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- Thread starter wadc45
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MSU's Kyle Ahrens looking forward to facing brother, Buckeyes
(Photo: Mike Carter, USA TODAY Sports)
Plans for shirts that were half Michigan State, half Ohio State were scrapped, so the sizable contingent of friends and relatives of the Ahrens family will settle for mix-and-match Spartan and Buckeye gear this weekend in Columbus.
The return of Kyle, a redshirt junior wing at MSU, to his home state to take on his brother Justin and the Buckeyes is a big deal in the Versailles, Ohio, community. So much that Versailles High School tried to reschedule a tripleheader on Saturday, Kyle Ahrens said, to allow supporters the chance to drive an hour and 45 minutes over to Value City Arena.
“It’s gonna be something else,” Ahrens said. “Our little town sold like a bunch of tickets from what I hear. A lot of people are going to the game. We’ve been talking about this game for a long time, for actually a couple years now, so it’s kind of surreal that it’s about to happen.”
Ahrens is projected to start in place of Joshua Langford again on Saturday, adding to the significance of the day.
It’ll be the first time he’s squared off against Justin in a competitive setting. Whenever they played against their siblings — Kyle is one of six Ahrens children — Justin and Kyle were always on the same side. Later, they’d team together during Kyle’s senior year at Versailles.
Justin, a 6-foot-5 freshman guard, has appeared in seven games for the Buckeyes this season, tallying eight points and two rebounds in 38 total minutes. When Kyle was home for Christmas, the brothers had extensive conversations about adjusting to college basketball and staying grounded.
“He’s just doing basically exactly what I did – and he’s getting even more time than I did my freshman year,” Ahrens said. “But he’s just going through the time where he’s just working out, working out, working out. He’s not getting much time right now, but they said his role is gonna start getting bigger as time goes on. He needs to spend more time in the weight room, but he’s on the right track.”
The communication between the Ahrens brothers hasn’t slowed in the leadup to the game. Kyle’s knowledge of Ohio State’s roster, specifically third-leading scorer Luther Muhammad, Justin’s roommate and Kyle’s matchup, could be an advantage for the Spartans.
“We’ve been texting actually a lot lately. It’s just kind of crazy that it’s all about to happen,” Ahrens said. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for years, just to be on the same court at two big-time Big Ten schools. Just kind of a surreal moment for us and our family.”
https://247sports.com/college/michi...forward-to-facing-brother-Buckeyes-127274168/
(Photo: Mike Carter, USA TODAY Sports)
Plans for shirts that were half Michigan State, half Ohio State were scrapped, so the sizable contingent of friends and relatives of the Ahrens family will settle for mix-and-match Spartan and Buckeye gear this weekend in Columbus.
The return of Kyle, a redshirt junior wing at MSU, to his home state to take on his brother Justin and the Buckeyes is a big deal in the Versailles, Ohio, community. So much that Versailles High School tried to reschedule a tripleheader on Saturday, Kyle Ahrens said, to allow supporters the chance to drive an hour and 45 minutes over to Value City Arena.
“It’s gonna be something else,” Ahrens said. “Our little town sold like a bunch of tickets from what I hear. A lot of people are going to the game. We’ve been talking about this game for a long time, for actually a couple years now, so it’s kind of surreal that it’s about to happen.”
Ahrens is projected to start in place of Joshua Langford again on Saturday, adding to the significance of the day.
It’ll be the first time he’s squared off against Justin in a competitive setting. Whenever they played against their siblings — Kyle is one of six Ahrens children — Justin and Kyle were always on the same side. Later, they’d team together during Kyle’s senior year at Versailles.
Justin, a 6-foot-5 freshman guard, has appeared in seven games for the Buckeyes this season, tallying eight points and two rebounds in 38 total minutes. When Kyle was home for Christmas, the brothers had extensive conversations about adjusting to college basketball and staying grounded.
“He’s just doing basically exactly what I did – and he’s getting even more time than I did my freshman year,” Ahrens said. “But he’s just going through the time where he’s just working out, working out, working out. He’s not getting much time right now, but they said his role is gonna start getting bigger as time goes on. He needs to spend more time in the weight room, but he’s on the right track.”
The communication between the Ahrens brothers hasn’t slowed in the leadup to the game. Kyle’s knowledge of Ohio State’s roster, specifically third-leading scorer Luther Muhammad, Justin’s roommate and Kyle’s matchup, could be an advantage for the Spartans.
“We’ve been texting actually a lot lately. It’s just kind of crazy that it’s all about to happen,” Ahrens said. “We’ve been waiting for this moment for years, just to be on the same court at two big-time Big Ten schools. Just kind of a surreal moment for us and our family.”
https://247sports.com/college/michi...forward-to-facing-brother-Buckeyes-127274168/
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When Justin develops his body to be more like Kyle's he'll be a potential force here. Not sure where his minutes are going to come from, especially next year when we are about 9-10 deep legitimately
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*Freshman Justin Ahrens played the most-significant Big Ten minutes of his career at Iowa, and Holtmann said the forward has been ideal in practiced this year.
“Justin has had what you hope for from every freshman in that he’s had an everyday approach,” he said. “The reason I’m so confident he’s going to be a really good player in our system in time is he’s had the model approach and attitude every day. He loves Ohio State, loves this place and cares about Ohio State winning. He’s got some real tools as a player. There’s no question there’s an adjustment period for him as a freshman. Good to see him healthy.”
https://www.buckeyextra.com/sports/...s-frustration-with-foul-calls-on-kaleb-wesson
“Justin has had what you hope for from every freshman in that he’s had an everyday approach,” he said. “The reason I’m so confident he’s going to be a really good player in our system in time is he’s had the model approach and attitude every day. He loves Ohio State, loves this place and cares about Ohio State winning. He’s got some real tools as a player. There’s no question there’s an adjustment period for him as a freshman. Good to see him healthy.”
https://www.buckeyextra.com/sports/...s-frustration-with-foul-calls-on-kaleb-wesson
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Shoot young fella, shoot! We need a confident shooter in the worst way right now and really always
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
JUSTIN AHRENS SHOWS PROMISE WITH 9 POINTS, TRIO OF 3-POINTERS IN FIRST CAREER START FOR OHIO STATE
Justin Ahrens thought Chris Holtmann was joking.
He hadn't played in the entire first half of Ohio State's game against Northwestern on Wednesday and hadn't played more than seven minutes since January, but Holtmann pointed to him as halftime ended and told him to enter the game.
"It was a double-take when I told him he was going in," Holtmann said on Wednesday. "He kind of looked at me. I think he said, 'Now?' And I said, 'Yeah. Start the half.'"
Ahrens responded by providing energy off the bench, scoring four points, including finishing a dunk on a back cut where Kaleb Wesson found him for the easy bucket. He played just seven minutes in his team's 14-point win, but after the game Holtmann credited Ahrens with providing a spark.
Holtmann even said he had considered starting Ahrens, but decided to keep Musa Jallow in the starting five.
"I just felt like he was really engaged, honestly, on the bench in the first half," Holtmann said after Wednesday's game. "I just felt like he was really engaged. And when you're a coach and you see a guy who hasn't played a whole lot and he's engaged in the game, what he's telling you is, hey, I'm fully invested in what we're doing right now.
"And when it's February, you want dudes that are fully invested in what you're doing. You want guys that are fully invested in the growth of the team. That's what you're looking for. And if you're not fully invested, then I'm probably not going to give you a nod there. And he is, and that's why he got the nod. And he responded well."
Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...9-points-in-first-career-start-for-ohio-state
Justin Ahrens thought Chris Holtmann was joking.
He hadn't played in the entire first half of Ohio State's game against Northwestern on Wednesday and hadn't played more than seven minutes since January, but Holtmann pointed to him as halftime ended and told him to enter the game.
"It was a double-take when I told him he was going in," Holtmann said on Wednesday. "He kind of looked at me. I think he said, 'Now?' And I said, 'Yeah. Start the half.'"
Ahrens responded by providing energy off the bench, scoring four points, including finishing a dunk on a back cut where Kaleb Wesson found him for the easy bucket. He played just seven minutes in his team's 14-point win, but after the game Holtmann credited Ahrens with providing a spark.
Holtmann even said he had considered starting Ahrens, but decided to keep Musa Jallow in the starting five.
"I just felt like he was really engaged, honestly, on the bench in the first half," Holtmann said after Wednesday's game. "I just felt like he was really engaged. And when you're a coach and you see a guy who hasn't played a whole lot and he's engaged in the game, what he's telling you is, hey, I'm fully invested in what we're doing right now.
"And when it's February, you want dudes that are fully invested in what you're doing. You want guys that are fully invested in the growth of the team. That's what you're looking for. And if you're not fully invested, then I'm probably not going to give you a nod there. And he is, and that's why he got the nod. And he responded well."
Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...9-points-in-first-career-start-for-ohio-state
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OSU_Buckguy
Head Coach
looking at next year's roster and carton's drive-and-kick ability, there is going to be a need for a deadeye gunner. if ahrens can be a 38%+ guy who plays competent defense, he'll still get valuable minutes despite andre and liddell securing a lot of the small forward playing time. i also think arhens' game can/will expand to a little more dribble-drive. his and wieskamp's games are not dissimilar.
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