Sean Stewart announces he will enter the transfer portal after one season at Ohio State
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Stewart will look for his third team in three seasons after averaging 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
After one season at
Ohio State playing both power forward and center, rising junior Sean Stewart announced today that he plans to enter the transfer portal, seeking his third basketball program in three seasons. The 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward played his freshman season at Duke before transferring to Ohio State last spring.
Stewart played in 30 of Ohio State’s 32 games this past season, starting all 30 he played in. He averaged 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and shot 54.2% overall.
Despite starting every game he played in, Stewart only played 18.4 minutes per game this past season due to foul trouble. While he was the 13th-best defensive rebounder in the nation according to KenPom, that ability was hindered by his inability to stay on the floor. Part of it may have been that Stewart was playing out of position at center, but the sophomore averaged one foul every 5.4 minutes of play last season. He fouled out seven times last season.
Stewart scored in double-digits four times this past season, including a season-high 14 points against Oregon on January 9. He also grabbed nine rebounds and had two steals against the Ducks, playing 23 minutes in the Ohio State loss.
The original plan was for Stewart to start at power forward for Ohio State this season, with Aaron Bradshaw starting at center. However, Bradshaw’s mid-season absence due to a university investigation opened the door for Devin Royal, who stepped into the starting lineup and averaged 18.6 points per game during the seven games Bradshaw missed.
When Bradshaw returned, Jake Diebler had no choice but to leave Royal in the lineup, starting him at power forward and moving Stewart to center. That is where Stewart started for the remainder of the season, consistently going up against much bigger post players.
If Stewart can stay out of foul trouble, he’s the type of player who should be able to provide 10+ rebounds per game pretty consistently. His offensive game remains limited, but the ability to grab offensive rebounds will always open up opportunities for players like Stewart to get high-percentage shots near the basket for easy points — if he can stay on the floor to do so.
Stewart was a five-star recruit and the No. 17 player in the 2023 recruiting class. He was the second-highest rated player in the state of Florida that year, and the No. 5 power forward in the nation. After playing his freshman season at Duke, he transferred to Ohio State last spring looking for an expanded role, which he got, seeing his minutes per game jump from 8.4 as a freshman to 18.4 as a sophomore.
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