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PG Issaac Likekele (Official Thread)

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2022-23 season bump

* 13 Isaac Likekele, 6-5, 215, senior – Likekele, a native of Arlington, Texas, transferred in from Oklahoma State to use his “super senior” year at OSU. He is a veteran of 114 games (110 starts) in four years with the Cowboys. Last year, he averaged 7.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He can play anywhere from the point guard to the power forward position.
 
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LIKEKELE, MCNEIL GLUE THINGS TOGETHER
Holden had the standout performance of the night, but Ohio State’s other two transfer additions showed they’ll be able to contribute plenty to the Buckeye lineup this season as well. Oklahoma State and West Virginia transfers Isaac Likekele and Sean McNeil both got the nod to start on Tuesday, and each finished with or near double figures in the scoring column.

Likekele, who often played off the ball when Thornton was on the floor, put up 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Likekele scored in various ways, going coast-to-coast for an and-one layup, hitting a turnaround jumper in the high post and even connecting on his one 3-point attempt of the night. For a player who only hit 19 threes in his first four seasons of college basketball, the 3-point make was an especially promising sign for Holtmann and company.

Likekele also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals, and he packed all that into just 19 minutes of action.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...o-states-101-57-exhibition-win-over-chaminade
 
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No update on when Isaac Likekele will return to Ohio State
It was before Wednesday’s practice that Likekele talked with the staff about needing to return home to handle some personal situations. It’s not clear yet when he will be back with the team.
“At this point, there’s no definitive word,” Holtmann said. “He’s still going through some things there in Texas with family and close friends. It was a tough last couple days for him. We expect his return at some point but no specific timeline.”

It forced some quick decisions for the coaching staff, including moving Brice Sensabaugh into the starting lineup.

“Wednesday morning Ice told us about some significant things that happened back home,” Holtmann said. “We knew he was going to have to return to a funeral. We had to flip the script in terms of what we were running and how we were going to play on both ends, because he was going to match up with some of their big guards. We had to really change some matchups in how we were going to attack. I played with some of the rotation that night looking at minutes and those kind of things and made some adjustments on what we were going to run and how we were going to play. Brice (Sensabaugh), we felt like it made sense to put him in that situation (as a starter). He responded well.”

https://www.dispatch.com/story/spor...mann-updates-isaac-likekele-more/69720123007/
 
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Beyond Brown, Likekele is the only other scholarship player who has been listed as unavailable for any contests this season. Likekele missed Ohio State’s Big Ten opener on Dec. 8 to tend to a family matter in Texas, and while he traveled with the team to New York City this past weekend, he sat out of that game, too.

While Likekele continues to deal with the emotional distress of the situation, which Holtmann has not gone into detail about, he could miss a bit more time moving forward. In fact, Holtmann said Brown is “more ready” to return than Likekele at the moment. But Holtmann isn’t placing any pressure on the Oklahoma State transfer to come back before he’s ready to.

“I think today's athlete, there's certainly more awareness. I think there's more honesty with athletes. There's more openness with athletes and coaches than there's ever been,” Holtmann said. “And that's, I think, a good thing. That's a really good thing. It's a healthy thing. And I think when you go through some of the traumatic things that have happened with people he cares about, that can bring to the surface some things that maybe he's struggled with. So I really want it to be his story. So I want to be careful what I say and how much I say, because it's really his story. But just generally, I think you guys know how I feel, how I think pretty much every coach at this school feels about just encouraging a level of honesty when it comes to all that stuff.”

While Brown may be the first of the two to return to action, neither sounds all that far off. But with Maine and Alabama A&M being Ohio State’s last two games of 2022, the Buckeyes hardly need to rush either player back into the fold immediately.

If both are back by the time Big Ten plays resumes on Jan. 1, Ohio State will have its deepest lineup of the year at the perfect time.

https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ly-and-chris-holtmann-says-our-team-needs-him
 
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Ice was a fitting nickname for Isaac Likekele during the seven games that preceded Saturday.

After returning from his three-game absence from the program on Dec. 29, the Oklahoma State transfer was frozen cold on offense. Likekele averaged 1.4 points per game in that stretch and shot a dismal 26.3% from the floor. Given the offensive success enjoyed by Brice Sensabaugh during Likekele’s absence, the veteran was relegated to the bench for all but one of his first seven games back in action.

Before the Buckeyes’ matchup with Iowa, Likekele scored 10 combined points against Ohio State’s last seven opponents. He also hadn’t scored more than nine points in any one game this season, with the season-high of nine coming in the opener against Robert Morris. It had been nearly two months since Likekele had even scored five or more points for Ohio State.

But on Saturday, Ice caught fire.

Inserted in the starting lineup for the second time since the start of 2023, Likekele dropped a season-high 18 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished seven assists in a stellar all-around effort. Entering the weekend on a five-game losing streak, it was a performance Ohio State desperately needed to get back on track, and that’s precisely what Likekele and the Buckeyes did on Saturday. Ohio State halted its skid and stopped Iowa’s four-game winning streak in its tracks with a 93-77 win at home.
 
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