Men’s Basketball Opens Play with Exhibition Game – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/3/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
November 3, 1998
Buckeyes usher in new era, arena
With the game against the Worldwide All-Stars, Ohio State basketball and hockey will begin the Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center era. The new arena will seat 19,500 fans for both men’s and women’s basketball and 17,500 for ice hockey. The facility will be the home for the coaching staffs of the three sports along with locker rooms, training and weight training facilities. The basketball teams will utilize a separate practice facility as well.
Redd considered for Wooden Award
Ohio State sophomore Michael Redd is on the preseason watch list as a candidate for the prestigious John R. Wooden Award, given annually to the nation’s top collegiate player. Redd is among 50 players under consideration this season.
Redd preseason all-Big Ten selection
Both the Big Ten coaches and media selected the same five players to their preseason all-Big Ten Teams at the annual media day festivities in Chicago (Oct. 25). Ohio State sophomore Michael Redd earned a selection along with Louis Bullock (Michigan), Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State), Evan Eschmeyer (Northwestern) and A.J. Guyton (Indiana). Cleaves was tabbed as the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.
One World All-Stars drop opener to DePaul, 90-81
Kerry Hartfield scored 23 points and Lance Williams added 20 as DePaul’s basketball team opened the season Sunday night with a 90-81 exhibition victory over the One World All-Stars. One World’s Richie Dalmau led all scorers with 29 points. Three others also were in double figures let by Antonis Fotsis with 21, Orlando Antigua with 12 and Eddie Rivera with 11. One World shot 52 percent from the field (34-66), 25 percent from three-point range and 67 percent (10-15) from the free throw line.
WBNS to televise three games in Puerto Rico
The Buckeyes will have every game on its 1998-99 schedule televised with the addition of the three games in Puerto Rico Dec. 21-23. WBNS (Channel 10) will air the games tape-delayed at 7 p.m. each night of the tournament. Ohio State will open with Alabama-Birmingham Dec. 21 and will play either N.C. State or Middle-Tennessee State Dec. 22. The opener against UAB will begin at 11 a.m. EST. All OSU games will air live on WBNS Radio (AM 1460 and FM 97.1).
Buckeyes Celebrating 100 Years
Ohio State will celebrate 100 years of men’s basketball during the 1998-99 season. The Buckeyes first fielded a team in 1898, posting a record of 12-4. Since then, OSU has compiled a record of 1,264-902 (.584). Since joining the Big Ten, Ohio State has won or tied for 15 conference titles, winning 10 outright. OSU has an overall record in Big Ten games of 610-599 in 87 years of membership. Along the way, the Buckeyes have produced 14 All-Americans, three Associated Press players of the year, 13 NBA first round draft picks, eight members of the National Basketball Hall of Fame, two U.S. Olympians and countless others national, international, conference and local award winners and team members.
1998-99 Captains named
Senior Neshaun Coleman, a 6-3, 190-pound guard from Toledo, will again act as a captain. He was the lone captain last season as a junior. Joining him will be senior Jason Singleton, a 6-5, 190-pound guard/forward from Detroit, and junior James “Scoonie” Penn, a 5-10, 185-pound guard from Salem, Mass. Penn is a transfer from Boston College who is eligible for the first time as a Buckeye this season.
Seven old and six new
Six new faces will dot the Buckeye sidelines in 1998-99. Three freshmen and three junior transfers will be in uniform for the first time as Buckeyes. They join seven veterans from a year ago battling for playing time this season. OSU will field a young team this season with just two seniors. The rest of the squad consists of five juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen.
The addition of “Scoonie” Penn
When Jim O’Brien accepted the position at Ohio State prior to the start of last season, he took over a squad unfamiliar to him and his staff. That soon changed when O’Brien’s star point guard at Boston College decided to become a Buckeye. James “Scoonie” Penn sat out last season because of NCAA transfer rules but was able to practice with his new teammates. “Scoonie has already established himself as one of our team leaders,” O’Brien said. “He will provide good leadership both on and off the court. He will give us quickness, scoring, toughness and a strong work ethic.”
The Schottenstein Center Opens
Ohio State’s $105 million Jerome Schottenstein Center opens for the 1998-99 season and will host a variety of athletics events in addition to many other concerts and shows. A total of 54 Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball and hockey games are scheduled this season. Performers Bill Cosby and Andy Williams also are scheduled. The Ohio High School Athletic Association State Championships for wrestling and boy’s basketball, The Wizard of Oz on Ice, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Harlem Globetrotters and a visit from Sesame Street Live will be just a few of the acts to perform in the Schottenstein Center’s first season.
Other news, notes from 1997-98
Michael Redd was the first Ohio State player since Jim Jackson (1992) to lead the Big Ten in scoring. Prior to Jackson, Dennis Hopson led the league (and was second nationally) in 1987. Red lead OSU 23 times in scoring … When Michael Redd (23) and Jon Sanderson (21) topped the 20-point plateau at Iowa Feb. 14, it marked the first time in Ohio State history a pair of freshmen had done so in the same game. The pair equalled the feat against Penn State just two days later when Redd poured in 28 and Sanderson 21 … Redd is the only returning player who started all 30 games last season Sanderson and Jason Singleton each started 28 … Coleman has connected on his last 14 free throw attempts … His last miss was against Southern California, Dec. 20, 1997.
Coleman pushing for career lead from long range
Neshaun Coleman continued his climb up the three-point shooting charts last year. He ranks second in both three-point field goals made (115) and attempted (348). He needs 30 made three pointers this season to pass Jamie Skelton, who made 144 from 1991-94. Skelton also attempted 422 three points over his career, 74 more than Coleman.
Buckeyes could face as many as nine ranked foes from 1997-98
The 1998-99 Ohio State men’s basketball schedule is dotted with eight potential opponents that finished among the Top 25 or received votes in either the AP or USA Today/ESPN polls last season. Purdue, Michigan, Mississippi, Michigan State and Illinois all ended the season in the Top 25 in both or one of the two major polls. Minnesota, Indiana, Oklahoma and Penn State also received votes for 25 recognition last year.
