Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann provided an update on the injury front Friday and Seth Towns and Musa Jallow are still rehabbing.
Friday was a day full of Ohio State Zoom sessions for media members. On the football side of things, we heard from head coach Ryan Day and quarterback Justin Fields. Hoops then got involved as we heard from head coach Chris Holtmann and three of the veteran players.
It was all good information, and specifically, when it came to updates to the basketball program, Holtmann said that two players that have been working hard to be fully healthy for the start of the 2020-21 campaign will probably need a little more time.
As it relates to Harvard graduate transfer Seth Towns, Holtmann said that he’s progressed but still isn’t where he needs to be.
“I think right now, while he’s made progress, said Holtmann. “I think in terms of being ready to play actual games in late November, I certainly think that is in question, whether he’ll be ready for that. “At this point, I’m not sure he will be ready, and I think he probably feels the same way. He’s going to need more time than that. But we’ll know more — obviously — in the coming weeks.”
It was a bit of a revelation because up until this point, everyone was led to believe that the knee injury the former Ivy League Player of the Year has been recovering from was on schedule, and the team would have an additional scoring threat to start the season.
For Jallow, a guy that offers athleticism and an ability in the open court OSU could desperately use, the road back has been long. He suffered an ankle injury before the beginning of last season and had to eventually have it scoped, then reconstructed in January. Holtmann said there’s still a road to travel on his rehab as well in order to be ready.
“He’s a little further along than Seth, but he’s not been able to do workouts yet,” said Holtmann. “We’ll see, as far as the start of practice. I think there’s a possibility with him with the start of practice.”
As a reminder, practice begins in about three weeks. It would be great to have them both available for a season of uncertainty, but as much as we see injuries where the player is able to come back on an earlier timeline, there are others where it just takes additional time. You never want to bring a kid back too early, and it’s good that the OSU staff is making sure that everything is to the point where neither Jallow nor Towns risk further injury just to get back o the court.
Now, we do have a little good news. Justice Sueing, who sat at last year as a transfer coming in from Cal, has been practicing. He too had been working his way back from injury so he adds some scoring on the wing.
One at a time. We’ll keep updates on where things are with all three of these guys as we move closer to the start of preseason practice and then quickly into the start of games at the end of November.
