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BOOM! Ohio State lands a transfer commitment from Duke forward, former top-20 recruit Sean Stewart
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Stewart is the second former McDonald’s All-American to join the Buckeyes in the past three weeks.
Up until about three weeks ago, Ohio State hadn’t had a McDonald’s All-American on the roster since D’Angelo Russell back in 2014. On April 15, the Buckeyes picked up a former All-American in Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw. Now Ohio State has two, as former Duke forward Sean Stewart announced today that he, too, would be transferring to play for first-year head coach Jake Diebler and the Buckeyes.
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward played this past season at Duke, appearing in 33 of the Blue Devils’ 36 games while averaging 2.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 8.4 minutes per contest. He visited Ohio State the weekend of April 27-28, and chose the Buckeyes over dozens of programs, including Michigan, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Baylor. Ohio State was one of the most aggressive schools that recruited Stewart in high school before he committed to Duke in December 2021. Stewart will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Stewart is from Windermere, Florida and played at Windermere High School as well as national powerhouse Montverde Academy. He was a McDonald’s All-American and scored six points in the All-American game last year. Stewart was the No. 17 overall player in the 2023 class, the second-highest rated player in Florida and the fifth-highest rated power forward in the class. He was a five-star recruit, per 247Sports composite rankings.
In 33 games, Stewart shot 57.1% from the floor, with all of his shots coming inside the arc. For comparison, Felix Okpara shot 58.6% this past season and Zed Key shot 50.9%. He had nearly as many offensive rebounds (44) as defensive rebounds (61), and showed the ability to disrupt teams on the offensive glass and finish difficult putbacks in traffic. He also averaged 0.5 blocks per game in just over 8 minutes per game, which could extrapolate out to 1.5-to-2 blocks per game this season depending on how heavy he is relied on for the Buckeyes this year. He shot 53.6% from the free throw line, but only attempted 28 free throws all season.
Stewart competed with a committee of guys who played his position or a similar position last season, including All-American Kyle Filipowski, fellow McDonald’s All-American Mark Mitchell, and former Northwestern Wildcat Ryan Young. He did all of his work around or near the basket last season, but was more of an opportunistic scorer rather than someone who Duke ran set plays for. Many of Stewart’s baskets came on offensive rebounds or transition lobs, rather than designed post-ups below the basket.
Even at 230 pounds, Stewart showed the ability and willingness to hustle down the floor and make himself available in the transition offense. He is a solid and smart cutter, getting to open space around the basket as soon as it is vacated to make himself available for lobs and entry passes.
Stewart’s best statistical performance of the season came during Duke’s 95-66 win over LaSalle on November 21, 2023. The freshman played 18 minutes, scoring a career-high 16 points and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. He also played well in Duke’s 79-64 road win over NC State on March 4, putting up a line of 12 points, five rebounds, three blocks, and two steals in a season-high 26 minutes.
With Bradshaw in the mix to start at center, Stewart would likely see most minutes at power forward as well as some minutes at center if Ohio State’s second McDonald’s All-American is off the floor. While he didn’t get much of an opportunity to showcase his offensive bag last season, Diebler will need Stewart to do a lot more than just convert dunks in transition and grab offensive rebounds for an Ohio State team that’s hoping to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. Clearly, Diebler is trying to compile as much raw talent as possible and is hoping to convert that into a dominant team in an expanded Big Ten this year.
Stewart is the fourth player to transfer to Ohio State this summer, joining Meechie Johnson (South Carolina), Micah Parrish (San Diego State), and Bradshaw (Kentucky). Ohio State now has one scholarship remaining for the 2024-2025 season.
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Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Stewart is the second former McDonald’s All-American to join the Buckeyes in the past three weeks.
Up until about three weeks ago, Ohio State hadn’t had a McDonald’s All-American on the roster since D’Angelo Russell back in 2014. On April 15, the Buckeyes picked up a former All-American in Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw. Now Ohio State has two, as former Duke forward Sean Stewart announced today that he, too, would be transferring to play for first-year head coach Jake Diebler and the Buckeyes.
BREAKING: Duke transfer forward Sean Stewart, a former 5️ recruit and McDonald’s All-American, has committed to Ohio State, he tells @On3sports. https://t.co/mdwBVbOfr1 pic.twitter.com/wP0VYewpSN
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) May 3, 2024
The 6-foot-9, 230-pound forward played this past season at Duke, appearing in 33 of the Blue Devils’ 36 games while averaging 2.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 8.4 minutes per contest. He visited Ohio State the weekend of April 27-28, and chose the Buckeyes over dozens of programs, including Michigan, Cincinnati, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Baylor. Ohio State was one of the most aggressive schools that recruited Stewart in high school before he committed to Duke in December 2021. Stewart will have three years of eligibility remaining.
Stewart is from Windermere, Florida and played at Windermere High School as well as national powerhouse Montverde Academy. He was a McDonald’s All-American and scored six points in the All-American game last year. Stewart was the No. 17 overall player in the 2023 class, the second-highest rated player in Florida and the fifth-highest rated power forward in the class. He was a five-star recruit, per 247Sports composite rankings.
In 33 games, Stewart shot 57.1% from the floor, with all of his shots coming inside the arc. For comparison, Felix Okpara shot 58.6% this past season and Zed Key shot 50.9%. He had nearly as many offensive rebounds (44) as defensive rebounds (61), and showed the ability to disrupt teams on the offensive glass and finish difficult putbacks in traffic. He also averaged 0.5 blocks per game in just over 8 minutes per game, which could extrapolate out to 1.5-to-2 blocks per game this season depending on how heavy he is relied on for the Buckeyes this year. He shot 53.6% from the free throw line, but only attempted 28 free throws all season.
Stewart competed with a committee of guys who played his position or a similar position last season, including All-American Kyle Filipowski, fellow McDonald’s All-American Mark Mitchell, and former Northwestern Wildcat Ryan Young. He did all of his work around or near the basket last season, but was more of an opportunistic scorer rather than someone who Duke ran set plays for. Many of Stewart’s baskets came on offensive rebounds or transition lobs, rather than designed post-ups below the basket.
Even at 230 pounds, Stewart showed the ability and willingness to hustle down the floor and make himself available in the transition offense. He is a solid and smart cutter, getting to open space around the basket as soon as it is vacated to make himself available for lobs and entry passes.
Stewart’s best statistical performance of the season came during Duke’s 95-66 win over LaSalle on November 21, 2023. The freshman played 18 minutes, scoring a career-high 16 points and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. He also played well in Duke’s 79-64 road win over NC State on March 4, putting up a line of 12 points, five rebounds, three blocks, and two steals in a season-high 26 minutes.
With Bradshaw in the mix to start at center, Stewart would likely see most minutes at power forward as well as some minutes at center if Ohio State’s second McDonald’s All-American is off the floor. While he didn’t get much of an opportunity to showcase his offensive bag last season, Diebler will need Stewart to do a lot more than just convert dunks in transition and grab offensive rebounds for an Ohio State team that’s hoping to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022. Clearly, Diebler is trying to compile as much raw talent as possible and is hoping to convert that into a dominant team in an expanded Big Ten this year.
Stewart is the fourth player to transfer to Ohio State this summer, joining Meechie Johnson (South Carolina), Micah Parrish (San Diego State), and Bradshaw (Kentucky). Ohio State now has one scholarship remaining for the 2024-2025 season.
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