Tag: Zed Key

Former Ohio State basketball starter Zed Key has found his new home

Key won’t have to move far. #GoBucks

Over the last four years for Ohio State basketball, [autotag]Zed Key[/autotag] gave it his all and was the epitome of a team player.

Key gave up his starting role to a younger Felix Okpara, while working on his body after suffering a season ending injury during his junior year. He never complained one bit, always doing what was best for the Buckeyes.

After years of unselfishness, Key finally did something for himself by entering the transfer portal. On Monday, the graduate made his decision and committed to Dayton. It’s clear that the New York native enjoyed his time in Ohio.

We wish the best for Zed as he finishes up his collegiate career with the Flyers.

Contact/Follow @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on X. 

Wisconsin basketball transfer portal target commits to Dayton

Wisconsin basketball transfer portal target commits to Dayton

Wisconsin basketball transfer portal target Zed Key committed to Dayton on Monday.

Key entered the portal this month after four years at Ohio State. Wisconsin reportedly reached out as it tries to fill the vacant forward spot after Tyler Wahl’s departure. The connection between Key and the Badgers already existed: Wisconsin offered the experienced forward coming out of high school and was in strong pursuit throughout the entire process.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin basketball’s reported transfer portal visits and targets

Key joins a Dayton program that went 25-8 in 2023-24 and made the NCAA Tournament. It was the program’s first appearance since Archie Miller led the Flyers to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2014-2017.

Key was an ascending talent in the Big Ten entering this past season. His numbers improved every season at Ohio State until 2023-24. His breakout 2022-23 season included averages of 10.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 1.0 blocks on 55% shooting. But the veteran averaged just 15.4 minutes per game in 2023-24, with averages of 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.6 blocks on 50% shooting from the floor.

Wisconsin’s focus turns to top transfer forward Frankie Fidler, who was originally scheduled to announce his commitment on Monday morning but has since delayed that announcement.

For more on Wisconsin’s roster and transfer portal activity, check out Badgers Wire’s ongoing 2024 transfer portal tracker.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Wisconsin basketball in pursuit of a former Ohio State transfer forward

Wisconsin basketball in pursuit of a former Ohio State transfer forward

Wisconsin basketball is in pursuit of former Ohio State transfer forward Zed Key, according to a report on X.

Key entered the portal this month after four years with the Buckeyes. He played just 15.4 minutes per game in 2023-24, with averages of 6.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.4 steals and 0.6 blocks on 50% shooting from the floor.

Related: Tracking Wisconsin basketball’s reported transfer portal visits and targets

The experienced big man was an ascending talent entering this past season. His numbers improved every year at Ohio State until 2023-24. His breakout 2022-23 season included averages of 10.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 1.0 blocks on 55% shooting.

Key has reportedly heard from Wisconsin, Xavier, Minnesota, Boston College, Dayton, VCU, Akron and Murray State. There is a natural connection with the Badgers, as Greg Gard and his staff were in strong pursuit of the 6-foot-7 forward during the 2020 recruiting cycle. Key chose Ohio State in the end, but Wisconsin was involved for the entirety of the process.

Key would help fill the void left by the departures of A.J. Storr (transfer portal) and Tyler Wahl (graduation). He isn’t a top-of-the-country talent, but he’d bring a track record of dependable play at the Big Ten level.

For more on Wisconsin’s roster and transfer portal activity, check out Badgers Wire’s ongoing 2024 transfer portal tracker.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Zed Key enters transfer portal after four years with Ohio State

Zed Key looks to raise the roof elsewhere next season. #GoBucks

After spending the last four years in Columbus, Zed Key announced he will enter the transfer portal and spend his remaining year of eligibility raising the roof elsewhere. Key confirmed his decision with a heartfelt post on social media thanking Ohio State fans everywhere.

Key became a fan favorite coming off the bench as a freshman and earning a starting spot the following two years. Injuries plagued the OSU center in the latter half of his junior season which opened the door for Felix Okpara. Key saw his minutes decrease in his senior season averaging just over 15 minutes per game while adding 6.6 points per contest along with 4.1 rebounds.

He gave Buckeye fans some memorable moments over his four years, but maybe none more than his 20-point performance early in his sophomore season in a win over No. 1 Duke at the Shott. Ohio State beat the Blue Devils by a score of 71-66 behind Key’s performance.

With his departure, new head coach Jake Diebler will be left with just two centers on the roster in Okpara and Austin Parks. Key becomes the fourth member of the basketball team to enter the transfer portal joining Roddy Gayle Jr, Scotty Middleton, and Bowen Hardman.

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion.

Best plays from Ohio State basketball’s upset victory over Purdue

Re-living some of the best plays from Ohio State basketball’s win over Purdue. #GoBucks

In what has been a disappointing season for Ohio State basketball, the Buckeyes pulled off an upset of the second ranked team in college basketball for their biggest win of the season.

After Chris Holtmann’s firing last week interim head coach Jake Diebler led Ohio State to a victory over Purdue in his first game as the head coach.

Many players made big contributions for the Buckeyes on Sunday as 11 players were utilized with nine playing 14 or more minutes. The Buckeyes did a good job of communicating on the defensive end to hold the Boilermakers who average 84.4 points per game to just 69 on Sunday.

On the offensive end, the Buckeyes came up with big shots time and time again throughout the game, particularly down the stretch to come out on top.

Here are some of best plays from Ohio State’s victory over the weekend.

Watch: Ohio State basketball’s Felix Okpara mic’d up for last summer practice

Big things coming for the Buckeyes hoops team this season #GoBucks

After a disappointing 2022-23 season for the [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] men’s basketball team, there seems to be a little more hype surrounding this year’s team.

Yes, gone is top scorer and rebounder Brice Sensabaugh to the NBA, but the Buckeyes bring back a solid core along with one the best recruiting classes in the Big Ten.

One of those returning pieces is center [autotag]Felix Okpara[/autotag]. He was forced into more playing time than the coaches wanted due to an injury to [autotag]Zed Key[/autotag]. It was an up-and-down freshman year for the big man, but he showed flashes of what he could become and the experience he gained can’t be duplicated on the practice courts.

Okpara is expected to be a big contributor to a much deeper team and got the honor of getting mic’d up for the last Ohio State practice of the summer. Watch below as the Buckeye big man goes through the final scrimmage before they reconvene in the fall.

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Ohio State center Zed Key shut down for the remainder of the season

Key will be shut down with surgery up next #GoBucks

The [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] men’s basketball team will be without its center [autotag]Zed Key[/autotag] for the remainder of the season. He will undergo surgery on his injured shoulder sometime in the near future.

This isn’t at all surprising, even since Key initially hurt his shoulder against Purdue in early January, he has been favoring it. His defense and more importantly, his offense, dropped dramatically and so did the Buckeyes.

Since Key’s untimely injury, the biggest question surrounding him was how long until he couldn’t go anymore. Yes, the doctors cleared him but it was obvious that he just couldn’t perform at a high level even though Key showed big-time toughness trying to battle it out.

We wish Key a speedy recovery. This is now another disappointing aspect of this season, as the Buckeyes are trending to finish with an under .500 record for the first time since 2003-04.

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Ohio State basketball trying to find a big, offers 5-star Pennsylvania center

The Buckeyes are looking to add size to the roster #GoBucks

One of the biggest glaring issues with the current [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] basketball roster is the lack of size.

Junior [autotag]Zed Key[/autotag] is a solid player, but has been bitten by the injury bug this season. Freshman [autotag]Felix Okpara[/autotag] will be a good player, but is still very raw and could have used this season to get stronger and learn the system.

Due to numbers and Key’s injuries, Okpara was forced into duty and there is pretty much no depth behind those two. Freshman Okpara is the tallest player on the roster, at 6-foot, 11-inches, but no other rotational player is taller than Key at 6-foot, 8-inches.

Head coach [autotag]Chris Holtmann[/autotag] has realized that the lack of size has hurt this year’s squad and an effort to correct that is being made. The start of that was an offer to 2025 Pennsylvania center [autotag]Alier Maluk[/autotag].

Maluk was recently in Columbus for an unofficial visit, a very good sign regarding his recruitment. Although he is a bit slight at 180 pounds, his 6-foot, 10-inch frame is exactly the kind of length the Buckeye basketball team needs going forward.

Ranked as the nation’s No. 2 center and 15th overall player by the 247Sports Composite Rankings, Maluk would be a fantastic addition to the Ohio State roster.

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Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on Twitter.

Thoughts on Ohio State basketball’s 69-60 road loss to Illinois

Another difficult Buckeye loss. What were your takeaways? #GoBucks

It looked like [autotag]Ohio State[/autotag] found their offensive groove again in their win against Iowa, but the Fighting Illini had a say in that. [autotag]Illinois[/autotag] would put the clamps on the Buckeyes, holding the offense down and getting a 69-60 home win.

Not much went right for Ohio State in this one, another frustrating effort from [autotag]Chris Holtmann[/autotag]’s bunch. The loss snapped a six-year win streak in Champaign for the Buckeyes.

There were plenty of thoughts after an effort like this, most of them being very similar to what we saw during the recent five-game losing streak. Find out below my thoughts on another difficult to watch Ohio State loss.

What we learned about Ohio State after defeating Iowa to break losing streak

The losing streak is over!!! What did you learn? #GoBucks

It has been a rough almost three weeks, but [autotag]Ohio State basketball[/autotag] finally got back in the win column, defeating Iowa, 93-77, in front of a home crowd at [autotag]Value City Arena[/autotag]. The win improves the Buckeyes’ record to 11-8 as they try and claw their way back into getting an NCAA Tournament bid.

The team as a whole shot fantastic, 56% from the field, and 50% behind the arc. The offense obviously looked like what we saw prior to hitting Big Ten play, and it was the catalyst this team needed to get back to its winning ways.

There was plenty of good from this contest, find out below what the biggest takeaways were for head coach [autotag]Chris Holtmann[/autotag] and the Buckeyes in their first win since January 1st.