When Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann talked about his team this past season, one of the first things he usually brought up was the leadership provided to the team by veterans like Jae’Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop, Kam Williams and Andrew Dakich.
"The closer the group – and this group was extremely close, really close – the better the leadership, and this group was really led well," Holtmann said Monday on his postseason radio show.
Bates-Diop and Tate, Holtmann said, were "all about the right stuff that you would want, as a former Buckeye, your older guys to be about." Williams, the most senior player on Ohio State’s team this past season as a fifth-year senior, overcame a three-game suspension for an unspecified violation of team rules to play a big role for the Buckeyes down the stretch, and Holtmann said he was "really proud of him." And Dakich, also a fifth-year senior after joining the Buckeyes as a graduate transfer from Michigan, also had a "huge influence" on the group in his own way, Holtmann said.
Tate, Williams and Dakich won’t be back next season, and it’s widely presumed that Bates-Diop – though he has not announced a decision yet – will also leave, having graduated this past December, to declare for the 2018 NBA draft after earning Big Ten Player of the Year honors this past season.
Holtmann expects the leadership those four players provided for the Buckeyes this year to have a lasting impact on the younger players who will be back with the Buckeyes next year.
"That’s who you’re losing, is the leaders of this group, and I wanted our younger guys to really understand that they had a great model of leadership with Jae’Sean and Keita and Kam," Holtmann said.
As for which younger players will step up to fill their leadership void for the 2018-19 season, however, Holtmann isn’t sure yet.
"I think it’s wide open," Holtmann said. "I think it’s really wide open. I think that’s going to be a significant question mark about our group."
While Holtmann and the rest of Ohio State’s new coaching staff certainly played a huge role in the Buckeyes’ turnaround this past season, Holtmann has repeatedly iterated that what the Buckeyes accomplished this season – winning 25 games, finishing second in the Big Ten regular season standings and getting back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 – would not have been possible without the leadership provided by players like Tate and Bates-Diop.
“I wanted our younger guys to really understand that they had a great model of leadership with Jae’Sean and Keita and Kam.”– Chris Holtmann
So for the Buckeyes to continue their rise and be a conference and national contender in Holtmann’s second year on the job, leaders will need to emerge among Ohio State’s returning players.
As of now, Holtmann isn’t overly concerned about his team’s lack of a clear leader for next season, because he believes that’s normal for a team with as much turnover as his will have this offseason.
"I think that’ll probably be the case for a lot of teams that have the turnover that we have," Holtmann said. "Not everybody has the kind of turnover we’re going to have around college basketball, but the teams that do, the question mark will be 'OK, now who’s going to assert themselves, and lead at the level this past group did?' And I think that is yet to be determined, with this team and this group, for sure."
While Holtmann did not name any specific candidates to take on leadership roles for next season, the most obvious candidate would appear to be C.J. Jackson, as the only rising senior (if Bates-Diop leaves) among players who saw regular playing time this past season.
Former walk-on turned scholarship player and fan favorite Joey Lane should be a top candidate to provide leadership, too, even though he doesn’t play regularly, as the fellow rising senior is known for his fun-loving personality and team-first approach.
Joey Lane is among the players who could provide veteran leadership for Ohio State next season.
Rising juniors Micah Potter and Andre Wesson are also among the players who should have the opportunity to assert themselves to do so. Even Kaleb Wesson, although he will be just a sophomore next season, could have the opportunity to emerge as a leader after starting at center for most of his freshman season.
Holtmann is also expected to look to add another graduate transfer to his roster for next season, so any player who comes in with three or four years of collegiate experience already under his belt could certainly be a candidate to help fill the leadership void, too.
Now that the 2017-18 season is over, the opportunity for new leaders to emerge for the 2018-19 season should begin very quickly. Holtmann said the Buckeyes will begin their offseason program "in short order," once the players have been given their NCAA-mandated time off, and Holtmann expects the work the Buckeyes put in this offseason – his first full offseason as Ohio State’s coach – to be crucial to how successful the team can be next season.
"That’s going to be incredibly important for this group," Holtmann said. "We have to have a very, very good offseason, given all that we’re losing."
