Justice Sueing and Seth Towns won't suit up for the Buckeyes' two upcoming exhibition games in the Bahamas.
Chris Holtmann said Monday the pair of veteran forwards, who each dealt with long-term injury issues over the past year, still aren't full-go for Ohio State just yet. But Sueing and Towns are both expected to return to full action by the start of next month.
“We have everybody practicing right now in some capacity. We have Justice and Seth who are practicing, but they’re somewhat limited in what they can do," Holtmann said during his press conference appearance at the Schottenstein Center. "Justice and Seth will not play in the two games in the Bahamas. They won’t be fully cleared. We do expect them to be fully cleared by September. Don’t anticipate any issue there.”
The Ohio State basketball program embarks on its summer trip later this week where it will participate in two contests against the Egyptian and Puerto Rican national teams at the Atlantis Resort this weekend.
Sueing, who transferred into the Buckeye program from California ahead of the 2019-20 season, averaged 10.7 points and 5.5 rebounds a game while starting all 31 games for Ohio State in 2020-21. A hernia injury cost the Hawaii native all but two games this past year, but Sueing opted to return to Ohio State for a sixth year of college basketball this offseason.
Towns did not play for the Buckeyes at all in 2021-22 after undergoing back surgery in the preseason. Knee injuries cost Towns two full seasons at Harvard before the Columbus native transferred to Ohio State ahead of the 2020-21 campaign. The former Ivy League Player of the Year averaged 3.8 points a game in 25 appearances for the Buckeyes two seasons ago.
Both Sueing and Towns warmed up with the Buckeyes in shootaround drills during the 20 minutes of Ohio State practice made available to media members Monday.
Still somewhat limited, heres Justice Sueing moving around and getting shots up in practice.
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) August 1, 2022
Looks like hes been spent plenty of time in the weight room. pic.twitter.com/5r6l9rY7GY
Seth Towns getting up and down the floor and hitting a 3 at Buckeye practice.
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) August 1, 2022
Like Justice Sueing, Towns is still limited in practice according to Chris Holtmann. pic.twitter.com/7ikiQ88JHY
Eugene Brown is also dealing with an injury issue, as Holtmann said the third-year wing will be on a minutes restriction in the forthcoming exhibition matchups.
"Outside of that, we should have everybody pretty much ready to go as long as we stay healthy these next couple days in practice," Holtmann said.
