Our Honor Defend

The fun part of this off-season was thinking there was maybe, kinda a chance.  Evan Turner had given credible signals that he was considering returning to Ohio State, again, and exhausting his eligibility for the Buckeyes.  Ultimately, Turner declared he will forgo his senior season and enter the NBA Draft.

In one sense, it’s disappointing.  Selfishly, at least.  The Buckeyes lost five seniors, none of those being substantive subtractions at all.  The Big Ten regular season and tournament champion looked to return their starting five, meanwhile adding one of the country’s best — if not the best — recruiting class in the country.  This “Super Six” recruiting class has a little bit of everything.  It will give us a true point guard, an explosive forward, and an absolute bully in the blocks.  The last of these three may be the missing link in the current team that showed so much promise.  Evan Turner, the veteran AP/USBWA/Naismith/NACB player of the year would be the senior leader on a team that was sure to be a favorite for a national title.  Everything was there, even down to the defensive stopper (David Lighty), the sharpshooter (Jon Diebler), the microwave (William Buford) and the coaching staff with the necessary enthusiasm and energy to put it all together.

Instead, our player of the year will go pro.  Disappointed?  Don’t be.  Ohio State is still in pretty good shape for 2010-11 and that’s besides the point.  I’m unfamiliar with all of Evan Turner’s back-story since he came to Ohio State for the 2007-08 season, but Mark Titus’ moniker of “The Villain” apparently does not belie some of the important life lessons of maturity and dedication that Turner learned in his three years at Ohio State.   Since a freshman year that featured Thad Matta kicking open a practice door and telling Turner “either grow up or go home”, Turner has developed into an affable young guy¹ with an accessible Twitter feed, a deep love of the university (he even thanked E. Gordon Gee during his speech), and fluff pieces galore (here, here).  On our end, we’ve been fortunate enough to be along for the ride.

The NBA one-and-done policy, rightly or wrongly, has made it seem like the basketball stars that matriculate to college from the seedy recesses of the AAU netherworld are common mercenaries that would prefer to skip college altogether if they could.  No such claim can be made against Evan Turner.  Beyond the fact that Evan Turner already skipped last year’s draft when he would have been a first rounder then, no one could possibly begrudge a guy who literally broke his back for the craft he loves at the university he loves.  Fortunately for us, that was at The Ohio State University.

Someone other than me will make the necessary judgments about Evan Turner’s individual legacy in the broader Ohio State basketball lore.  This would not be my forte, beyond me being secure in the knowledge that two of the most underrated players in NBA history were on our 1960 national championship team.  Even then, where we situate Turner with the likes of Jimmy Hull, Jerry Lucas, Gary Bradds, John Havlicek, Jimmy Jackson, Clark Kellogg and so on is an esoteric question.  Ultimately, we celebrate Evan Turner for piquing our interest in the athletic schedule after Ohio State’s bowl game, for providing us a quality product on the court for three years, for using his time at Ohio State to grow personally and professionally (as every student, athlete or otherwise, should do), and for representing the university well.  For that, we thank him and will take an interest in where he is selected in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Also, we thank him for this.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I look forward to seeing him on ESPN’s Top 10 in the years to come, even when I’m not entirely interested in the NBA.

1. Seriously, look at this photo of him watching the Big Ten Women’s Tournament finish of OSU v. Iowa. [↩]