Without Wesson, Buckeyes could be ‘much more versatile,’ Holtmann says

Ohio State doesn’t exactly have a plug-and-play big man to fill the vital void left by Kaleb Wesson.

Replacing the program’s best player two years running might seem like a daunting task, but Buckeye head coach Chris Holtmann sees it as a chance to diversify.

“I think we have a chance to really be different and have a chance to be much more versatile,” Holtmann told 97.1 The Fan on Friday.

That’s not to say he’s dismissing Wesson’s impact on the team, though.

The 6-foot-9, 270-pound big man led Ohio State in both scoring and rebounding for the past two seasons, and in his third year, the Westerville, Ohio, native showcased a deft touch passing the ball and a markedly improved comfort level behind the three-point line.

Shooting 42.5 percent from beyond the arc on 3.4 attempts per game, Wesson was actually Ohio State’s most accurate three-point shooter, on top of averaging a near-double-double with 14 points and nine boards.

However, after testing NBA interest following his sophomore season, it was no surprise to Holtmann or the Buckeye faithful that Wesson would declare for the draft once again.

“We lost some really good players. We knew Kaleb, he dipped his toes in the waters of the draft last year, so we knew that was a potential,” Holtmann said. “Certainly, we’d love to have him, but we also knew that when he transitioned out of the program that we were gonna look a lot differently because so much of what we did was centered around our big kid, Kaleb.”

If anyone says the Buckeyes will now begin running the team through 6-foot-10 center Ibrahima Diallo in Wesson’s stead, they’re kidding themselves.

What Ohio State can do with its presently constructed roster though, is play a more positionless brand of basketball with the variety of talented wings Holtmann has brought in, headlined by Harvard and California transfers Seth Towns and Justice Sueing.

“They’re new players, but they’re in that range of 6’7” to 6’8” guys, we have a lot of guys like that right now between E.J. and Seth and Justice and Kyle Young,” Holtmann said.

Towns was the Ivy League Player of the Year before missing the past two seasons with injuries, and Sueing averaged 14 points and nearly six boards a game across his first two years at Cal.

That pair might have the highest ceiling among Ohio State’s versatile wings, but the Buckeyes will also return 6-foot-5 guard Musa Jallow after redshirting last year with an injury.

Ohio State may have lost wings like 6-foot-9 Alonzo Gaffney and defensive stopper Luther Muhammad to the transfer portal –– not to mention Andre Wesson aging out of the program –– but four-star 6-foot-6 guard Eugene Brown will enter the fold as a freshman, and 6-foot-6 three-point marksman Justin Ahrens seems to have gotten healthy after dealing with a back injury ahead of last year.

There’s no doubt Ohio State will be undersized down low, with Young, Liddell and incoming freshman Zed Key likely handling big man duties at 6-foot-8 and under.

In terms of a true point guard, CJ Walker may be the only player who sees significant minutes all season.

The strength of the Buckeyes this year should be their depth from two through four, which, despite being a contrast to the Kaleb Wesson era, seems to be exciting for Holtmann entering his fourth season at the helm.