Connor Lemons
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You’re Nuts: What is the most impressive program record for Ohio State men’s basketball?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
For ‘Broken Records’ week, our basketball writers pick two program records that they think may not be touched ever again.
Welcome to “Broken Records” week at Land-Grant Holy Land, where we discuss Big Ten and Ohio State records that we think will be broken soon, or will never be broken, or could possibly be broken, or are currently in the process of being broken, or.... you get it. Specifically, our basketball writers are looking at records associated with the men’s basketball program.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated what head coach Jake Diebler and the Buckeyes should do with the final available scholarship. Justin said Ohio State should try to add former Northern Illinois gurd David Coit, who averaged over 20 points per game last season and has one year of eligibility remaining. Connor said that Diebler can just carry on with adding the international post player he seems intent to add, because any other addition would subtract opportunities from someone like John Mobley Jr.
By the skin of his teeth, Justin won the poll with support from 54% of readers. Connor picked up 46%, falling by a single-digit margin.
Connor- 76
Back to records! This week, Connor and Justin each picked an Ohio State men’s basketball program record that they think is the most impressive, especially with the advantage of looking back years after the fact. These are records that will be difficult to break, but not ones that we necessarily think are unbreakable.
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Set Number: X86841 TK1 R6 F16
Something that has become abundantly clear to me over the last four or five seasons — Ohio State fans may support the program, but they absolutely do not support the Schottenstein Center. While the building itself is in great shape and the university continues to pour money into it for renovations and upgrades, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an Ohio State fans who thinks “The Schott” is a good or appreciable venue for men’s college basketball.
I’ve written about this in length previously, but people don’t think the Schottenstein Center is a good basketball venue for several reasons — the biggest one being the size of the arena.
The cavernous, 26-year old building can hold nearly 19,000 people, including nearly half of that capacity in the upper level, which feels incredibly far from the action when seated up top. Even on a good night when Ohio State puts more than 14,000 people in the seats, the large swaths of empty seats are very noticable in the upper level — and for the record, averaging 14,000 people per game would sell out several of the other Big ten basketball venues.
The temperature fluctuates throughout the year because it also hosts hockey games during most of the basketball season, and the arena isn’t anywhere near the academic campus, which can be a hindrance for student turnout (although it hasn’t been in recent years). Ohio State’s attendance has dropped drastically the last few seasons, including setting a few record lows this past season in the non-conference portion of the schedule.
The Buckeyes did not sell out a single home game last season, which means it’s now been two full seasons since the last home sellout. But during the 1999-2000 seasons and the 2006-2007 season, Ohio State sold out the building 12 times each!
The thought of a singular sellout inside that cavernous hall of sport feels so far-fetched right now, it’s almost impossible to imagine selling out that building for nearly every home game. But that’s exactly what happened during both of those seasons, with the home crowd sitting totalling 19,100 twelve different times during the 1999-2000 season and topping 18,800 12 different times seven years later.
Ohio State has not made the NCAA Tournament in two seasons, so I understand why fans haven’t wanted to spend the money on a bad product. I do think the program is on the come up, but I think Jake Diebler would need to turn this team into the bully of the Big Ten conference to all of a sudden start selling out games again. 12 sellouts in one year is a record that will probably outlive the building itself.
There are a lot of impressive and surprising records that guys hold in the Ohio State men’s basketball program.
David Lighty holds the record for Ohio State games played with 157. For context, that is an average of 39.25 games played per season. Lighty played from 2006-11 for the Buckeyes.
This is impressive for multiple reasons. First of all, the longevity of Lighty playing for five seasons and only getting hurt once. That injury was significant, and he missed most of his junior season, but he never had to sit out with a minor injury or a nagging injury issue outside of that.
He also participated in a couple of deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, including as a freshman on the 2006-07 NCAA runner-up team, where he played in all 39 games that season and started in seven of them.
Lighty played in 39 games as a freshman, and then he played in 37 games as a sophomore, starting in all of them. He got hurt his junior season, only playing in seven games and earning a medical redshirt. In his redshirt junior season, he played in 37 games, and in his redshirt senior season, he also played in 37 games. He started in all of those games except for one.
For his career, he played in 157 games, starting in 124 and averaging 29.2 minutes per contest for his career. He averaged 9.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game
Basically, to beat this record, you need a guy who plays immediately, doesn’t leave early, makes a couple of deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, and is healthy for at least most of their career.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
For ‘Broken Records’ week, our basketball writers pick two program records that they think may not be touched ever again.
Welcome to “Broken Records” week at Land-Grant Holy Land, where we discuss Big Ten and Ohio State records that we think will be broken soon, or will never be broken, or could possibly be broken, or are currently in the process of being broken, or.... you get it. Specifically, our basketball writers are looking at records associated with the men’s basketball program.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated what head coach Jake Diebler and the Buckeyes should do with the final available scholarship. Justin said Ohio State should try to add former Northern Illinois gurd David Coit, who averaged over 20 points per game last season and has one year of eligibility remaining. Connor said that Diebler can just carry on with adding the international post player he seems intent to add, because any other addition would subtract opportunities from someone like John Mobley Jr.
By the skin of his teeth, Justin won the poll with support from 54% of readers. Connor picked up 46%, falling by a single-digit margin.
After 158 weeks:
Connor- 76
Justin- 62
Other- 16
(There have been four ties)
Back to records! This week, Connor and Justin each picked an Ohio State men’s basketball program record that they think is the most impressive, especially with the advantage of looking back years after the fact. These are records that will be difficult to break, but not ones that we necessarily think are unbreakable.
This week’s question: What is the most impressive Ohio State men’s basketball program record?
Connor: Home sell-outs in one season (12)
Something that has become abundantly clear to me over the last four or five seasons — Ohio State fans may support the program, but they absolutely do not support the Schottenstein Center. While the building itself is in great shape and the university continues to pour money into it for renovations and upgrades, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an Ohio State fans who thinks “The Schott” is a good or appreciable venue for men’s college basketball.
I’ve written about this in length previously, but people don’t think the Schottenstein Center is a good basketball venue for several reasons — the biggest one being the size of the arena.
The cavernous, 26-year old building can hold nearly 19,000 people, including nearly half of that capacity in the upper level, which feels incredibly far from the action when seated up top. Even on a good night when Ohio State puts more than 14,000 people in the seats, the large swaths of empty seats are very noticable in the upper level — and for the record, averaging 14,000 people per game would sell out several of the other Big ten basketball venues.
The temperature fluctuates throughout the year because it also hosts hockey games during most of the basketball season, and the arena isn’t anywhere near the academic campus, which can be a hindrance for student turnout (although it hasn’t been in recent years). Ohio State’s attendance has dropped drastically the last few seasons, including setting a few record lows this past season in the non-conference portion of the schedule.
The Buckeyes did not sell out a single home game last season, which means it’s now been two full seasons since the last home sellout. But during the 1999-2000 seasons and the 2006-2007 season, Ohio State sold out the building 12 times each!
The thought of a singular sellout inside that cavernous hall of sport feels so far-fetched right now, it’s almost impossible to imagine selling out that building for nearly every home game. But that’s exactly what happened during both of those seasons, with the home crowd sitting totalling 19,100 twelve different times during the 1999-2000 season and topping 18,800 12 different times seven years later.
Ohio State has not made the NCAA Tournament in two seasons, so I understand why fans haven’t wanted to spend the money on a bad product. I do think the program is on the come up, but I think Jake Diebler would need to turn this team into the bully of the Big Ten conference to all of a sudden start selling out games again. 12 sellouts in one year is a record that will probably outlive the building itself.
Justin: David Lighty games played (157)
There are a lot of impressive and surprising records that guys hold in the Ohio State men’s basketball program.
David Lighty holds the record for Ohio State games played with 157. For context, that is an average of 39.25 games played per season. Lighty played from 2006-11 for the Buckeyes.
This is impressive for multiple reasons. First of all, the longevity of Lighty playing for five seasons and only getting hurt once. That injury was significant, and he missed most of his junior season, but he never had to sit out with a minor injury or a nagging injury issue outside of that.
He also participated in a couple of deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, including as a freshman on the 2006-07 NCAA runner-up team, where he played in all 39 games that season and started in seven of them.
Lighty played in 39 games as a freshman, and then he played in 37 games as a sophomore, starting in all of them. He got hurt his junior season, only playing in seven games and earning a medical redshirt. In his redshirt junior season, he played in 37 games, and in his redshirt senior season, he also played in 37 games. He started in all of those games except for one.
For his career, he played in 157 games, starting in 124 and averaging 29.2 minutes per contest for his career. He averaged 9.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game
Basically, to beat this record, you need a guy who plays immediately, doesn’t leave early, makes a couple of deep runs in the NCAA Tournament, and is healthy for at least most of their career.
Continue reading...