Men’s Basketball Continues to Prepare For Season Opener – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 9, 2001%^$
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%^$Opponent Nike Elite
%^$Site Value City Arena (19,200)
%^$Game Time 8 p.m. (EST)
%^$TV ESPN Plus
%^$Local TV WBNS 10 TV
%^$TV Talent Mike Gleason (Play-by-Play), Bill Hosket (Color)
%^$Radio OSU Radio Network (64 stations)
%^$Local Radio WBNS FM-97.1 AM-1460
%^$Radio Talent Paul Keels (P-by-P), Ron Stokes (Color)
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%^$Ohio State Buckeyes
%^$Probable Starters (0-0)
%^$G 4 – Brent Darby, 6-1, Jr..
%^$G 21 – Boban Savovic, 6-5, Sr.
%^$G 13 – Brian Brown, 6-4, Sr.
%^$C 43 – Will Dudley, 6-8, Sr.
%^$F 33 – Zach Williams, 6-7, So.
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%^$Nike Elite (3-5)
%^$Probable Starters
%^$G 14 – Antwon Hall, Arkansas
%^$G 11 – Ted Dupay, Florida
%^$C 24 – Richard Shaw, Marquette
%^$F 21 – Todd Burgan, Syracuse
%^$F 20 – Daryl Cunningham, Kansas State
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%^$Buckeyes Enter 103rd Season%^$Ohio State has a record of 80-22 (.784) in season-opening games over the 102 years of men’s basketball at OSU. The Buckeyes are 84-18 (.824) in home openers and 49-52 (.485) in road openers. Ohio State did not play a road game in 1900-01. This is the 90th season of Big Ten membership in men’s basketball for the Buckeyes. Ohio State is 49-40 (.551) in conference openers, 60-29 (.674) in league home openers and 33-56 (.371) in the first road game of the season in Big Ten play.%^$
%^$2001 Nike Elite Schedule
%^$Nike Elite opened its 11-game exhibition schedule Oct. 31 at Clemson (L 98-85). The team then traveled to Houston (W 85-80, 11/1), South Carolina (L 90-81,11/3), Villanova (L 92-70, 11/5), Connecticut (L 105-77, 11/6), Syracuse (L 87-71, 11/8), Penn State (W 86-66, 11/9) and Michigan (W 79-71, 11/11). After facing the Buckeyes, Nike Elite heads to Indiana (11/14) before completing the schedule at Arizona (11/20).%^$
%^$Brown, Darby Generate Offense vs. One World
%^$Ohio State defeated the One World All-Stars 82-60 in the exhibition opener for the Buckeyes Nov. 7 in Value City Arena. Senior Brian Brown scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. He also collected a team-high seven rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Junior guard Brent Darby scored 14 points to go with four assists in 23 minutes. All 14 players saw action for Jim O’Brien’s Buckeyes. Freshmen Brandon Fuss-Cheatham and Matt Sylvester combined for 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 15 points in their debuts. Both should see extensive minutes throughout the season. One World was held to 33 percent shooting from the field (19-57). The All-Stars did not score until the 10:21 mark of the first half after the Buckeyes built a comfortable 18-0 lead.%^$
%^$Darby on Scoring Streak
%^$Junior Brent Darby ended his sophomore campaign scoring in double digits over his last nine games. He has reached double digits in 18 games as a Buckeye, including 15 as a sophomore. Ohio State has won 14 of the 18 games in which Darby has scored 10 or more points.%^$
%^$Foul Line Familiar, Comfortable for Connolly
%^$Junior Sean Connolly has made 85 percent (102-120) of his foul shots in two seasons of college basketball. He was 60-of-70 (.857) as a freshman at Providence in 1998-99. As a Buckeye sophomore last year, he drilled 42-of-50 free throws (.840) and was a remarkable 27-of-28 (.964) in Big Ten games. He had a stretch of 25-consecutive made foul shots in the conference season a year ago.%^$
%^$Robinson Ends Basketball Career
%^$Senior guard Doylan Robinson left the men’s basketball program Oct. 29 to concentrate on his academic career. The family resource management major played in 31 games as a Buckeye while battling injuries and academic difficulties. He sat out his freshman season because he did not qualify academically to participate out of Akron Buchtel High School. He would have missed a significant portion of his senior season while working on regaining his eligibility for the 2002 Big Ten Conference season, which starts in early January.%^$
%^$Senior Class Continues Successful Run
%^$Ohio State seniors Brian Brown, Will Dudley and Boban Savovic have been a part of three of the more successful seasons in Ohio State history. As freshmen, the trio helped the squad reach the 1999 Final Four. As sophomores, they were a part of a Big Ten championship team and another trip to the NCAA tournament. As juniors, they were instrumental in taking Ohio State to its third-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and 20-win season. Combined, these seniors have been a part of 70 wins (27 defeats), three NCAA tournaments, three 20-win seasons, the 1999 Final Four and the 2000 Big Ten Co-Championship. Another senior, Tim Martin, did not play for OSU until the 2000-01 season. Martin, a transfer from Kent State, sat out the 1999-00 to satisfy NCAA transfer rules.%^$
%^$Buckeye Captains Selected
%^$Brooklyn, N.Y., natives Brian Brown and Zach Williams will serve as the 2001-02 Ohio State captains. Brown is the 11th player to serve as captain twice. Williams is the third sophomore captain at Ohio State. No Buckeye has ever served as captain for three seasons.%^$
%^$A 4th-Consecutive NCAA trip, 20-Win Season?
%^$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.%^$
%^$Value City Arena Serves Buckeyes Well
%^$Ohio State has played 49 home games at Value City Arena since the facility opened for the 1998-99 season. A total of 865,456 fans have passed through the gates for an average of 17,662 fans per game. Those fans have been instrumental in the Buckeyes’ 43-6 home record at Value City Arena.%^$
%^$Ohio State Among National Leaders in Attendance
%^$The Buckeyes have been among the Top 7 teams nationally in average home attendance in each of the last three years. Ohio State averaged 17,540 fans in 2000-01 to rank No. 4, its highest ranking in team history. The Buckeyes have been a draw on the road as well. Ohio State has been among the Top 10 in NCAA all-games attendance the last three seasons, including a No. 2 ranking in 1999.%^$
%^$New Look and New Faces
%^$The Ohio State men’s team is sporting a new look this season after a redesign of the team uniform. The most noticeable change are the words “Ohio State,” which now appear directly above the jersey number on the front of the uniform. “Ohio” used to be above the jersey number with “State” appearing below the number.%^$
%^$Brown Close to 1,000 Career Points
%^$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 from last season when it takes the floor for the 2001-02 campaign. 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 and 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.%^$
%^$Connolly Recovers from Offseason Surgery
%^$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 left-hander 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, committed 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.%^$
%^$Summer in Europe
%^$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 connect 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.%^$
