A year ago, the Ohio State basketball program was little more than a massive amalgamation of questions. Buckeye fans knew little about new head coach Chris Holtmann, and little was expected from a team that had failed to make the NCAA Tournament for two years, and in 2016-17 failed to make any postseason tournament at all.
However, almost from Day 1, Holtmann and his team of determined overachievers began answering those questions. They weren’t always the prettiest answers; they weren’t always the best answers, but the answers worked nonetheless. The first-year coach called upon veterans like Keita Bates-Diop, Jae’Sean Tate, Kam Williams, and shockingly Andrew Dakich of all people to lead the program through his first season in Columbus.