Buckeye ballers in position for title run

By: Grant Freking (TheLantern.com) -

I thought the 2010-11 Ohio State men’s basketball team would be good, that it would be in the upper echelon of the Big Ten. Probably top 10 good. But I thought Evan Turner’s departure would keep it from being an elite team.

Boy was I wrong about the now-No. 1 Buckeye ballers.

If anything, when Turner bolted Columbus for the professional ranks, he removed the shackles from senior David Lighty and junior William Buford. It allowed for freshman point guard Aaron Craft to get the necessary playing time to showcase his talents as a passer and defensive menace.

Most importantly, “The Villain’s” exit has allowed for OSU’s offense to run through freshman big man Jared Sullinger, who is not only a double-double machine, with eight on the season, but a legitimate Player of the Year candidate. He won’t turn 19 until March, the month in which he can make or break his legacy in what will probably be his only year in Columbus.

This team certainly has justifiable dreams of a run to the Final Four. But what about winning it all?

The last team dancing in early April exhibits three characteristics year after year: veteran leadership, tournament heartbreak and superiority on either offense or defense.

Look back at the past 10 years or so of college basketball. With the exception of Syracuse in 2003, teams laden with juniors and seniors have won national championships. Connecticut in 2004; North Carolina in 2005 and 2009; Florida in 2006 and 2007; Kansas in 2008; and Duke last season. Experience matters.

The strongest teams also bond through their failures and turn their mistakes into winning moments. Last year’s Duke squad was full of players marred by early exits in March. The 2009 North Carolina Tar Heels were blown out in the 2008 Final Four by eventual champion Kansas, which also experienced its share of March malfunctions before…….

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