COLUMBUS, Ohio - Men's basketball head coach Chris Holtmann took part in his first official media session of the 2019-20 season in which he gave updates on injuries and how the freshman class is progressing so far over the offseason.

In terms of injuries, Holtmann confirmed that E.J. Liddell, Justin Ahrens and Musa Jallow are not practicing at full strength right now. Ahrens is sidelined with a back injury while Liddell and Jallows are dealing with lower leg injuries. Ahrens and Liddell are expected back by the preseason, but Jallow is currently week-to-week with his injury, and Holtmann says he may be out "for a while."

Liddell is one of four freshman coming in with the 2019 class with Alonzo Gaffney, D.J. Carton and Ibrahima Diallo joining him. Despite Liddell's injury keeping him off the court for part of the offseason, Holtmann is still happy with how the freshman class has been able to progress.

"Yeah, good so far I think all of them have had moments where they've looked like the gifted players they are and all of them have moments where they've looked like the freshman they are and you know, I think that's that's been to varying degrees the case for all of them. Again, we've had a couple that have had some injury bugs that have left the kept him out of some stuff, but been pleased with the consistency and the work ethic of guys."

Moving to the anchors of the team, you don't need me to tell you that much of Ohio State's success this season will depend on the big man, Kaleb Wesson, and how he performs. Beyond Wesson, Holtmann says that the development of Duane Washington Jr. and Luther Muhammad will have a big factor on their offense this season.

"Yeah, I think it's going to be really important. I think you could you could look at their growth as as important as anything with our team right now," Holtmann said. "Are they going to learn from their freshman year where they had some really good moments? And some moments that where they struggled? Can we as a coaching staff, get them to take some of those lessons that they learned and take the next step? And primarily, it's in a lot of ways, but it's going to begin with a higher level of efficiency on the offensive end for both of those guys."

This time of year, all eyes are usually trained on Ohio Stadium with football season in full swing, so it can be easy to forget that the basketball season tips off in just over a month. Cedarville will visit The Schottenstein Center on Oct. 30 to kick off Ohio State's season, and while it's still a ways away, it hasn't stopped the preseason polls and think pieces from trying to determine where Ohio State will finish in the Big Ten this season.

While we can't be certain how the Buckeyes will fare in a crowded Big Ten this season, it seems that the general consensus places them in the top 25 in the nation, so there are serious expectation for the program as Holtmann enters his third season as head coach. Despite the lofty expectations, Holtmann wants the team to block out the noise so they can focus on improving themselves instead of focusing on how to improve their place in the polls.

"Yeah, you know, more than anything focus on the day to day. I think we'll get what we earn whatever that looks like. I think that's the biggest thing for us is to focus on the day to day and the process of getting better and not put too much thought into kind of what said good or bad about us, what's written good or bad, what's projected good or bad," Holtmann said. "There's a little bit of everything when it comes to that. So we're really just trying to focus on the day to day and improving and that that's going to start on Thursday."