While the cancellation of the Ohio State football program’s game against Maryland got most of the attention on Wednesday afternoon, head basketball coach Chris Holtmann met remotely with the media to discuss the upcoming season.
Here’s a bullet-point recap of what Holtmann had to say:
- Holtmann said Harvard transfer forward Seth Towns is still a month or so away from being healthy after offseason surgery on his knee.
- On junior guard Musa Jallow, who missed last season with an ankle injury: “At this point, I could speculate that Musa will be closer to returning than Seth. I would say he’s at least a month away from getting into live action, in terms of practice stuff.”
- Holtmann said the rest of the team is healthy, though, and participated a scrimmage on Tuesday. It was their first live action since March.
- Holtmann said he’s excited about the group of players they’ll sign this week, including Malaki Branham, Kalen Etzler and Meechie Johnson.
- Holtmann said they’ve done a lot of FaceTime and Zoom calls with prospective recruits in lieu of official and unofficial visits this fall.
- Holtmann said he expects sophomore forward E.J. Liddell to take another important step for the Buckeyes this season.
- Holtmann said California transfer forward Justice Sueing gives them a unique element on the wing. Added he’s very laid back personality-wise.
- With everyone getting an extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic, Holtmann pushed for Bucknell transfer guard Jimmy Sotos to get a waiver this season. Usually, Ohio State would like to give transfers who can still redshirt a year of development in the program before playing them.
- Holtmann praised Sotos for his shooting, ball-handling and passing skills. Expects him to have some growing pains by playing in a better league, though.
- Holtmann said he’s excited about this year’s team, as well as their depth. Expects them to improve as the season goes on.
- Holtmann imagines junior guard Duane Washington will be their go-to scorer. Said he’s playing with aggressiveness and confidence offensively.
- The pandemic has made scheduling difficult, Holtmann said, but he felt they made the right decision to pull out of the tournament in South Dakota. Added they’re devoting a large portion of their day to filling out a 27-game schedule, though he doesn’t “think we’re going to play 27 games.”
- Holtmann mentioned the amount of respect he has for head football coach Ryan Day. The two worked in tandem this spring and summer with how to best handle the COVID protocols.
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