Looking at everything Zed Key adds to the Ohio State roster

A season after one Ohio State freshman forward broke out on the Big Ten stage, newcomer Zed Key has a chance to replicate that and carve out a large role on the Buckeye roster.

Although he lacks the recruiting numbers of last year’s late-season surprise E.J. Liddell, Key shot up national boards as a senior and is physically ready for high-level college basketball.

The 6-foot-8, 245-pound freshman out of Long Island Lutheran High School in New York was a four-star recruit ranked No. 113 nationally by Rivals.

The second (and final) member of Ohio State basketball’s recruiting class of 2020 committed to play for the Buckeyes less than a week after commit No. 1, Eugene Brown III, made his decision to come to Columbus.

With a massive need for interior strength following the losses of Andre and Kaleb Wesson, minutes are wide open for Key. Whether he is ready to battle down low for his entire freshman season remains to be seen.

Today, in part two of our incoming Buckeye breakdown, we’ll take a look at where Key will fit into a largely-inexperienced Buckeye rotation and the immediate skills he brings to the roster.

Unlike his fellow first-year Brown, Key enters a position group with a significant lack of experience.

The loss of both Wessons, who each spent a large amount of time in the post, leaves a gaping hole- the brothers averaged a combined 60.4 minutes, 23.2 points, and 13.2 rebounds per game.

That leaves just three “true” big men on the roster for Key to contend with: a pair of sophomores in Ibrahima Diallo and Liddell, and the only true senior on the roster, Kyle Young. Graduate transfer Seth Towns could see time as a stretch forward, but Key and Towns do not have much overlap in what they would contribute on the court.

Liddell and Young are widely assumed to hold the starting forward spots entering the upcoming season. Both are high-energy bigs who run the court, block shots, and rebound well. While the duo is slightly undersized, they more than make up for it with athleticism and high-level motors.

Key enters the season with a size (height and weight) advantage on the presumed starters and brings a similar pace to the position group. His most valuable trait as a freshman is his strength- he is tough and battles hard down low. Key’s strength and toughness should translate for Chris Holtmann, who places a large importance on grit.

The largest playing time battle Key faces in his first season is with Diallo, a lanky 6-foot-10 center from Senegal. At his best, Diallo brings shot-blocking and size that no one on the roster can match, including Key.

However, Diallo played in just eight games as a freshman and was clearly very raw- he likely needs another year to develop enough skill to play meaningful minutes. Key holds a large skill advantage over Diallo, barring a large leap from the sophomore.

The role of the third big is often crucial to a college basketball team. It is important to have a player who can enter games and fill his defined role, whether that be rebounding and defending or scoring on the interior. Liddell held that spot near the end of last season and Young excelled in it as an underclassmen.

The door is wide open for Key. If he is able to find a well-defined role early in the season, he should be the first big man off the bench on a nightly basis. It’s a tall task for a freshman, but if Key develops quickly and has the strength he appears to have, he can play a large role down the stretch for this talented Buckeye team.

In the future, Key and Liddell should hold the reins of the interior for Ohio State. Though Holtmann continues to recruit high-level big men across the country, the pair of current Buckeyes will have a considerably larger amount of experience than any 2021 incomer. When Young exhausts his eligibility, the open front court spot is Key’s to lose.

Similar to how Marcus described Young and Liddell, Key is a high energy bigs who runs the floor, blocks shots and rebounds well on both ends. I put together a film review piece on the incoming freshman last month, really allowing me to get a good analysis of the type of player that Key is.

RELATED: Film Breakdown: What Zed Key brings to the Ohio State offense

Just several minutes into my first set of film on Key, his skill set struck me as eerily similar to a current Buckeye: Young. While they have nearly the same exact frame in terms of height and weight, Key holds a bit of an advantage over Young in terms of build as he displays great length as well.

Key has a motor that never stops running and it benefits him greatly on both ends of the floor. He cleans up the glass on the defensive end, creates second chances on the offensive end, and generates points in transition as a high IQ rim runner who consistently beats other bigs down the court.

While some parts of Key’s game are somewhat raw, one area where I think he is already better than Young is his post scoring package. Key has a very soft touch near the basket and does a great job of playing off two feet, consistently fooling defenders with pump fakes and using his strong, wide frame to create space inside and generate easy looks near the rim.

He also has a continually improving mid-range game, as he’s shown the ability to face up defenders out of the post and knock down a smooth jumper. However, one area where I haven’t seen Key show much promise, similarly to Young, is knocking down shots from beyond the arc. If he can add that to his game, he could be a 16-18 point per game night as an upperclassman.

Defensively, Key’s motor, strength and length make him a capable post defender. He won’t get bullied around and he plays with a high IQ on that end, so while he probably won’t be the best defender on the team, he won’t be a guy that opponents are singling out.

Key’s lateral quickness and perimeter defense will pose some issues for him on the defensive end early on in college, however, like Young, I expect him to improve in that area with continued repetition against quicker wing players.

Every team needs a gritty, team-first, high-motor guy to win championships, and Key could be that guy for the Buckeyes in the future if he continues to work his tail off as he has been.