Scarlet Sunrise: Ohio State produces first-round NBA Draft picks back-to-back years
Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise. Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Buckeyes football, recruiting, basketball and more in Scarlet Sunrise.
Ohio State produces first-round NBA Draft picks back-to-back years
Brice Sensabaugh is a member of the Utah Jazz, and Ohio State men’s basketball now has first-round NBA Draft picks in back-to-back years for the first time since 2009-10 — that came during a stretch of four consecutive years (2007-10) where Thad Matta’s Buckeyes had an opening-round selection.
This time, it was Sensabaugh following in the footsteps of Malaki Branham, who was taken No. 20 overall by the San Antonio Spurs last year. Both Sensabaugh and Branham were outside the top 35 of their respective recruiting classes, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. Both climbed the draft boards during their first seasons in Columbus before declaring for the draft and leaving Ohio State as one-and-dones.
Sensabaugh is the eighth, but second straight, Ohio State player to make the jump to the NBA after just one year with the program. He joined Greg Oden (2006-07), Mike Conley Jr. (2006-07), Daequan Cook (2006-07), Kosta Koufos (2007-08), B.J. Mullins (2008-09), D’Angelo Russell (2014-15) and, of course, Branham (2021-22).
In other words, this is the first time in the Chris Holtmann era — which started in 2017-18 — that Ohio State has had first-round picks or one-and-dones in consecutive years.
Branham started 32 of the 66 games he appeared in for the Spurs as a rookie in 2022-23 and averaged 10.2 points per contest. Sensabaugh, who led the Buckeyes with 16.3 points per game this past season, has the potential to make a similar scoring impact for the Jazz, who selected him No. 28 overall Thursday night.
Sensabaugh was the first Buckeyes freshman to lead the team in scoring since Russell in 2014-15. Along the way, he earned third-team All-Big Ten honors, plus All-Freshman Team recognition from the conference.
Here’s how Sensabaugh ranks among freshmen in school history: fourth in points (537), second in 3-pointers (60), tied for fifth in 3-point percentage (40.5%) and third in free throw percentage (83%).
For more on Sensabaugh, go here.
Kirk Herbstreit provides update on son Zak, now discharged from hospital
Ohio State junior tight end Zak Herbstreit has been discharged from the university’s Wexner Medical Center, according to his father Kirk Herbstreit, a former Buckeyes quarterback and current ESPN analyst who provided an update on the Pat McAfee Show Thursday.
“We had a setback with Zak with his health this past Friday,” Kirk said. “Really the last five or six days have been kind of a whirlwind — he’s been in the hospital with some issues with his heart. And we’ve just been trying to kind of keep up with that. We brought him home yesterday, which was great, but … normally you get out of the hospital, and you’re cured and everything’s good. He’s in good spirits, he’s home with us where his mom can take really good care of him. This is just going to be a long process to kind of see how his heart responds to some of the medications that he’s on.
“This is like a three or four-month kind of thing to kind of see how it recovers.”
Zak’s medical issue, initially diagnosed as pneumonia, was determined to be heart-related once he received an echocardiogram, which is an ultrasound for the heart.
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Projecting Buckeyes offensive line depth chart
Lettermen Row “Offensive Line Week” is nearing completion. But, first, we’re projecting Ohio State’s depth chart at the position.
Figuring out the starting five is difficult as is. Mapping out the rest of the two-deep is another challenge. We gave it our best shot, though.
Remember, the Buckeyes are replacing three starters up front, and all of those former program standouts are now in the NFL.
For the complete Ohio State O-Line depth chart projection, go here.
RELATED
Lettermen Lounge: Tavien St. Clair commitment, Aaron Scott Jr, Bryce West official visit and more
The Lettermen Lounge is back.
Lettermen Row recruiting analyst Matt Parker and team reporter Spencer Holbrook discuss the commitment of 2025 four-star Bellefontaine (Ohio) quarterback Tavien St. Clair, in addition to the Buckeyes’ final major official visit weekend of June.
Most notably, in-state 2025 cornerbacks Aaron Scott Jr. and Bryce West, both of whom are also being recruited hard by Michigan, are scheduled to arrive in Columbus Friday night.
It’s a can’t-miss conversation about an action-packed month of Ohio State recruiting. You can watch below.
Counting down
Buckeyes vs. Indiana: 72 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 156 days
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