Well here we are. Apparently the NCAA doesn’t accept jars of tears as a valid appeal for a fifth year of eligibility for a player because the dreaded season is finally upon us: for the first time since 2009, Aaron Perfect (just a guess) Craft will not be suiting up for the scarlet and grey roundball team. Much like Jesus’ disciples after his death, or The Office after Steve Carell left, Ohio State fans have experienced a seemingly insurmountable loss. We’re cold. Confused. Alone. We’re all asking the same questions… “Who will be our new fearless leader?” “Does this mean Dan Dakich won’t announce our games anymore?” “Why did he never respond to any of my tweets, Facebook messages or attempts to contact him through Ohio State’s PR department?” The pain is real, believe me I know it. But the show must go on. And go on it shall. We have a legitimate scoring threat for the first time since DeShaun Thomas. The point guard replacing Craft is just as good, if not better, at doing what he did best. And we still have this guy as our head coach:

We’ll be okay.

Tell me we’ll be okay.

Projected Starting Lineup

PG #3 Shannon Scott, Senior

SG #0 D’Angelo Russell, Freshman

SF #12 Sam Thompson, Senior

PF #31 Anthony Lee, Senior

C  #23 Amir Williams, Senior

If you have to replace a guy like Aaron Craft on your team, Shannon Scott is just about the next best thing. He’s a two-time All Big 10 defender that will finally be able to move from shooting guard to the point, a position he’s much better suited for. With the addition of Russell in the backcourt, the Buckeyes don’t need Scott to go out of his way to score like they did with Craft last year. He can penetrate and dish or finish at the rim. Quite honestly the biggest drop-off between Craft and Scott is the amount of irrational haters, so that’ll be nice.

Russell is widely considered to be the key to this Buckeye team. Ranked 13th (#1 SG) in ESPN’s 2014 Top 100, he’s the crown jewel of this freshman class and can step right in and (will) lead the team in scoring. A 6’5″ lefty, Russell can create his own shot off the dribble just as well as he can create shots for his teammates. He very well may be Ohio State’s best shooter before even playing in an official game. Obviously he’s young, and freshman sometimes struggle going from being “the guy” to playing with four other “the guys”, but he’s the type of talent that non-Ohio State fans will tune in to their games to watch.

Depth will be a concern in the backcourt. I’ll talk about the reserves a little later, but the only real guard they have coming off the bench is redshirt freshman Kam Williams. He missed all of last year because of an illness, and while he does still have a ton of promise, he’ll need some playing time early to get some experience and confidence under his belt. We all remember how deer-in-the-headlights Marc Loving looked at times in big games last year as a freshman. Word is he can score when he’s on the floor.

Sam Thompson is back, and he can do things like this:

He’s long. He’s strong. He’s down to get the friction on He can jump out of the gym. And he was able to knock down the occasional jumper last year. Thompson is the main reason why the Buckeyes need to push the ball up the floor, and push it often. With the athleticism of him, Scott, Russell, and (relatively speaking) their big guys, they should be Kevin Love-ing it every single time they come down with a defensive board or inbound after a made bucket. Transition is sort of the great equalizer of basketball, one of the few times offensive players are free to use their creativity outside offensive sets. It’s also an easy way to get young players warmed up and confident in a game, so that will be huge with so many underclassmen in the rotation.

I can’t put into words how important snagging Anthony Lee from Temple was for Matta and the Buckeyes. The post play last year was nothing short of anemic. I’m doing my best to go into this year with an open mind towards Amir Williams but god damnit it’s difficult. The 6’11” traffic cone had 3 inches on the next tallest player on the roster and failed to lead the team in rebounding (5.8 RPG). His offensive game improved slightly, I’ll give him that (7.8 PPG), but so did his turnovers (1.5 per game). He’s a game changing defender — when he wants to be. He has the ability to be an elite shot blocker — when he’s hustling and getting himself in good positions. Unfortunately the other 95% of the game his thumb is so far up his ass all he needs to do is stick out his tongue to declare a thumb war. We can only hope Matta continues to be on his di…back every day in practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FmKxYqYuaw

Lee played quite a bit of center for Temple, and shifting over to the 4 will fit him a lot better. He’s not the defender Williams is, but he’ll grab more boards (8.6 RPG) and has more of (aka has one period) an offensive repertoire. Last year, with Trey McDonald the only other “big man” by definition on the squad, the Buckeyes were forced to go small quite a bit. Loving, LaQuinton Ross and even Thompson were forced to play an undersized 4. McDonald is back, Loving has a year under his belt and the Buckeyes have options in their frontcourt again.

Key Reserves

F #2 Marc Loving, Sophomore

F #1 Jae’Sean Tate, Freshman

G #15 Kam Williams, RS Freshman

F #33 Keita Bates-Diop, Freshman

F #55 Trey McDonald, Senior

I’m excited to see what Loving can do in his sophomore campaign. Yeah, he did really look like a freshman at some points last year. But at others you could see why he was named 2013 Ohio Mr. Basketball. He’s got a smooth stroke from the outside, and a frame that allows him to play the 3 or the 4, creating match-up problems at both positions. He’ll probably be the first off the bench, whether it’s to give Thompson or Lee a blow, or foul trouble for Lee or Williams. I do love what McDonald brings to the floor off the bench. A big body who doesn’t do anything extremely well but doesn’t kill you anywhere, either. He’s a perfect 10-15 minutes per game guy.

Kam Williams I talked about earlier. The only true “guard” coming off the bench. If Russell has trouble adjusting to the college game, Williams could be thrust into a significant role pretty quickly. Matta needs to keep him heavily in the rotation early in the season; can’t go in to Big 10 play with only two guards you’re comfortable with.

Tate is a forward trapped in a guard’s body. He’s undersized for either forward position at 6’5″. Russell gets most of the attention out of this class but Tate is no slouch himself, 28th in ESPN’s 2014 Top 100. His scoring comes mostly from mid-range and in the paint. He’s known as a motor, an above-average rebounder for his size. Based on size alone he may be able to fill in at the 2 in a pinch, but his perimeter game seems to say otherwise.

He may not contribute a whole lot this year, but the player I’m most excited about in this class is Keita Bates-Diop. At 6’7″, 190, he’s extremely lanky and looks like a freshman. But my goodness is he athletic. He’s long, can finish at the rim and will be able to run circles around other forwards. His length translates defensively and on the glass as well. A good passer on top of all that, it seems like the only part of his game that is lacking is on the perimeter. And strength. That’s the big one. He needs to LIVE in the weight room. He will be able to come off the bench with some energy this year, but he’ll need to put on some serious pounds before turning into what Matta and pretty much the entire conference thought he could when they offered him a scholarship. If he does, look out. Plus, with Amedo Della Valle’s inexplicable decision to turn pro after last season, KBD steps right in to fill our three-letter acronym quota. #NBDbutKBD #uHigh

Be on the lookout for Part 2 of our Buckeye Basketball preview, with some things to watch for and superlative predictions.