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Ohio State men’s basketball player preview: Evan Mahaffey
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Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Mahaffey returns to the Buckeyes having logged the second-most minutes behind Bruce Thornton.
Even though it’s October and fans are locked into college football, the fall also means that college basketball is right around the corner.
From now until the start of the hoops season in early November, we will be doing player previews and team previews for all the players on the men’s basketball team and the new look Big Ten Conference.
Name: Evan Mahaffey
Position: Forward
Class: Junior
High School/Previous School: Archbishop Moeller H.S./Penn State
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Weight: 200 pounds
Height: 6-foot-6
The Penn State transfer and Ohio native was one of the top overall producers for the Buckeyes last season, as one of four players to play in all 36 games and made 35 starts.
He was one of the team’s top defenders, and averaged 4.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while also recording 25 blocks. As a scorer for the Buckeyes, he had four double-digit scoring games, including a career-high 16 against his former team, Penn State.
Before Ohio State, he played in 34 games as a true freshman at Penn State, averaging 2.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game while shooting 56.9 percent from the field in an average of 9.4 minutes per contest
He is one of the few Ohio State players with tournament experience, as he appeared in both NCAA Tournament games for the Nittany Lions in 2023 against Texas A&M and Texas.
According to 247Sports, he was a consensus three-star prospect coming out of Cincinnati’s Archbishop Moeller High School. As a senior at Moeller, he was a finalist for 2022 Ohio Mr. Basketball, the GCL Conference Player of the Year, the Ohio Player of the Year by Cincinnati.com, and a Division I first-team All-Ohio honoree.
Mahaffey is one of the few returning players to the Buckeyes, and his role will look much different this year. He started all but one game last season, and will come off the bench this year.
With the addition of Micah Parrish and Sean Stewart, they will push Mahaffey to the bench. More than likely, Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. will come off the bench before Mahaffey, so he could be the 8th or 9th player in the rotation for Jake Diebler and the coaching staff.
Last year, as a starter, he played just over 22 minutes a game for Ohio State. I expect that number to drop a little, but he is still a valuable player to the team with his defense and as a returning player. He also played the second most minutes of any returning player, only to Bruce Thornton.
I would expect him to be the third guy off the bench, and play 14-18 minutes per game.
Continue reading...
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Mahaffey returns to the Buckeyes having logged the second-most minutes behind Bruce Thornton.
Even though it’s October and fans are locked into college football, the fall also means that college basketball is right around the corner.
From now until the start of the hoops season in early November, we will be doing player previews and team previews for all the players on the men’s basketball team and the new look Big Ten Conference.
The Evan Mahaffey File
Name: Evan Mahaffey
Position: Forward
Class: Junior
High School/Previous School: Archbishop Moeller H.S./Penn State
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Weight: 200 pounds
Height: 6-foot-6
Breakdown
The Penn State transfer and Ohio native was one of the top overall producers for the Buckeyes last season, as one of four players to play in all 36 games and made 35 starts.
He was one of the team’s top defenders, and averaged 4.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while also recording 25 blocks. As a scorer for the Buckeyes, he had four double-digit scoring games, including a career-high 16 against his former team, Penn State.
Before Ohio State, he played in 34 games as a true freshman at Penn State, averaging 2.8 points and 1.7 rebounds per game while shooting 56.9 percent from the field in an average of 9.4 minutes per contest
He is one of the few Ohio State players with tournament experience, as he appeared in both NCAA Tournament games for the Nittany Lions in 2023 against Texas A&M and Texas.
According to 247Sports, he was a consensus three-star prospect coming out of Cincinnati’s Archbishop Moeller High School. As a senior at Moeller, he was a finalist for 2022 Ohio Mr. Basketball, the GCL Conference Player of the Year, the Ohio Player of the Year by Cincinnati.com, and a Division I first-team All-Ohio honoree.
Expected Role
Mahaffey is one of the few returning players to the Buckeyes, and his role will look much different this year. He started all but one game last season, and will come off the bench this year.
With the addition of Micah Parrish and Sean Stewart, they will push Mahaffey to the bench. More than likely, Devin Royal and John Mobley Jr. will come off the bench before Mahaffey, so he could be the 8th or 9th player in the rotation for Jake Diebler and the coaching staff.
Last year, as a starter, he played just over 22 minutes a game for Ohio State. I expect that number to drop a little, but he is still a valuable player to the team with his defense and as a returning player. He also played the second most minutes of any returning player, only to Bruce Thornton.
I would expect him to be the third guy off the bench, and play 14-18 minutes per game.
Continue reading...