Ohio State Lands Huge Transfer, Non-Conference Schedules Released, and TBT Roster Updates

Since the departure of Duane Washington Jr., Ohio State needed to find a way to fill up the box score. They might have just found that boost in Louisiana Lafayette transfer point guard Cedric Russell.

Russell can no doubt score the ball, but is he a great fit for this lineup? Maybe. He shot 40 percent from three this past season, but only shot 41 percent from the field. Not only that, but Russell only dished out 1.2 assists per game.

The Buckeyes are lacking a true distributing point guard and Russell won’t be filling that need. Will he replace some of Duane’s lost scoring, of course, but I don’t think it fills our most necessary need and only makes us slightly better.

Non-Conference Schedule

Chris Holtmann is looking to prepare his guys for the tournament with a tough out-of-conference schedule.

They open their season at home versus an Akron team that might just win the MAC this year. A few games later they have their only true road game in the Cintas Center versus a veteran Xavier team.

The Musketeers are returning most of their core on a team that just missed the tournament this past season. They’ll have to find a way to limit Zach Freemantle down low, or that game could get very tricky.

Just four days later the Buckeyes head down to Florida for the Ft. Myers tip-off. The bracket hasn’t been released yet but they’ll be joining Seton Hall, Florida, and California and what will be a tough neutral court tournament.

Continuing on what is a brutal stretch of games, OSU will come straight home for the BIG 10 vs ACC classic, and a match-up with the Duke Blue Devils. The Buckeyes get to see Coach K one last time in Columbus, where they can hopefully ruin the start of his retirement tour.

The last challenge comes in the form of the Kentucky Wildcats. Ohio State rotates through playing UNC, UCLA, and Kentucky in the CBS classic each year, and they’ve faired somewhat well in it over the years.

Here’s a list of the entire non-conference schedule:

Nov. 9: vs Akron

Nov. 12: vs Niagara

Nov. 15: vs Bowling Green

Nov. 18: at Xavier

Nov. 22-24: (neutral) Cal, Seton Hall, and Florida

Nov. 30: vs Duke

Dec. 8: vs Townson

Dec. 18: (neutral) Kentucky

Dec. 21: vs. Tennesse Martin

Dec. 28: vs. New Orleans

TBT Update

Carmen’s Crew got some NBA assistance with the addition of Kosta Koufos. The retired Buckeye’s had no size until this late addition of Kosta. He retired from the NBA in 2019 and played his last season of pro basketball in Moscow this past year.

In his one year at Ohio State, Koufos was phenomenal averaging 14 points and 7 rebounds leading to his first round pick the following year.

This addition moves Carmen’s Crew from a solid team to championship contender. Look out for Carmen’s Crew’s first game on Friday July 23rd at 9:00 PM.