Well, we can’t really say this is a huge shock, but Deshaun Thomas made it official today and announced that he would forgo his Senior year and make the jump to the NBA draft.

“My three years at Ohio State have been the best years of my life,” Thomas said. “I have grown tremendously as an individual and as a basketball player. I intend to return to finish my degree, but I believe that now is the best opportunity to pursue my dream and begin my career as a professional basketball player. I will always be a Buckeye and am blessed to be a part of the Ohio State University family.”

This is one of those things that happens when you have top-tier talent. It’s kind of the negative that goes along with success. Hopefully, the offensive development witnessed for the majority of the tournament will carry over into next year. Because, well, that’s a pretty darn huge hole to fill.

How huge? Well, here’s a list of Thomas’ accomplishments, including awards for the 2012-2013 season

2012-13 SEASON HONORS

• 2013 John R. Wooden Award All-America

• 2013 Associated Press Third Team All-America

• 2013 NCAA West Regional All-Tournament Team

• 2013 Big Ten All-Tournament Team

• 2013 Sporting News Second Team All-America

• 2013 USBWA All-District V Team

• 2013 First Team All-Big Ten, coaches/media

• 2013 Oscar Robertson Trophy finalist

• 2013 Naismith Award Midseason Top 30

• 2013 Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List

• 2012-13 Big Ten Player of the Week (Nov. 19, Jan. 14)

• Hall of Fame Tipoff All-Tournament Team (MVP)

• 2012-13 Wooden Award Preseason Top 50

• 2012-13 Naismith Award Preseason Top 50

• 2012-13 Preseason All-America

Noting Deshaun Thomas’ Ohio State Career

62-Career NCAA tournament rebounds, 4th all-time

72-Made 3s, No. 10 all-time, season (2012-13)

83.4-FT pct. (.834/141-169), No. 6 all-time, season (2012-13)

94-Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr., Deshaun Thomas career wins

143-Career made 3s, No. 8 all-time

205-Ohio State career NCAA tournament points, 2nd all-time

260-Thomas made FGs, No. 8 all-time, season (2012-13)

584-Thomas FGA, No. 2 all-time, season (2012-13)

733-Thomas season pts., No. 3 all-time, season (2012-13)

1,630-Career points for Deshaun Thomas, No. 9 all-time

Best of luck, Deshaun! Buckeye Nation will be rooting for you at the next level! Unless, of course, you go to some team someone hates. Then, it’s more like a “gosh, I hope you do fine and your team sucks” kind of support.

Deshaun Thomas has had a pretty successful run during his Ohio State career. That’s pretty apparent. What may not be apparent, however, are the accomplishments of the Buckeye student athletes in some of the sports that may not generate a ton of revenue or gain a lot of exposure.

Thomas wanted to make sure they received their due props and penned a nice little letter to the editor that was published in The Lantern.

Letter to the editor:
As a basketball player at Ohio State, I am both proud and honored that our university follows our sport the way they do. It is a privilege to play for Ohio State, to be a part of winning the Big Ten Tournament this year, and to have made it to the Elite Eight.

I know that athletes in other sports that do not get much press coverage are also winning championships. Just two weekends ago, Logan Stieber won his second-consecutive national championship in his weight class in wrestling, and senior Marco Canevari marked the Scarlet and Gray’s single individual champion title in fencing by securing the gold medal in men’s epee on March 22. A day later, gymnasts Sarah Miller and Aly Marohn captured the Big Ten championship on the balance beam.

Last Tuesday, The Lantern featured an article in which athletic director Gene Smith talked about how Ohio State isn’t just a football school. He talked about the success of our basketball team. It would be good to remember that in the other sports, there is a lot of success too.

All athletes at Ohio State work very hard at being the best they can be at their sport. I wish that all athletes could receive the attention that our football and basketball teams get. They all deserve to be celebrated.

Deshaun Thomas
Third-year in sports management
thomas.2366@osu.edu

You’re a class act, Deshaun! Now, can you maybe come back just one more year?

In what was a pleasant surprise for many, Deshaun Thomas has decided to stick around with the Buckeyes for at least one more year. While the move won’t instantly catapult Ohio State to the top of everyone’s list of favorites to win the B1G next year, it certainly doesn’t hurt. In fact, the way that Thomas turned it on at the end of the year might very well put the Buckeyes in a position to surprise a few folks.

I say surprise, but it isn’t really like the Buckeye ranks would have been totally depleted without him. However, the thought of only replacing Sully and Buford is a much more pleasant one for Buckeye Nation to take than the thought of replacing all three. Thomas was an absolute monster in the post-season and should bode well in keeping the Buckeyes in the B1G elite.

If Amir Williams can live up to his potential, or if Ravenel keeps playing as the good Ravenel, the loss of Sullinger will not be nearly as noticeable as it might have seemed. The fact that Thomas, and his shot, is returning was really a critical component to keeping the team at the top. Thomas returning might mean the difference between a top 10 team and a top 20 team. Regardless, it was a bit of good news for a program that had gotten used to really bad news.

Hey, Thad, you asked for someone to make you happy for a change…this should do it.

Don't you want more of this?

Hey guys, how’s it going? Are you thinking about anything important today? I was just wondering, because it seems like there is an eerie silence coming from your directions since this past Saturday.

OK, yeah, I know. You have until April 10th to make your decisions. And, really, I appreciate that you might want to take a bit of time in making what is probably the biggest decision of your entire lives. But the point of the matter is this…we’re impatient.

We’re also hungry. You keep teasing us by getting so close and then not quite getting over the hump. While you can gain a nice bank account by leaving, think about what you might gain by sticking around for one more year. You might gain some serious hardware and the honor of never having to pay for a beer in the State of Ohio ever again. It has been a long time (did I mention we were impatient?) and we’d love nothing more than to see you return to take care of unfinished business.

Also, this is a deep draft. Sully, your stock has dropped a bit. Why not come back, win it all and go out on top and then own the NBA? Ask Oden how working on his game at that level worked out. Not so well. Dehaun, you broke out at the end of the year, but might not be a guaranteed first rounder. Dominating for an entire season would work wonders for that.

Also, think of Aaron Craft. He will miss you. You don’t want to disappoint him, do you? DO YOU?

We thank you for what you have done as Buckeyes. We appreciate the ride you have taken us on and will respect whatever decision you make. After all, us Buckeyes stick together.

I just hope we all stick together in C-Bus.

31 points. That's what's up.

In the opening round of the tourney last night, Ohio State sent Loyola packing their bags in a 78-59 victory. Nothing about this game was too surprising. It’s not like we pulled a Syracuse or anything.

Loyola led once in the first few minutes, but the Buckeyes quickly caught up and kicked the game into cruise control. With eleven minutes left in the first half and Ohio State already in bonus, I knew this was going to be a long day for the Greyhounds. I guess when the other team is way bigger and all else fails, you can resort to fouling the crap out of them. Good strategy. Or not.

Now to the bad news. Eighteen turnovers. Yes, you read that correctly. They were throwing away the ball more than dropzilla himself, Braylon Edwards. If that extends past the first round, the Buckeyes are going to get throttled. 5-14 shooting on three pointers. I don’t think it is news to anyone that we straight up suck when it comes to shooting the three. This makes me incredibly nervous, and by that I mean I have a miniature anxiety attack every time I see a Buckeye attempt one.

Okay, enough with the buzzkill. Deshaun Thomas was glorious as usual, with a career high 31 points, including 12 boards. He was displaying some nasty hooks, the shots dreams are made of kids. Everyone’s favorite manchild Jared Sullinger also had a decent showing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. William Buford even put up 17 points. I’m hoping he didn’t exhaust all of his shooting ability in the first round, since Ohio State’s success will heavily rely on how well he can perform moving forward.

The Bucks take on 7-seeded Gonzaga in Pittsburgh tomorrow. They should be able to take care of business, but this team can be so bi-polar at times, one never really knows what to expect…

Sully for the win!

Indiana gave the Buckeyes a gift last night when they beat Michigan State. So far, so good. The Bucks went into Evanston and sucked all the air out of Northwestern’s Senior Night when they beat the Wildcats, 75-73, keeping their shot at a share of the regular season conference title alive.

Ohio State was doing virtually everything right tonight (for most of the game anyway), certainly not reminiscent of their recent play. I had to blink a few times to make sure I recognized some of the players who suddenly came alive. (And also because my stupid cable company doesn’t carry BTN in HD. Jerks.)

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Jared Sullinger. It’s like the team finally remembered they have a National Player of the Year contender, perhaps we should get him the ball? Sully came up huge as the team’s leading scorer with 22 points. An even better stat? 18 rebounds, more than the entire Northwestern team. Ohio State had 42 rebounds total.

Let’s not forget about Mr. Consistency, Deshaun Thomas. He had a great showing as well with 19 points and 10 rebounds. William Buford? Not so much. It appears his missed shot world tour had a stop in Evanston, as he was a disappointing 3 for 10. Let’s go ahead and stop shooting for a while and just get it to Sully in the paint, ok?

The Buckeyes were in front the entire game, by as much as thirteen points, but Northwestern started cutting the lead midway through the second half and it got a little too close for comfort REAL quick. Up 73-70 with 7.7 to go, Northwestern’s Alex Marcotullio jacked a 3-pointer to tie it up. Seriously??? Of course he did. Luckily the Buckeyes had the answer as Aaron Craft had the assist of the game and got the ball to Sully for the winning shot.

The Buckeyes return to the gloriously awful state of Michigan on Sunday for a revenge match against Michigan State. Winning will give them a share of the Big Ten title, and re-convince people that they are a seriously legit basketball team. No pressure…

The only thing Wisconsin was left to deal with was a scrappy win.

By halftime, it was official, I hated this game. The only thing on the court more flat than the Buckeyes’ playing was the terrible haircut on Ryan Evans. If they laid down on the court and took a nap, I don’t think anyone would have noticed. Welcome to Ohio State basketball, the all natural sleep aid.

It was Senior Day at the Schott, but the William Buford love fest wasn’t enough to keep the Buckeyes from falling to the Badgers, 60-63. In his last home game (and record 127th start), Buford had 15 points and 9 rebounds. Deshaun Thomas yet again was lighting up the floor, he led the team with 23 points.

In addition to Senior Day, it was also National Turn-the-Ball-Over Day. The Buckeyes did an excellent job of looking as sloppy as possible and handing the ball to Wisconsin as much as they could. Twelve times to be exact. Awesome. Looks like somebody could benefit from a Mark Titus “Fundamentals Montage”.

Ohio State did today what seems to be the typical routine lately. Play like they’re half-asleep, gain some momentum and an 8 point lead in the second half, then blow it. I didn’t know it was possible to get progressively worse as the season goes on, but they’re proving that I apparently don’t know anything.

Next up, the Bucks travel to Evanston on Wednesday to take on Northwestern. Let’s hope they find some way to improve their lackluster playing ability by then.

Deshaun Thomas, Scoring Machine.

Ohio State called. They want the B1G conference back. First thing on the agenda? Beating Illinois in the Nuthouse, 83-67. Check.

The Buckeyes looked tonight, well, like the Buckeyes should look. To say they went off would be an understatement. If Thad Matta’s pregame speech consisted of “do everything the opposite of what you did Saturday”, they certainly listened.

The “Fighting” Illini appeared to throw out the surrender flag five minutes into the first half. Can’t say I blame them. Would you want to be the first victim of an irate Buckeye squad? Didn’t think so. Hell hath no fury like an angry … Deshaun Thomas? What?!?!

That’s right, for a second game in a row, Thomas was the team’s leading scorer. He put up 19 points and 5 rebounds, and shot 75% from the field. The only difference tonight was that he actually got some help. Buford came out of his missed shot world tour to go 7 for 9, scoring 17 points. While the Bucks weren’t exactly going all Jon Diebler, they did sink 7 3-point shots.

Even Amir Williams had a nasty dunk. Wait, who the heck is Amir Williams? Thad played seven from the bench tonight, who combined for 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. Who says we don’t have any depth?

The Buckeye offense wasn’t the only thing demoralizing the Illini tonight – you’d think the Ohio State team had been practicing with Urban and the linebackers the past few days. Illinois was getting knocked all over the place. Did I mention Jared Sullinger fouled out with five minutes left? Apparently if you’re shooting and your opponent’s face runs into your elbow, it’s your elbow’s fault. Guess you learn something new every day. Thanks for keeping me on my toes, refs.

Now tied for second place in the B1G with Michigan (gross), the Buckeyes can still take control of the conference if they keep taking control on the court like they did tonight. Next up, the Buckeyes “welcome” Wisconsin on Sunday (and by welcome I mean send Bo Ryan and his Badgers home with a “deal with it” towel).  March is nearing … and it looks Ohio State is reheating their game at the right time.

Sophomore Deshaun Thomas was named B1G Player of the Week for his efforts last week against USC-Upstate and South Carolina.

Thomas averaged 26.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 3.0 assists in the Buckeye victories. This included a career high 30 points against The Gamecocks. He hit 74.2 percent from the field last week, including a mind-blowing 81.3 percent against The Gamecocks. Thomas’ efforts were especially critical to Ohio State’s success as Sullinger suffered another setback in the game against South Carolina.

This is Thomas’ first POTW honor and the first for The Buckeyes since March, 7th 2011, when the award was given to former Buckeye Jon Diebler.

Congrats, Deshaun!