Before addressing whether Jared Sullinger can have the same impact on the court the next two months as he had the past two, let's cut to the question fans want addressed first:
Will the 6-foot-9 freshman, like three other Ohio State basketball big men the past four years, be one and then done with the Buckeyes?
"I don't even listen to that question now because it's about team right now, it's not about me," Sullinger said last week before the Buckeyes opened their Big Ten schedule with a win Friday at Indiana. "You don't look into the future, because it's just going to mess up your present."
As others in his position did before him - Greg Oden, Kosta Koufos and B.J. Mullens, post players who preceded him at Ohio State and left for the NBA after one season - Sullinger is leaving his options open by answering the question as he does.
Either outcome, staying or leaving, is "possible," said his father, Satch, who coached Jared at Northland High School. But for now, "We're staying in the moment."
"The way he got to Ohio State was by playing for Northland High School, and if the NBA is in his future, he'll get there by playing for The Ohio State University," Satch said. "We've watched too many players, not necessarily here, use the college uniform as an auditioning uniform for the next level. If you don't live in the moment, you're never going to be as successful as you can, and if you're not living in the moment, you're not being a good teammate, either."
Jared has been in the top 10 on mock draft boards since before the season and has done nothing but enhance his stock by averaging a double-double - 17.6 points and 10.1 rebounds - through his first 14 college games.
"I didn't know I was going to make an impact like this scoring the basketball," he said. "I knew I was going to rebound; that's one thing I pride myself (on). But as far as scoring the basketball and playing as many minutes as I am (27.7 per game), I really, really am shocked about that."
From now on, though, more often than not, Sullinger will be picking on opponents more his size. Unlike many of the teams the Buckeyes faced during the nonconference schedule, every team in the Big Ten has players as big or bigger than he is.
But in coach Thad Matta's opinion, South Carolina, Florida State and Florida had more athletic big men than Sullinger will face most nights in the Big Ten, and Sullinger averaged 22.3 points and 14 rebounds against the only three high-major opponents the Buckeyes faced in nonconference play.
"He won't see the athleticism he has seen by the guys guarding him," Matta said.
If there is any cause for concern, it is Sullinger's tendency to have his shot blocked by defenders who have longer arms and jump better than he does. But it has been a minor problem so far.
Sullinger said his brother Julian, who was a 6-foot-5 power forward at Kent State, told him how to defuse a taller defender's advantage.
"A lot of tall people think, 'This is a blocked shot,'" Jared said. "But what Jules taught me is when you do your jump hook, put your shoulder into him and go up. That eliminates all the length the defender has. It really helps."
Sullinger does not mind putting his shoulder, or an elbow or his rear end, into an opponent.
"In recruiting, there's not a lot of guys anymore who want to be low-post players that say, 'Hey, that's where my bread's buttered, that's where I'm going,'" Matta said.
"Back to the basket is where I'm more comfortable at," Sullinger said. "I don't care how tall I am, I don't care how tall the defender is, I'm going to do what I love to do.
"You block my shot, go ahead, keep doing it. It's not going to stop me from doing what I want to do. I'm either going to get fouled or I'm going to make the shot. That's how I feel. If you want to keep blocking my shot, there's a lot of risk to it."
Sullinger said that from the time he was 5, his older brothers J.J. (who played at Ohio State) and Julian beat on him on a court across the street from their home. He would call foul, they would say no, he would go home crying and Satch, unsympathetic, would tell him to go back for more.
When he was in the 10th grade, Jared began venturing into the offseason pickup games in the Schottenstein Center that were filled with college and pro players.
Now, Jared is the big man on campus. After a summer of strength training and conditioning drills that he said "took me through hell and back" and melted 20 pounds from a 290-pound frame, he prides himself on being in better shape than anyone he plays.
"What I do is try to beat on you," he said. "I just try to be as physical as I can on (opponents) because they're not as conditioned as I am, so by the end of the game, my shots will still be falling and theirs won't."
The Big Ten, he said, is right up his alley.
"It's going to be a brawl," he said. "It's going to be my type of game."
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