Ohio State forward Alonzo Gaffney is reportedly leaving the basketball program to pursue professional options according to a report from 247Sports’ Brian Snow. He will not be transferring to another school.
At 6 feet, 9 inches tall, Gaffney came to Ohio State as the top-rated player in the state. He was a five-star recruit but dropped slightly at the tail end of the recruiting cycle to a high four-star prospect that still had a ton of upside.
He found his way into a modest rotation early on in the year, but his thin frame made it tough for him to crack into significant playing time once the rough and tumble Big Ten season began. He ended the season averaging just 1.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 6.8 minutes per contest.
Gaffney had been without the program for the last four games of the year, and his absence was a bit of a mystery. At first, he was held out because of sickness against Nebraska on February 26, but then specifics were not given as he continued to miss games.
Sources: Alonzo Gaffney will not return to Columbus for his sophomore year. However a transfer is not expected. Here is the full story https://t.co/qvVZmkzAXw pic.twitter.com/4znxVY4PNz
— Brian Snow (@BSnow247) March 22, 2020
In some ways, the writing appeared to be on the wall and now Ohio State is dealing with two of the three highly received prospects from last year’s recruiting class now moving on. Freshman point guard D.J. Carton announced his intention to transfer earlier this week.
Despite the two recent departures, Ohio State is still at the 13 scholarship limit because of the welcomed news of Seth Towns deciding to transfer to OSU over Duke.
There sure are a lot of moving parts in today’s roster juggling acts of big-time college athletics, and these recent events just cement where things stand today.