Well, this is a little shocking. If there’s any player on the Ohio State men’s basketball team you thought would stay away from the transfer portal, Luther Muhammad would be one of the last. Alas, it seems to be true — he will enter his name in and plans to leave the Buckeye program after two years.
The news came by way of an Ohio State spokesman on Sunday, all while Chris Holtmann and staff continue to refine and turn through various transfer candidates. The departures on this year’s team are now becoming more of a trend than exception. Of course, Kaleb Wesson heading to the NBA was not a surprise, but OSU is also dealing with the transfer of D.J. Carton, the loss of Alonzo Gaffney, and now Muhammad’ pending transfer.
The Buckeyes were already thin at the guard spot with Carton deciding to move on, but they do have Musa Jallow coming back from injury, another year of C.J. Walker at the point, and Duane Washington to add some depth. Last year’s sit out transfer Justice Suieng could also be used in a ball-handling capacity.
Ohio State sophomore guard Luther Muhammad will enter the transfer portal.
— Dan Wallenberg (@OSUADAthComm) April 5, 2020
You never know what’s going on behind closed doors, but the decision is a little baffling for a kid that was a starter for most of last year and should have been a lock for significant playing time — if not a starter again — this coming season. There has been no other information provided by the program, coaching staff, or Muhammad himself, but he and Washington were suspended earlier in the year for reasons never really made known.
At six-foot, three-inches, 185 pounds, Muhammad was well-regarded as the team’s best on-ball defender and gave great effort on a nightly basis. His offensive game was still being honed, but he did show flashes of streaking ability to shoot the ball. He averaged 7.0 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 25.0 minutes of play per contest in 2019-2020.
Now, it appears, he’ll be spending his last two seasons of eligibility elsewhere. Boy has the management of college basketball rosters changed over the last few years.
Good luck to Muhammad in whatever place he ends up. Once a Buckeye …
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