came to Columbus with the reputation as a big-time shooter. Minutes, however, may be hard to come by this season as he seems to be stuck behind Williams at the shooting guard spot.
It’s likely Grandstaff will need to improve on the defensive end to earn more playing time this year, but there’s no question he can shoot the ball with the best of them. He went scoreless in the Buckeyes’ exhibition game, but only took two shots in 12 minutes.
A.J. Harris
Harris seems to be the clear backup point guard to Lyle at this time. The 5-foot-9 true freshman’s role this season will be to provide stability running the show when Lyle heads to the bench.
A former four-star recruit out of Dayton, Harris is one of the fastest players Matta has ever coached. Matta actually likened Harris’ speed to that of Michael Conley, the former Ohio State great.
Providing a spark off the bench and playing tight perimeter defense will be the likely role for Harris this season.
David Bell
Unlike the three mentioned above, Bell is not a true freshman as he redshirted a season ago sitting behind senior big men Amir Williams and Trey McDonald.
It seems likely Bell will be the third big man off the bench this season, as that was the case in the Buckeyes’ exhibition Sunday. Thompson started and Giddens came in after that with Bell playing just six minutes.
He’s a big body, however, and certainly seems capable to provide Ohio State with some depth in the frontcourt should Thompson or Giddens find themselves in foul trouble at any point throughout the season.
Trevor Thompson
Thompson is the lone player in this group who had any previous college playing experience. He transferred to Ohio State after playing one season at Virginia Tech.
After sitting out all of last season, Thompson still has three years of eligibility remaining. He started the Buckeyes’ exhibition Sunday and it appears he’ll log the majority of the minutes in the middle for Ohio State, though Giddens will also play a large role.
Thompson is the biggest of the Buckeyes’ big men listed at 6-foot-11 and 250 pounds. He showed an active motor and ability to rebound in his 18 minutes of action the other night, scoring six points and grabbing 10 boards.
Mickey Mitchell
There weren’t likely going to be a lot of minutes available for Mitchell as things stood as he would have been behind Loving, Tate and Bates-Diop on the wing, but the recent ruling which deemed him ineligible makes things a bit more cloudy.
Matta said he hopes to get Mitchell back at some point this season, but at this point, whether or not that actually happens, remains to be seen.
