Ohio State could have one more piece to fill once the 2022-23 season begins.
After winning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and finishing the year as a third-team All-Big Ten player, Malaki Branham announced that he would be entering the NBA Draft without signing an agent, giving him the opportunity to return for another year with the Buckeyes if he chose to.
Next season, the Buckeyes will already be without first-team All-Big Ten member E.J. Liddell, along with players like Jamari Wheeler, Cedric Russell, Joey Brunk, Kyle Young and possibly others.
No matter if Branham leaves or not, Ohio State is set to look much different than the team that ended its season in Pittsburgh, losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Villanova.
So what will Ohio State look like?
Here’s a look at what the roster could look like without Branham.
What Ohio State has returning
Experience is already going to be sparse even with Branham still on the roster.
With questions looming about the return of Justice Sueing and Seth Towns for another year after missing most of the season with an abdominal and back injury, respectively, Ohio State is set to return five players from 2021-22.
In the backcourt, Meechie Johnson Jr. is slotted at the point, having averaged 4.4 points in 17.7 minutes per game, shooting 30.8% from the field. Eugene Brown III will likely take on a bigger role in head coach Chris Holtmann’s game plan, slotting in as the Buckeyes’ positionless wing after showing an ability to switch and guard between both forwards and guards in his sophomore season.
In the frontcourt, Zed Key will be the centerpiece, averaging 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, starting 23 of his 29 appearances for Ohio State as a sophomore.
Along with Harrison Hookfin deep on the Buckeyes’ bench, Ohio State will have redshirt freshman Kalen Etzler at its disposal, a 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward, who averaged 18 points and just under 10 rebounds per game as a senior at Crestview High School in Van Wert, Ohio.
What Ohio State has coming in
The Buckeyes do have some reinforcements coming in, what Holtmann calls a “phenomenal” recruiting class, ranked fifth-best in the country, and 414 points ahead of any other Big Ten team.
Even if Sueing and Towns do return for another collegiate season, 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward Brice Sensabaugh could push for playing time immediately. According to Holtmann, the No. 15 small forward in the 2022 class is as big of a mismatch the coaching staff has ever had its hands on with the head coach saying opponents will “have no idea how to guard him.”
Sensabaugh joins a “big, strong, true point guard,” in Bruce Thornton, a first-rate defending guard in Roddy Gayle Jr. and a 6-foot-11 “impact, shot-blocking center” in Felix Okpara, along with shooter Bowen Hardman.
Where are Ohio State’s biggest holes?
Without Branham and without knowing if Sueing is returning, Ohio State is without a direct path of offense.
It’s something Holtmann has challenged Brown to be, something he showed in spurts at the wing spot throughout his sophomore season, but it’s not something he can be trusted to carry, along with the 3-point heavy Johnson at guard or the layup/floater-focused Key in the paint.
It’s something that could be thrust into the hands of a player like Sensabaugh later in the season, but it’s something Ohio State will likely try to build around in the transfer portal, having already reached out to players like West Virginia forward Jalen Bridges and Kansas State sophomore guard Nijel Pack.
Along with a top-tier scorer to lead the way offensively, Ohio State also seems to need a point guard to run the offense, a role that was handed to Wheeler after the departure of Duane Washington Jr. to the NBA prior to the start of the 2021-22 season.
