Bruce Thornton named captain after late-season leadership revote

COLUMBUS — Ohio State point guard Bruce Thornton had already been participating in weekly captain meetings. But last week it became official.

Thornton is a captain.

Head coach Chris Holtmann said Monday that the Buckeyes did a player revote for captains, and that’s when Thornton — the only Ohio State player who has started all 23 games this season — got the nod.

“I just wanted our guys to have a say in revoting for the leadership on the team,” Holtmann said. “And I just thought it was a good time to do it. They revoted, and [Bruce] got the significant number of votes. First time we’ve really had a freshman do that. Typically we do it earlier in the year, and it’s just once on the year. But I just think, with such a new group, it was important to do it again.”

Holtmann was subsequently asked if any of the Buckeyes’ season-opening captains — junior center Zed Key, sixth-year forward Justice Sueing and Oklahoma State grad transfer guard Isaac Likekele — lost their captaincy in the revote.

“I would certainly not share that publicly,” Holtmann said after laughing. “But I don’t mind you asking. But not gonna put our players on blast if that were to happen.”

Holtmann has openly challenged his team’s leadership this season, particularly since the start of 2023 — in other words, the start of the Buckeyes’ free fall to 13th in the Big Ten standings.

Ohio State had a tough task ahead of it this season. The Buckeyes returned just three players from its 2021-22 rotation, and one of them (Sueing) missed practically the whole year with an abdominal injury. Ahead of this season, Key was tabbed a first-time captain after starting 23 games and averaging 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds per game last year, during which future NBA second-round pick E.J. Liddell demanded the front court spotlight. And Likekele — a physical, ball handling guard — came over from Oklahoma State, where he started 110 games.

The new-look Buckeyes impressed early, spending four total weeks in the AP Top 25: Their first appearance was on Nov. 18, and their last was on Jan. 2. They were 10-3, including 2-0 in Big Ten play, and they had then-No. 1 Purdue on the ropes at The Schottenstein Center. But, with a loss to the Boilermakers and eight more defeats in the next nine games, Ohio State is on track to miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Holtmann’s six-year tenure.

Since the start of the New Year, the Buckeyes’ captains have underperformed.

It’s important to note that Key has dealt with a left shoulder sprain (suffered against Purdue on Jan. 5) and a left knee injury (suffered against Iowa on Jan. 21). The shoulder is what’s really bothering him, though. Holtmann said that the protective brace Key has to wear makes it more difficult for Key to breathe, and, “to some degree” affects his finishing at the rim. Nevertheless, Key hasn’t scored more than 12 points since December, and he’s shooting just 43.7% since he hurt his shoulder.

Sueing was thrust into more of a point forward role when Likekele had to attend to a “family matter” earlier this season, and he’s mostly struggled in that ball handling role. Since Jan. 1, Sueing has committed 23 turnovers and recorded only 20 assists. Likekele’s outlier performance came against Iowa when he put up 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Likekele is logging 4.0 points per game this season — more than half off his career average — and he’s combined for a mere 25 points over 11 of his last 12 outings (excluding the Iowa game).

Team-wide slow starts have called effort into question. After the Illinois game, poor preparation was cited by Buckeyes players and coaches as the culprit of a 16-point loss to the Fighting Illini.

This is the first time Ohio State has been below .500 this late in the season since 2003-04, the final year of Jim O’Brien’s stay as head coach.

The Buckeyes need a miraculous end to the Big Ten slate to have a chance at March Madness. If they somehow pull it off, it will be with Thornton as an official captain. After an impressive December, Thornton admitted he hit the “freshman wall” in January — he averaged 5.4 points. 2.1 assists and 1.0 turnover per game while battling through a wrist injury.

Thornton bounced back at Michigan Sunday, however, with a career-high 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting.

“Bruce is a young man who really is a coach’s dream,” Holtmann said of Thornton last week. “He wants to do what the coach asks and expects. And he’s tough.”