Ohio State lost several tenured players over the offseason, including guard Braxtin Miller and forward Tanaya Beacham, but the Buckeyes are getting one important member of the team back in point guard Madison Greene.
Greene will return to the lineup this season after missing last year with a knee injury suffered just days before the Buckeyes’ opener. Ohio State toyed around with several options at point guard in her absence, including Kateri Poole, who has since transferred to LSU, and senior guard Jacy Sheldon, who handled those responsibilities for much of last season.
When Greene last played for Ohio State in the 2020-21 season, she averaged 13.4 points and 4.3 assists on 42.7 percent shooting, and she was also one of the Buckeyes’ top playmakers on defense, averaging nearly two steals per game. Now, she’ll get to return her talents to the court.
“I feel great,” Green said. “It’s really exciting to be back on the court again and to play with my teammates. I’m really excited about this year and what we can do, so it’s going to be fun, for sure.”
While Greene was unable to take the floor last season, she still stayed involved with the team, hanging around practice and sitting with the team on the bench during games. She said this experience, despite the difficulty of recovering from a devastating knee injury, helped give her a new perspective on the game.
“Just sitting on the bench this (past) season, it really helped me learn more about the game, more about my players that I’m going to play with this year, so it just made me learn…it really made me just appreciate being healthy, because I’ve never been through like a major injury like this,” she said. “So, it was definitely a different perspective and then you sit back and think about basketball, family, friends and everything, so it’s been a long journey.”
Greene’s return is also welcomed by her teammates, and her ability on the court — along with Sheldon and senior guard Taylor Mikesell — should give Ohio State one of the top backcourts in the conference, if not the nation.
“I’m excited to have Madison back,” Mikesell said. “Madison’s defense and just her leadership and her ability to create from the point guard position is pretty impressive. That’s her natural position, which allows Jacy and I to play our natural positions as well, which is nice. I think it’s going to be pretty exciting what all three of us can do in the backcourt.”
Sheldon also looked forward to how the Buckeyes might look with Greene back on the court, in addition to the embarrassment of riches Ohio State has at the guard spot.
“I love playing with Madison,” Sheldon said. “We played against each other in high school, and it’s not even close — it’s way more fun playing with her (than against her). (With) Rikki (Harris), T-Mike and a lot of the other really good guards we have, our chemistry is really well and it’s really fun to play in an environment like that.”
