Jared Sullinger vows to return to OSU

[oldschooler]

[size="5"][b]Sullinger vows to return to OSU[/b]
[/size]March 26, 2011, 2:18 am

By Zac Jackson
FOXSportsOhio.com


[b]NEWARK, N.J.[/b] — For Jared Sullinger, there were no tears in the locker room in the aftermath of Ohio State's last-second Sweet 16 loss to Kentucky here Friday night.

There was instead a focus. And a promise.

"I'm coming back," Sullinger said.

Though Sullinger's comments came in the heat of the moment and just a few minutes after No. 1 Ohio State fell short, the winner of the Wayman Tisdale[img]http://icecdn.irv.brandaffinity.net/ft8/ice/FT_10x10a.png[/img] Award as the nation's top freshman told reporters he has no intention to test the NBA waters and won't wait on the NBA's pending labor issues to make his decision.

"I'm a man of my word," Sullinger said. "That's period, point blank. I'm coming back."

Sullinger, who averaged 17.1 points and 10 rebounds per game this season for the Buckeyes, grew up just miles from Ohio State's campus and never really considered playing for any other school. His oldest brother, J.J., was an Ohio State captain in 2005-06.

He was a first-team All-American, a finalist for National Player of the Year and the single biggest reason Ohio State rebounded from losing last year's National Player of the Year, Evan Turner[img]http://icecdn.irv.brandaffinity.net/ft8/ice/FT_10x10a.png[/img], to still win 34 games and its second consecutive Big Ten title.

Sullinger said his goal was "not to see the seniors go out like this" and said he will use the Kentucky game, in which he had 21 points and 16 rebounds, as motivation for next season.

"We left a couple plays on the floor," Sullinger said. "There were some rebounds we didn't get...some baskets we didn't make. We'll start working hard to get back."

The Buckeyes lose three senior starters in 2011-12. Junior William Buford, who struggled Friday night but averaged almost 15 points per game in his best all-around season (his third as a starter), said after the game he will talk with his coaches and family before deciding whether he'll return to school.




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I think Bufford would be stupid to leave early.

[#22]

Dumb move for this kid, but they are going to be really, really good.

[Bengal Cat]

I wonder if this was just his emotions talking or if its something he has thought about for a while? I think he's a top 5 pick and coming back would be a huge gamble. Not only the injury factor but will his stock ever be higher than it is right now? Either way I hope the kid stays healthy. Good news for OSU for sure.

[oldschooler]

[quote name='Bengal Cat' timestamp='1301167094' post='980193']
I wonder if this was just his emotions talking or if its something he has thought about for a while? I think he's a top 5 pick and coming back would be a huge gamble. Not only the injury factor but will his stock ever be higher than it is right now? Either way I hope the kid stays healthy. Good news for OSU for sure.
[/quote]



I read something where Sullinger told Matta when he first signed that he would
give him 2 years.

And it was reported that he was coming back back in January when the Buckeyes were playing Purdue.




"I'm a man of my word," Sullinger said. "I won't change my mind for nobody. This is what I want. This is where I'm happy. I'm happy being an Ohio State Buckeye and playing for coach Matta." And Matta is just as happy.

"He told me from Day One he'd be back for two years," Matta said. "He said, 'Draw me up a contract, whatever you want me to do, I'll sign it.' With him, his freshman year was as good as I've ever seen a freshman have. I think all the things he learned this year, with a great off-season, I have no doubt he'll be the best player in college basketball."

Sullinger is projected as a top-five pick in the draft. Junior [b]William Buford[/b], [b]who has a chance to be a first-round pick, said he also would return next year as a senior. [/b]

"From the way it just ended, I don't want it to end. I'll be back. I want to get better so when I do go to the next level, I can make an impact, not just be another player," Buford said.

[Khatmandude]

That's a great attitude to have for Buford. Sullinger as well....although Im not so sure he's going to be a lottery pick or even a 1st round pick. He lacks athleticism and is only 6'9". He will need to learn how to make a jumpshot on a very consistent basis and learn how to handle the ball much better. He's a Dejuan Blair type minus the freakish wingspan.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='IKOTA' timestamp='1301241208' post='980299']
That's a great attitude to have for Buford. Sullinger as well....although Im not so sure he's going to be a lottery pick or even a 1st round pick. He lacks athleticism and is only 6'9". He will need to learn how to make a jumpshot on a very consistent basis and learn how to handle the ball much better. [b] He's a Dejuan Blair type minus the freakish wingspan.[/b]
[/quote]


that's a decent comparison, though Sullinger's a little further along (granted I don't remember much about Blair as a freshman).

[Khatmandude]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1301241710' post='980302']
that's a decent comparison, though Sullinger's a little further along (granted I don't remember much about Blair as a freshman).
[/quote]

He's alot further along....but thats a negative IMO. He doesn't have much more of a ceiling....he's maxed out almost. He's the type of player who is great in college but will be a role player in the NBA if he sticks.

Buford on the other hand, can really be a good pro with his size and skill. I'm happy he's coming back to work on his game further.

[JC]

Probably a bad move from a money standpoint. I imagine the Cavs would have jumped on him with one of those two first rounders. The thing is though, we need more players like this in college basketball. It's okay to go to college for more than 1 and a half semesters or just 2 quarters. Good for Sully. FWIW, I heard he is a great guy on campus. The success hasn't gone to his head Pryor style.

Also sorta OT, Tristian Thompson said he was coming back for sure and he just signed with an agent. Totally burned Texas. What's OSU's incoming class look like?

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='JC' timestamp='1301247496' post='980344']
Probably a bad move from a money standpoint. I imagine the Cavs would have jumped on him with one of those two first rounders. The thing is though, we need more players like this in college basketball. It's okay to go to college for more than 1 and a half semesters or just 2 quarters. Good for Sully. FWIW, I heard he is a great guy on campus. The success hasn't gone to his head Pryor style.

Also sorta OT, Tristian Thompson said he was coming back for sure and he just signed with an agent. Totally burned Texas. [b]What's OSU's incoming class look like?[/b]
[/quote]


have no clue, but I imagine pretty good. Matta's been bringing in star after star lately. Problem is, they all keep leaving after 1 year. Their teams would be amazingly stacked if they didn't.

[JC]

[quote name='Bengals1181' timestamp='1301253364' post='980356']
have no clue, but I imagine pretty good. Matta's been bringing in star after star lately. Problem is, they all keep leaving after 1 year. Their teams would be amazingly stacked if they didn't.
[/quote]
Just checked out the Rivals rankings, they don't have a very good class coming in. Looks like a lot of role-players/4 year players.

UK has an unreal class coming in. 3 of the top 6. WOW.

[oldschooler]

[size="5"][b]Ohio State's recruits will make men's basketball team deeper for next season[/b]
[/size]
[b]Published: Sunday, March 27, 2011, 8:28 PM Updated: Monday, March 28, 2011, 8:14 AM[/b]
By [url="http://connect.cleveland.com/user/dlesmeri/index.html"]Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer [/url]The Plain Dealer
Newark, N.J. -- You know those guys in the uniforms, sitting in the really good courtside seats, who clap a lot and stand up to protect the huddle? They might play for Ohio State next season. After two years of using virtually no bench, OSU men's basketball coach Thad Matta will have a different roster to work with next season, one that could truly go 13 deep, as opposed to the nine healthy scholarship players he had this season. He's also losing two players in Jon Diebler and David Lighty who almost never came off the court the past two seasons, and the new starters may not earn such long minutes.

If big man Jared Sullinger and scoring wing William Buford return -- as they have said they would -- to join point guard Aaron Craft, who will slide into the starting lineup after being the Big Ten's Sixth Man of the Year, the Buckeyes will have a lot to build on.

Without seniors Lighty, Diebler and Dallas Lauderdale, the Buckeyes are losing 41.8 percent of their minutes, 37.5 percent of their scoring, 28.7 percent of their rebounding and 57.9 percent of their 3-pointers. Assuming Michigan doesn't lose Darius Morris to the NBA Draft, the Wolverines will return all their starters from a team that pushed Duke in their second-round NCAA Tournament loss, and they could be a preseason top-10 team. But with Sullinger, Buford and Craft, along with a five-man recruiting class that includes four of the top 75 prospects in the country, according to Rivals.com, the Buckeyes should be something they weren't at the start of this season -- the favorites to win the Big Ten.

"We had a lot of guys who might not have played a lot this year," Diebler said, "but they're very good players. The pieces are set where they could have a very good basketball team, especially with the guys coming in."

The wild card, as he was for parts of this season, is Deshaun Thomas.

The 6-6 forward was one of the top 25 recruits in the nation last year, but he played only 14 minutes per game, averaging 7.5 points as the Buckeyes' seventh man. Once seen as a potential one-and-done player, Thomas will return attempting to show what he, reasonably, thinks he can be.

"I can be a go-to guy," Thomas said, when asked to look ahead after Ohio State's season-ending loss to Kentucky on Friday. "I think I can hit big shots and play good defense. I think I can play the role of David Lighty or Jon Diebler."

At his best, Thomas could be a combination of the two. He has the potential to be a dangerous 3-point shooter like Diebler, but while he'll never be the kind of defender Lighty was, he could add Lighty's ability to mix it up inside. In practice this season, Thomas started out working more with the wing players, but by the end of the year was working with Sullinger and Lauderdale as an inside player. Thomas said he was told he was the second-best offensive rebounder on the team, behind Sullinger, which led to him telling a story of a 44-point, 33-rebound, 11-assist game in middle school.

"He's one of the guys that fits the role of being versatile and being a really tough matchup," OSU assistant Brandon Miller said. "His overall skill level can continue to improve, like a lot of guys, but you've seen when he gets going, he can really get it going. He's the third all-time leading scorer in Indiana high school history for a reason."

So pencil in Thomas as a starter alongside Sullinger, Buford and Craft. The fifth starter very well could be incoming freshman Shannon Scott, who was named Mr. Basketball in Georgia. He and Craft could work as the point guard and two guard the way Mike Conley and Jamar Butler, two true points, did in 2007.

Scott might be the freshman most ready to step in and play, as ready as Sullinger and Craft were this year. But this is where the bench should come in much more, because Thomas and Scott aren't guaranteed 30-minute players.

Sophomore guard Jordan Sibert didn't play much as the Buckeyes' eighth man this season, but he's a former top-50 recruit and the kind of versatile, smart player Matta usually relies on. He could fight to start, and at the very least should substantially increase his minutes.

While Scott is the No. 65 recruit in the country according to Rivals, the Buckeyes also are adding wing forwards Sam Thompson (No. 46) and LaQuinton Ross (No. 53), and big man Amir Williams (No. 73.)

All three of them could easily make their way into the mix. Then add sophomore Lenzelle Smith, who has a reputation as a great passer but never got going this season after an off-season wrist injury, two more big bodies in Boston College transfer Evan Ravenel and freshman Trey McDonald, and forward J.D. Weatherspoon, who was academically ineligible this season, and the Buckeyes could be as deep as they've been since playing a nine-man rotation in their Final Four season of 2006-2007.

That doesn't mean they'll be as good as they were that season, or as they were this season.

"With the chemistry we had, we played well on the court, and it's time to rebuild it. We've got five people leaving," Sullinger said, noting the departures of walk-on Eddie Days and injured Nikola Kecman along with Lighty, Diebler and Lauderdale, "and we're bringing in another five. We'll see where the ride can take us."





[url="http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/03/ohio_states_recruits_will_make.html"]http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/03/ohio_states_recruits_will_make.html[/url]

[-GoBengals-]

the NBA is in a worse boat than the NFL as far as salary/money issues currently and the offseason is going to be nasty and fucked up for many teams..

i doubt he drops out of the top 5 in the draft from year to year, and if he gets bigger and stronger, he may be even higher stock and be being drafted into a situation much more ttractive than this offseason for the NBA.. its going to be fugly...

the teams have 8-12 players, guarantee contracts and almost every single teams is losing its ass HUGE financially each year.. their salary cap is loose and simply has a luxury tax kinda like baseball so its a non factor for the big markets to over spend, but it forces others to do so too to compete but only 4-5 teams can actually afford it without actually LOSING money, meaning more than half of the playoff teams, are losing money..

a finals team a few years back lost over 10 mil on the year as a whole...

the tv money isnt there for 90% of the teams, espn, tnt, tbs and sunday games on abc, all the best games go to la, boston, etc.. its a lot like baseball in that regard, the rich teams stay rich, everyone else keeps fighting and occasionally finds a nut..

might be wise to wait it out.