As college sports become increasingly dominated by the transfer portal and significant player movement, the mystique and excitement around Senior Day has changed. That development was evident inside Value City Arena on Tuesday when the Buckeyes honored just two players before their 116-114 double-overtime win over Nebraska, redshirt junior forward Kalen Etzler and sixth-year guard Ques Glover, with only Etzler spending each of his collegiate seasons with the Buckeyes.
Ohio State would have had more honorees this year, but fifth-year wing Micah Parrish declined to participate because he was already honored by San Diego State last year, and fifth-year guard Meechie Johnson Jr. was not present as he remains away from the team due to personal reasons.
Diebler recognized the uniqueness of this year’s Senior Day after the game, but he still was quick to recognize each of the players — minus Johnson — who no longer have collegiate ability. He began a day ago by lauding Glover and Parrish, who each transferred to OSU this offseason from Kansas State and San Diego State, respectively, saying that while they have played just one game they each played a pivotal role this year in establishing the culture Diebler wants to create for the program moving forward.
“You guys (the media) know this, how important playing with toughness and together are. It was important in Year One to establish that, those guys played a part in that,” Diebler said on March 3. “This is our first year as a program moving forward, so for them to come here and believe in what we’re doing and be bought in to play hard and practice hard every day — we do that. This is not a program — there’s accountability, and we practice hard. And they’ve embraced it.
“So I’m just so thankful for those guys and how they’ve embraced what we’re about and how they’ve played a role in our growth as a team. I think we’ve really grown since the season started. And they’ve helped us handle the adversity we’ve seen well, and I’m just really thankful for that.”
Despite not participating in the festivities, it was still a special Senior Night for Parrish. The former San Diego State (2023-24) and Oakland (2020-22) wing played a pivotal role in the Buckeyes’ must-win game over the Huskers, scoring 22 points and adding six rebounds and three assists in the double-overtime win. Glover, who has had an up-and-down career that included stints at Florida (2019-21), Sanford (2021-23), BYU (2023) and Kansas State (2023-24), did not score in his last collegiate home game but had one assist in six minutes of action.
As for Etzler, the Van Wert, Ohio, native did not see action against the Huskers, which was as expected because he has appeared in seven games this season and 23 across his four-year career with the Buckeyes. Despite the lack of playing time across his career, though, Diebler was quick to compliment Etzler and the impact he has made to the program both this season and his entire time in scarlet and gray.
“Kalen’s a joy to be around, and he shows up every day. Every day he shows up,” Diebler said. “He has an important role on this team, and he’s embraced it. No one ever gets to see just how important that is, but when we do scout team and we prep, and he’s learning 10 to 15 new plays. …what he has to do is challenging. And a lot of people could become frustrated and not do that well because maybe they wanted to play more or whatever.
“But he shows up every day and he does it to the best of his ability. And he cares deeply about this program in university. He’s poured just as much as anybody else into it, and this program will take care of him because of that. He’ll always be a part of the Ohio State basketball family. He’s going to be successful in whatever he decides to do because of the way he approached — specifically this year — the way he approached every day. He needs a job or an interview, he can count on me for a reference.”
