Is Jared Sullinger Ohio State's newest star?
June, 29, 2010
By Eamonn Brennan
CHICAGO -- Evan Turner did everything.
That's what star players do for their teams, but Turner was something different. A 6-foot-7 point guard so athletically dominant and preternaturally skilled, Turner made Ohio State coach Thad Matta's offense often resemble that of a sixth-grade coach with a particularly well-developed 12-year-old. "Everybody get out of the way. Evan, get the ball, dribble up the floor, and score. OK, break!"
It worked. The Buckeyes fell short of the Final Four, but they had their best season since the Greg Oden- and Mike Conley-powered 2007 runner-up finish. Now, Turner is gone. The question for an experienced Ohio State team facing its first season without the national player of the year -- Turner was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2010 NBA draft -- is how you replace him. If you can.
Maybe you can't. But you can do what Matta did: Recruit a bunch of really big, really good players, mix them in with your talented veterans, and see what happens.
This is where Jared Sullinger comes in.
"He's a big boy," Ohio State junior guard William Buford said at this weekend's Nike Skills Camp. "He could give us a major interior presence."