Scarlet Sunrise: Jamison Battle earns NBA Summer League opportunity with Toronto Raptors
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Jamison Battle earns NBA Summer League opportunity with Toronto Raptors
Former Ohio State sharpshooting forward Jamison Battle earned an NBA Summer League invite from the Toronto Raptors Thursday after going undrafted.
Battle completed pre-draft workouts with the Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves and Toronto Raptors.
He’s coming off a prolific fifth and final year of his college career, which saw him play for three schools.
His college days began in June 2019 at George Washington, where he spent two seasons in the A-10 before returning home to Minnesota. Battle played two seasons with the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, about a 15-minute drive from his hometown of Robbinsdale.
Battle made the A-10 All-Rookie Team at GW and starred as an All-Big Ten honorable mention for Minnesota in 2021-22, averaging 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 36.6% from downtown. But injuries set him back in 2022-23, and he then hit the transfer portal looking for his first winning season of his college career and, of course, an elusive NCAA Tournament appearance.
He reached one of those milestones at Ohio State. His pursuit of the other ended in heartbreak, however, a grateful and reflective Battle saw the close-but-no-cigar finish through a mature lens.
The Buckeyes got off to a 12-2 start, except another brutal winter stretch spelled doom for Chris Holtmann. His squad lost 8-of-9 games between January and February and longtime Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith fired the then-seventh-year Buckeyes head coach midseason. Smith promoted associate head coach Jake Diebler to interim coach looking for a spark and got a lot more than that.
Diebler led Ohio State to six wins in its next seven games. During that span, Battle averaged 18.8 points per game while shooting 55.7%, including 48.6% from deep, in six outings. He helped start the run by effectively sealing an upset win over then-No. 2 Purdue, first with a jumper and then with clutch free throws. He also erupted for a season-high 32 points in a win over NCAA Tournament-bound Nebraska.
Battle’s potential game-tying 3-pointer didn’t fall in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal against Illinois, nor did his potential game-winning triple in the NIT quarterfinal against Georgia, but he made plenty of timely 3-pointers, such as a go-ahead long-range shot versus Cornell in the first round of the NIT and a game-clinching trey versus UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic.
Battle set a career high with a 43.3% 3-point percentage in the final act of his five-year career. He made 91 triples this season and tied Jon Diebler’s Ohio State record with at least five 3-pointers in four consecutive games.
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Now he’s getting his shot at the NBA with an invite to the Summer League from the Toronto Raptors.
‘We know what we could become’: Ohio State defensive end depth rare but not unprecedented
Ohio State returned its top-four defensive ends from last season. The depth they provide at the position is reminiscent of that displayed by six future NFLers playing DE for the Buckeyes in 2017.
“He doesn’t have to talk about it. We know about it,” Ohio State junior defensive end Caden Curry said this spring when asked if longtime Buckeyes D-Line coach Larry Johnson calls back to that fleet of EDGE players in reference to what this year’s defensive end group could be.
“We’ve seen it every day. We watch the film. We see them all working together.”
Curry kept going: “We know what could be. We know what we could become. So we know we’re at the right place at the right time.”
For the full story, go here.
In-state tight end Brody Lennon commits to Ohio State
Ohio State received a commitment from three-star Cleveland (Ohio) Gilmour Academy tight end Brody Lennon Thursday. Lennon picked the Buckeyes over the likes of Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Lennon is the second tight end to pledge to Ohio State in the 2025 recruiting cycle. Lennon is the No. 487 overall prospect and the No. 27 tight end in the class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking.
“It was kind of surreal, because it’s always been my dream to play at Ohio State.” Lennon told Lettermen Row. “So when I had the opportunity and everything felt right, for me and my family, we decided that was what’s best for us as a family. I liked it the best. So we chose Ohio State.”
For more details, head on over here.
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Counting Down
Buckeyes vs. Akron: 64 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 155 days
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