While you were sleeping and reveling in the insane amount of talent on display in the passing game coming out of the Ohio State spring game, Chris Holtmann and the basketball team were making moves again.
Indiana center Joey Brunk announced on his Twitter account that he is transferring to Ohio State. And yeah, it kind of came out of the blue, but makes sense. Brunk is 6-foot, 11-inches, and 255-pounds and sat out last season for the Hoosiers with a back injury. He’s opting into a sixth year, and all indications are that he’s ready to go. He’ll add to the post with some much-needed size and add to the frontcourt of E.J. Liddell, Kyle Young (yes, he’s back), Zed Key, and Ibrahima Diallo.
The Buckeyes were supposedly in the sweepstakes to land five-star center Efton Reid, but there are some shenanigans going on behind the scenes. Reid — or rather — his mom, announced late in the day of when he was supposed to announce his college of choice, that it was all being delayed.
Welp.
So, you have to believe there is pause from the OSU coaching staff because of that, and there is definitely a need for a big man in a league that’s as bruising and full of top-end centers as any out there (pending personnel choices across the league).
Embrace your journey #gobucks pic.twitter.com/fctSouTBxN
— Joey Brunk (@JoeyBrunk) April 18, 2021
So, Ohio State went and got some size, defense, and a little scoring from a big body that already had a relationship with Holtmann and staff. In fact, Brunk played at Butler for one year before the current OSU head coach and assistants left to take the job in Columbus. Now, the two will be reunited once again on a roster that is shaping up to have a lot of really nice pieces.
In the 2019-2020 season, Brunk averaged 6.8 points and 5.2 rebounds in almost 20 minutes of play per game as a starter for Indiana. He’ll be bringing some of those same ingredients into a rotation with Ohio State.