With three guards and one center already secured for the 2022 recruiting class, Ohio State men’s basketball needed to get its forward.
Head coach Chris Holtmann and the Buckeyes found its fit Tuesday afternoon when four-star small forward Brice Sensabaugh picked Ohio State over Alabama, Florida and Georgia Tech.
The Buckeyes first offered Sensabaugh Aug. 20, cutting his list down to four schools despite offers from Illinois, Indiana, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Virginia.
Here’s how the Orlando, Fla. native fits into Ohio State’s roster from the jump.
Where Sensabaugh fits in
If anything, Ohio State is extremely experienced. The Buckeyes have nine players on their current 15-man roster that are seniors or above in terms of experience, adding center Joey Brunk (Indiana), guard Jamari Wheeler (Penn State) and guard Cedric Russell (Louisiana) as transfers.
Add junior E.J. Liddell back to the mix — a first-team All Big Ten forward who withdrew his name from the 2021 NBA Draft last season after averaging 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game last season — and Ohio State could have a lot of turnover come 2022-23.
This is where Sensabaugh fits in.
The Buckeyes’ fifth commit in the 2022 class fits the mold of the type of forward Ohio State usually looks for. After getting four forwards combined between the 2020 and 2021 recruiting classes, the small forward from Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, Fla. is long, coming in at 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds: a similar frame to Liddell, Kyle Young and Justice Sueing.
He has shown he can drive the basket with a long stride, while also pulling back to shoot from deep. As a sophomore at Lake Highland, Sensabaugh averaged 18 points per game, shooting 53.2% from the field and 41.5% from 3-point range, along with 4.4 rebounds per game. In his time at the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League this summer, Sensabaugh averaged 21.7 points per game, four rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Finally, Sensabaugh also knows Bruce Thornton. The high school senior told Rivals recruiting expert Dan MacDonald that the Buckeyes said how much they liked him and Thornton — 6-foot-2, 195-pound guard from Alpharetta, Ga. played together at the Each1Teach1 event this summer. Sensabaugh also has family ties to Ohio, which also helped Ohio State’s chances of landing the No. 79 player in the class.
Ohio State’s going to be very young heading into Sensabaugh’s freshman year. With the roster the Buckeyes have now, it seems that Liddell — if he doesn’t leave for the draft — guard Meechie Johnson and forward Zed Key will be the experience in 2022, also depending on the development of the two forwards in the 2021 class: Malacki Branham and Kalen Etzler.
Barring any substantial transfer moves the Buckeyes make heading into the 2022-23 season, a youth movement is making its way back to Columbus. And it seems the program wants Sensabaugh to be a part of it.
