COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior-to-be Kaleb Wesson announced earlier today that he will return to Ohio State after entering his name for NBA consideration after his sophomore season. The 6-foot-9, 270-pounder has played two seasons with the Buckeyes and will return for the 2019-2020 season under Chris Holtmann.

Wesson made the declaration to test the NBA waters during the offseason but there is little penalty for players to do that as long as they declare their return to college by May 29th and to fire any agents hired during the process before that date as well.

“We really look forward to coaching Kaleb for his junior season,” Chris Holtmann, Ohio State head coach, said via a university produced update. “Kaleb received valuable information in this process. He and his family really went about this process in great way. We stayed in regular communication and I know he and his family appreciated the feedback they received from the NBA advisory committee as well as NBA organizations. As we begin the work ahead for the 2019-20 season I know Kaleb understands the work ahead and I know he is anxious to join his teammates.”

Wesson was not part of the NBA Draft Combine, a telltale sign of who stands a good chance to be drafted but that did not stop Wesson from having workouts with several teams as he gained valuable knowledge on what the league sees as his strong points and weak points in his game.

“He’s going to go through the process while also retaining his NCAA eligibility,” Holtmann said in April when Wesson announced his desire to test the NBA process. “I fully support him in going through this process and we’re going to walk through it with him.”

The Ohio State big man led the Buckeyes with 14.6 points per game and 6.9 rebounds during the last season. Ohio State would go on to the NCAA Tournament and make it into the second round before losing to Houston in Tulsa (Okla.).

All parties hope that Wesson’s testing of the NBA process will result in a lot of good feedback that can be used in a junior campaign with the Buckeyes and maybe a departure after that season.

“I think the feedback is always good,” Holtmann added. “I think Kaleb is bright and his family has a good and reasonable understanding of what this process is and where he currently is. I think all of that is really helpful.”

The Buckeyes will enter the new season as one of the better teams in the Big Ten and many of the national top-25 lists have the Buckeyes included in the upper-half of their lists. There will be no shortage of challenges for Wesson and the Buckeyes as they have games against Cincinnati, West Virginia, Kentucky as well as to be determined games against the ACC in the B1G/ACC Challenge and a Big East squad as part of the Gavitt Tipoff Games.