Brice Sensabaugh selected No. 28 overall by Utah Jazz

COLUMBUS — The Utah Jazz selected Ohio State freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh with the No. 28 overall pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft.

Sensabaugh is the Buckeyes’ second first-round pick in as many years. He’s also the program’s fourth draft selection in the last six years.

The Orlando native is Ohio State’s second straight one-and-done. The San Antonio Spurs took former Buckeyes guard — and Big Ten Freshman of the Year — Malaki Branham last year. Both Sensabaugh and Branham were outside the top 35 in their respective recruiting classes.

In fact, Sensabaugh didn’t break out in the recruiting sphere until the summer going into his senior year when he averaged 18.7 points per game during Peach Jam on the EYBL circuit, leading to a horde of offers. Still he was only the No. 54 overall prospect in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. Like Branham, though, Sensabaugh climbed draft boards with an impressive first year in Columbus.

Sensabaugh led Ohio State with 16.3 points per game in 2022-23, tied for the third most nationally of any freshman last year. The 6-foot-6, 235-pound, three-level scoring forward piled up 20 or more points 11 times. There was one stretch where he was even the Buckeyes’ top scorer for 13 straight games.

It took him nine games to earn a spot in the starting five. He was part of that lineup all but six games the rest of the season. When all was said and done, Sensabaugh finished the year with the fourth-most points by a freshman in Ohio State history.

Ohio State's Brice Sensabaugh has been described as somewhat of a mini-Carmelo Anthony. He's the best pure scorer in this class and would be a steal in the late-first, early second if knee concerns cause him to slide tonight as some suspect. pic.twitter.com/viSz4RIddh

— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 22, 2023

He did miss the final two games — the back half of the Buckeyes’ four-day, Big Ten Tournament run — with a knee injury that required surgery. He didn’t participate in NBA Combine 5-on-5 workouts, and, reportedly because of his recovery, he wasn’t able to conduct team workouts until later in the pre-draft process.

It’s important to note that Sensabaugh also missed his entire junior season at Lake Highland Prep due to not only COVID-19 cancellations but also a meniscus injury that required a pair of surgeries.

Injury concerns followed Sensabaugh into the draft. So did questions about his defense and playmaking ability. After all, it was his defense — and foul trouble (he fouled out five times) — that took him out of the rotation at times. Plus, he averaged only 1.2 assists per game, despite posting a usage rate (32.1%) at least eight percentage points higher than every other Buckeyes rotational player last season, per BartTorvik.

That said, Sensabaugh did improve in those areas as the season wore on, particularly in the passing department. He logged two or more assists in seven of his last eight games.

His shot making ability is what made him a first-round selection, though.

Sensabaugh made a habit of knocking down contested field goal attempts while shooting 48% from the field, including a blistering 40.5% from 3-point land.

In addition to notching the fourth-most points (537) among Buckeyes freshmen all-time, he converted the second-most 3-pointers (60), tied for the fifth-best 3-point percentage (40.5%) and netted the third-best free throw percentage (83%) of any Ohio State freshman.

What’s more, he was the first Buckeyes freshman to lead the program in scoring since D’Angelo Russell in 2014-15. In the process, Sensabaugh earned third-team All-Big Ten honors as well as All-Freshman Team accolades from the conference.

Sensabaugh was a bright spot throughout a down year for Ohio State. The Buckeyes experienced their first losing season since 2003-04 and missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016-17 — not counting the year it was canceled because of the pandemic — but Sensabaugh’s stardom shined through even the darkest clouds around the program in January and February.

The scoring lift he gave the Buckeyes lifted him to the NBA in just one year.