Kyle Young returns, officially begins last season with Ohio State
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jamari Wheeler had seen that lob many times from the other bench. The Penn State transfer guard was just pouncing at the chance to start an alley-oop dunk for Kyle Young.
It’s easy for the Ohio State redshirt senior forward to explain to teammates, especially new ones like Wheeler, having done it in a Buckeye uniform for the past four years.
“He told me when the moment came, ‘Just throw it close to the rim,’” Wheeler said.
Ten seconds after he checked into the game for Ohio State against Niagara to a standing ovation, having missed the season opener against Akron, the moment came. Wheeler threw it up close to the rim and Young did what he always did: threw it down.
Wheeler coined it the “Welcome back lob:” the moment Young was waiting for.
It was the reason why Young decided to come back to Ohio State for his fifth and final season: to get that ovation, to feel the love from the Buckeye fans that have watched him play since he came in as a part of head coach Chris Holtmann’s first recruiting class.
“That was a big reason why I came back was for these fans, for Ohio State,” Young said. “Seeing that bit of respect right there, it felt really good.”
That journey back was not an easy one for the redshirt senior forward.
Heading into the 2021-22 season, Young was diagnosed with a vestibular dysfunction, a condition that caused the forward to stop playing basketball immediately, to start taking medication and wait for a chance to play again.
Young said it was a frustrating time going through the slow recovery process, ramping things up each day before returning to practice at a full go this past week ahead of the Buckeyes’ second game of the season.
“I always try and be positive, especially having these guys around me, just having good people around me, your family and everything,” Young said. “I try and stay positive, but it was a slow recovery coming back.”
Holtmann was happy to see both Young and redshirt senior forward Justice Sueing out on the court playing, both recovering from injury, but feeling healthy enough to be out there.
For both, the head coach said it’s going to take game play to shake off rust and get back into the games that both are known for.
But for Young to take the court to a roar, a response that only grew when he slammed the ball down for a score in prototypical Kyle Young fashion, Holtmann feels it just continues to cement the redshirt senior forward into the history of Ohio State basketball.
“He’s obviously beloved for good reason,” Holtmann said. “I think when you lay it on the line like he does night in and night out, this fan base is going to love him just because of how he plays, the heart he plays with, the fact of how much he loves being a Buckeye.”
It was something Greg Paulus saw in Young when he recruited the Massillon, Ohio native.
When the Niagara head coach and former Ohio State assistant coach entered into the Schottenstein Center to face Holtmann and the Buckeyes, he saw the relationships that brought Young to Columbus: the assistant coaches, his parents, his teammates.
All Paulus could say to Young was just how proud he was of him.
“He’s a great, I don’t want to say kid because he’s a senior. He’s a great person that really brings, he does so much for that team that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” Paulus said. “He makes a lot of winning plays. For him, I was very happy. I want to see him healthy and have an unbelievable last year.”
Wheeler has more time with Young. Admittedly, the Ohio State forward was one of the reasons why the guard transferred from Penn State to the Buckeyes in the first place: seeing that presence, that essence representing Ohio State’s family mentality what Wheeler wanted to be a part of.
Wheeler was excited to play with Young. He was ready to play with Young. And now, moving forward, he’s looking forward to future lobs, not just the “Welcome back” one.
“I’m glad to have him back for sure,” Wheeler said.