OHIO STATE BASKETBALL
Ohio State men, women basketball teams ready to run
Thursday, October 11, 2007 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- Two back-to-the-basket eras have ended at Ohio State. What's left are the banners that serve as reminders of the back-to-back Big Ten titles in 2006 and 2007 won by both the OSU men's and women's basketball teams.
With practice beginning on Friday, the Buckeyes are racing into the future, both teams perhaps best defined by native Clevelanders, each enriched by summers playing international basketball. Centers Greg Oden and Jessica Davenport, last season's dominant inside players in the Big Ten, are gone. Sophomore wingman David Lighty, from Villa Angela-St. Joseph, and freshman center Jantel Lavender, of Cleveland Central Catholic, are now.
The plans for both teams are similar. The women feature four freshmen, the men have six, and women's coach Jim Foster and men's coach Thad Matta are looking to get the kids ready, grab the ball and, even more than last year, go, go, go.
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