2001-2002 Men’s Basketball Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/18/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 18, 2001
%^$Brown Close to 1,000 Career Points
%^$Ohio State senior guard Brian Brown should reach the 1,000-point mark in his Buckeye career before the Big Ten Conference season gets underway in January. Brown will become the 40th player in Ohio State history to reach 1,000 points. He enters his senior season with 864 points in 97 career games for an average of 8.9 points a contest.%^$
%^$Buckeyes Return Most of Offense, Rebounding From 2000-01
%^$Ohio State will enjoy the majority of its scoring and rebounding when it takes the floor for the 2001-02 season. Four starters return as does eight of its top nine offensive contributors. Ken Johnson is the only significant loss from a year ago. The Buckeyes return 80 percent of the offense (1,774-of-2,206 points). On the boards, 75.8 percent of the rebounds return (827-of-1,090) while over 91 percent of the steals (147-of-161) and 93 percent of the assists (440-of-473) are back. With the loss of Johnson, only 35-of-160 blocked shots (21 percent) return.%^$
%^$Buckeyes Deep, Experienced at Guard Positions
%^$Senior Brian Brown has nearly 100 games (97) under his belt in three seasons as a regular for the Buckeyes. He broke into the starting lineup as a freshman at the start of the 1999 NCAA Tournament. He has not missed a game since. He led the Buckeyes in scoring as a junior with 14.5 points a game. Senior Boban Savovic overcame two years of injury-plagued seasons to start all 31 contests as a junior. He averaged nearly nine points a game in 30.0 minutes of playing time. He added 107 assists and 34 steals. Junior Sean Connolly has played an average of 25.3 minutes a game in two seasons, including 30 starts as a freshman at Providence. He is a career 85 percent shooter from the foul line, including 27 made foul shots in 28 attempts during the Big Ten season last year. Brent Darby played nearly 27 minutes a game as a sophomore after putting in just 10 minutes a contest as a freshman. Darby averaged just under 10 points a game in Ohio State’s three-guard offense. He has demonstrated the ability to score points in bunches and could have more freedom this year with less responsibility at the point guard position.%^$
%^$Connolly Recovers From Offseason Ankle Surgery
%^$Junior Sean Connolly underwent successful surgery on his right ankle following the 2001 season to repair nagging discomfort. The surgery, to tighten ligaments injured as a result of several ankle turns and sprains, caused Connolly to miss about nine weeks of offseason workouts. He worked out with the Buckeyes in time to travel and play during the team’s trip to Europe in late August.%^$
%^$Dudley Gets His Shot
%^$Senior Will Dudley was in line to take over the center position following his sophomore season. Those plans were put on hold for a year when Ken Johnson received a fourth year of eligibility from the NCAA to play the 2000-01 season. Dudley now has a chance to play the majority of the minutes in the paint for the Buckeyes. Dudley has demonstrated an ability to score around the basket. He has connected on 56 percent of his shots from the floor in his career. One of his biggest improvements came at the foul line. He knocked down 66 percent of his shots as a junior (38-58) after hitting just 38 percent as an underclassman. Sophomore Velimir Radinovic, a 7-footer from Toronto, will get his shot at more playing time as well. With added strength and weight, he could develop a defensive presence to go with his offensive skills. The Buckeyes could get some added help inside from redshirt freshman Matt Marinchick, returning sophomore starter Zach Williams and senior Tim Martin.%^$
%^$Young Players Will See Time at Forward Positions
%^$Zach Williams started every game for the Buckeyes as a freshman forward last season. In 31 games, he averaged 6.6 points while connecting on over 50 percent of his shots from the field (84-167). He will battle redshirt freshman Matt Marinchick, true freshman Terence Dials and veteran Tim Martin at the power forward position. Freshman wing forward Matt Sylvester also could provide an option at the forward position.%^$
%^$The Freshmen
%^$The Buckeyes welcome four new faces to the roster for 2001-02. Freshman point guard Brandon Fuss-Cheatham comes in with an impressive resum© from Blackhawk High School in Beaver Falls, Pa. Fuss-Cheatham is a crafty lefthander who is expected to help out with the point guard duties. Ohio Co-Player of the Year Matt Sylvester, a 6-7 forward from Cincinnati Moeller, gives the Buckeyes a threat from the shooting forward position. At power forward, Youngstown Boardman’s Terence Dials, at 6 feet 8 inches, 240 pounds, will provide bulk at the power forward and center positions. JaQuan Hart, a Flint, Mich., native, commited to the Buckeyes late in the summer of 2001. Rated by several recruiting services among the Top 40 players nationally, Hart, a 6-6, 175-pound guard from Flint Northern High School, will sit out the 2001-02 campaign as an NCAA partial qualifier. He will have three-years of eligibility beginning with the 2002-03 season.%^$
%^$Early Start
%^$The 2001-02 class of Ohio State freshmen was granted the opportunity to get in the classroom before the traditional start of fall quarter classes. Brandon Fuss-Cheatham, Matt Sylvester and Terence Dials began their Buckeye academic careers June 18, the first day of the Ohio State summer academic session. The NCAA gave student-athletes the opportunity to attend classes early to get acclimated to college academics before organized workouts begin.%^$
%^$Summer in Europe
%^$Ohio State spent 16 days (Aug. 20-Sept. 4) traveling through Italy, Switzerland, France and The Netherlands in preparation for the 2001-02 season. The trip offered Ohio State’s big men an opportunity to play competitively while allowing the guards to experiment with lineups during the six-game schedule. Ohio State won all six contests with the guards leading the way. Senior Boban Savovic averaged 17.5 points (105 total) to lead all scorers. Senior Brian Brown and junior Brent Darby each scored 96 points for 16.0 averages. Sean Connolly scored 10.5 points a contest and was the only Buckeye to connected on at least one 3-pointer in each of the six games. Sophomore Zach Williams registered a pair of double-doubles and led the Buckeyes with 7.3 rebounds a game.%^$
%^$The Schedule
%^$Ohio State will compete in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the first time this year when the Buckeyes host North Carolina State, Nov. 27. The Buckeyes will play 17 home games at Value City Arena while taking to the road in non-conference action again UMass and Louisville. The home portion of the non-conference schedule includes Albany, Eastern Illinois, IUPUI, North Carolina-Greensboro, Pittsburgh, Santa Clara and Winthrop. In Big Ten play, Ohio State will face Illinois, Wisconsin, Penn State and Minnesota just once in 2002 with Illinois and Penn State traveling to Columbus. The Buckeyes face Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern and Purdue both home and away.%^$
%^$A 4th-Consecutive NCAA Trip, 20-Win Season?
%^$The Buckeyes have been to 21 NCAA Tournaments in the history of the program, including the past three. No Ohio State coach has ever led four-consecutive teams to the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes have made three-consecutive trips four times (1944-46, 1960-62, 1990-92 and 1999-01). Ohio State also has a streak of three-consecutive 20-win seasons. The only time the program enjoyed four-consecutive 20-win campaigns occurred from 1960-63 with 25, 27, 26 and 20 wins, respectively. Ohio State won the national championship in 1960 and won four of five-consecutive Big Ten titles during that span.%^$
