Ohio State Basketball

Ohio State's basketball program had some fun with its uniform unveiling for the upcoming NCAA season.

Before players could showcase the new look on media day, head coach Thad Matta modeled the full gear.

Per the school's Twitter account, the design is the same as the 2016 U.S. Olympic basketball jerseys. Ohio State offered another look at the uniform without Matta:

The Buckeyes open their season Nov. 11 against Navy. Matta looks ready to play some minutes off the bench if needed.

[Twitter, h/t ESPN.com]

Class of 2018 small forward Justin Ahrens announced via Twitter that he has committed to Ohio State on Saturday:

The 3-star prospect is the fourth-rated recruit out of his home state of Ohio and the 33rd-best small forward in the nation, per 247Sports' composite rankings.  

Per 247Sports, Ahrens' only other offer came from Stony Brook. 

His decision to commit to Ohio State came just four days after he received an offer while on an unofficial visit to the school, according to Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch. 

Ahrens spoke to Jardy about what head coach Thad Matta told him:

Coach Matta was saying today that the past year or two have been a little down and said he’s been getting away from his normal tactics, which are finding Ohio guys and getting guys who want to play for the name on the front and not the back. That would be a great feeling, to rep my state. ... He told me why he thinks I’d fit in there. He’s not recruiting me to be a 10th, 11th or 12th man, he thinks I can make an instant impact on the team.

The 6'5", 181-pound small forward out of Versailles High School could provide a nice wing presence in the Ohio State frontcourt with his ability to shoot from deep. 

It will be a welcome addition to a Buckeyes team that shot 34.9 percent from three-point range in 18 conference games last season, which ranked seventh in the Big Ten. 

But Ahrens has also shown early in his high school career that he isn't afraid to attack the rim:

For an Ohio State team that missed the NCAA tournament last year for the first time since 2008, Matta realizes that something needs to change in order for the Buckeyes to become a threat in the Big Ten once again. 

Ahrens is the third recruit out of the class of 2018 to commit to Ohio State. The program has already secured 4-star small forward Darius Bazley and 3-star shooting guard Dane Goodwin, per 247Sports.

While those players won't wear scarlet and gray until 2018, Ohio State fans are already getting a good idea of what the future entails.

Stats courtesy of Sports-Reference.com.

Ohio State picked up a key in-state commitment Saturday in the form of small forward Darius Bazley. 

Bazley confirmed his selection of the Buckeyes with a message on social media:

pic.twitter.com/9f1AASSf6f

— Darius Bazley (@BazleyDarius) August 27, 2016

The class of 2018 standout is a 4-star prospect who rates as the No. 87 overall prospect in that year's incoming group, according to 247Sports' composite rankings. He also checks in as the No. 20 small forward and the second-best recruit in the state of Ohio.

Bazley was one of two notable additions for the Buckeyes on Saturday. Justin Ahrens, 247Sports' fourth-ranked Ohio recruit in 2018, also announced his intention to attend OSU.

Corey Evans of HoopSeen provided commentary on both players:

Bazley has all the tools to become a prototypical do-it-all wing player. He combines size and athleticism with a budding offensive game and the length to become a disruptive defender. It will take some patience as he works to translate that skill into on-court success, though.

Brian Snow of Scout passed along comments from the forward about what made Ohio State special after he took a visit to the school.

"The thing I liked about the campus is like it is its own city," Bazley said. "You have everything you need within the campus. Also, it seems like the people around the community show Ohio State a lot of love."

For now, he'll focus on fitting in with a new team at the high school level. Corey Albertson of Triple Double Prospects noted the details of his switch:

Getting two in-state commitments on the same day is massive for Ohio State. Longtime head coach Thad Matta knows the importance of defending home turf on the recruiting trail, especially in a basketball-rich state like Ohio.

It's hard to know what type of player Bazley will be when he joins the Buckeyes because he's so raw and his arrival is still a ways off. But the potential is too good to pass up.

Ohio State Buckeyes head basketball coach Thad Matta announced Tuesday that he's allowed guard A.J. Harris to explore the prospect of transferring.

Tim Shoemaker of Eleven Warriors passed along Matta's statement. Harris played sparingly as a freshman, averaging 13.7 minutes, 2.8 points and 1.7 assists per contest during the 2015-16 campaign.   

"I have given freshman guard A.J. Harris permission to seek a transfer," said Matta in a statement, per Shoemaker. "Mickey Mitchell and Daniel Giddens have asked for their release as well. We appreciate what A.J., Daniel and Mickey did for our program as freshman and we wish them well."

ESPN Insider Jeff Goodman commented on the fact that Harris isn't the only one from the Buckeyes' 2015 recruiting class who's already keen to flee Columbus:

Harris shot a woeful 32.3 percent from the field in his limited action this past season as Ohio State went 21-14 and failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Former Buckeyes star Jared Sullinger was among those to criticize the OSU players who fled for perceptibly greener pastures:

JaQuan Lyle, the only remaining 2015 recruit, also had something to say:

Regardless of who supports him, the reality is Matta has to pick up the pieces from a prior recruiting class that essentially netted him nothing.

Following a successful tenure at Xavier and a fine start to his lengthy stint with the Buckeyes, Matta has seen his program regress in recent years. Since an Elite Eight berth in 2012-13, OSU has gone to the Big Dance's round of 64, round of 32 and this year lost in the second round of the NIT.

Getting back to the NCAA tournament will be a tall task for Matta to pull off with a shortage of younger up-and-coming players to count on. An inability to get such a massive trove of players to buy in is also a discouraging sign for his future at the helm.

But if Matta can coach up the 2016-17 Buckeyes well enough to emerge from a competitive Big Ten with a respectable squad, he likely won't have to worry about job security. He will return his top six scorers, headed by rising senior Marc Loving.

After aggravating a shoulder injury while slapping the court on Feb. 20 against Nebraska, Ohio State forward Jae'Sean Tate reportedly will require surgery, which will sideline him for the rest of the season.

Continue for updates.

Tate to Have Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery

Tuesday, Feb. 23

Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch reported Tate will undergo surgery on Friday. Jeff Goodman of ESPN confirmed Tate is out for the season.

Tate Reportedly Aggravated Injury While Slapping Court 

Tuesday, Feb. 23

Jardy reported Tate "appeared to reaggravate the injury during the final minutes of the second half when he pounded the court while guarding Tai Webster beyond the three-point arc."

Tate's Absence Creates Huge Gap in Lineup

According to Jardy, the sophomore has been dealing with a nagging shoulder ailment for quite some time.

The Pickerington, Ohio, native is averaging 11.7 points and 6.4 rebounds in over 29 minutes per game this season, and he figured to be a big part of the 18-10 Buckeyes' push to secure an NCAA tournament bid.

Per Jardy, Tate tore his labrum during his senior season of high school, and Tate's father revealed it has been an ongoing issue.

While the exact source of the shoulder aggravation is uncertain, Jardy speculated that it may have happened on this play late in the Nebraska game that saw Tate slap the floor before getting burned on defense, via Brent Yarina of BTN.com:

OSU has just three regular-season games remaining, and they are all against Top 10 teams in the form of two clashes with rival Michigan State and one meeting with Iowa.

Being without Tate for those games could be a huge blow to the Buckeyes' tourney hopes, as losing all of them may force Ohio State to win the Big Ten tournament in order to participate in March Madness.

Tate is third on the team in scoring and second in rebounds. Marc Loving and Keita Bates-Diop will likely be asked to pick up the slack.

It could also force Ohio State to go big more often with centers Trevor Thompson and Daniel Giddens receiving increased playing time, which would necessitate some major adjustments on the part of head coach Thad Matta.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.

The floor slap did not work out so well for Jae'Sean Tate.

The Ohio State Buckeyes forward took a page straight out of the Duke playbook Saturday night in Lincoln, Nebraska, whipping out the floor slap when defending Tai Webster. 

Except it didn't go quite as planned.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers guard blew right past Tate, who appeared to be too consumed in the intimidation effort to actually play defense.

Luckily for Tate, the Buckeyes pulled out the win in overtime, 65-62.

[Twitter]

If the Ohio State Buckeyes (16-10) are going to make the NCAA tournament for an eighth straight year, then Tuesday’s home game versus the Michigan Wolverines (19-7) is a must-win situation.

The key Big Ten matchup is listed as a pick 'em at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark, with the Buckeyes going for their third victory in a row.

Ohio State is currently in a three-way tie for sixth place in the conference with the Michigan State Spartans and Purdue Boilermakers, both of whom are virtual locks to make the Big Dance because they have already reached 20 wins.

After failing to cover the spread in three of their past four games despite winning two straight, the Buckeyes need to win four of their next five to accomplish that feat during the regular season.

Meanwhile, like Michigan State and Purdue, Michigan also looks like a solid pick to make the NCAA tournament field for the fifth consecutive year. The Wolverines are trying to win their third in a row overall as well after beating the Boilermakers 61-56 as one-point home underdogs Saturday.

They scored the final 11 points of the game against Purdue to pull off the small upset and were led by Zak Irvin’s 22 points.

Michigan has won four of the past five meetings with Ohio State, covering the spread in three of the last four, according to the Odds Shark College Basketball Database, and split a pair of games a year ago, with each school winning on its home court.

Those previous two meetings both went under the total after the over was on a 3-0 run in the series. The Wolverines are riding a three-game road winning streak, with the over cashing in each victory and also going 7-0 in their past seven away from home.

The Buckeyes have seen the over cash in their last three overall, and their lone setback at home in Big Ten play came in a 66-61 loss to the Maryland Terrapins as 4.5-point underdogs on January 31.

However, they still have to host the Spartans and the conference-leading Iowa Hawkeyes in two of their last three regular-season games before closing out the campaign by visiting Michigan State on March 6.

Ohio State men's basketball head coach Thad Matta scored another recruiting coup when he secured one of the top Class of 2016 prospects in the form of Ohio native Derek Funderburk on Tuesday.

The St. Edward High School center announced his commitment to play for the Buckeyes on Twitter:

Funderburk is a 4-star prospect, the No. 6 center and the No. 41 overall player in the Class of 2016, according to 247Sports.

At 6'9", Funderburk is a long and athletic player who should make an instant impact at OSU. Per Zach Fleer of Prep Hoops Ohio, he has been on the Buckeyes' radar for quite some time:

There is no question Funderburk still has some developing left to do, but he has a year to shape his body and his overall game before making the jump to major college basketball.

Funderburk is a fantastic raw talent, and Buckeyes fans have to be excited about what Matta can potentially get out of him starting in 2016.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.