Chris Holtmann, the head coach of Ohio State men’s basketball, provided updates on the injury recoveries of Musa Jallow and Seth Towns.
“Overall, our health remains relatively the same place it was,” Holtmann said. “I don’t have a specific timeline on Seth and Musa. At this point, I could speculate that Musa would be closer to returning than Seth. I would say he’s [Towns] at least a month away from getting into live action, in terms of practice stuff.”
Jallow and Towns have been held out of “live action,” but they have been doing “some limited contact drill work,” according to Holtmann.
A Harvard graduate transfer, Towns, underwent follow-up surgery in January of 2020 to repair his knee from an injury he initially suffered in the 2018 Ivy League championship game.
Towns missed two whole college basketball seasons following his initial surgeries before graduating from Harvard in May. With two years of eligibility remaining for Towns, Holtmann and his staff will continue to take time to ensure the former Ivy League Player of the Year is fully healthy before returning to action.
After averaging 12.3 points and 4.4 rebounds per game as a freshman at Harvard in 2016-17, Towns improved to 16.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Towns earned AP All-American honorable mention honors and was named the conference player of the year for his performance in 2017-18, when he shot 44.1 percent from three.
Jallow, a fourth-year junior wing, missed the 2019-20 season with an ankle injury that has held him out for more than a year. The Bloomington, Ind., native underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right ankle prior to last season, and he required reconstructive ankle surgery in January.
Beyond Jallow and Towns, the rest of the Buckeyes will be ready to start the season when the time comes.
“Everybody else is healthy and in a good place physically,” Holtmann said.
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