Scotty Middleton back with Buckeyes ahead of NIT quarterfinals

COLUMBUS — After missing the first two rounds of the NIT while attending to a family matter, Ohio State freshman wing Scotty Middleton is back with the team.

“He knows he has our support and the support of Ohio State and all the resources we have here that he may feel like he needs or doesn’t need,” head coach Jake Diebler said Monday. “But we’ve come alongside him, and we’re supporting him.

“I think he’s doing well. He’s just processing some things.”

Middleton returned home ahead of the Buckeyes’ first-round NIT win over Cornell. Since, the Buckeyes have not only beaten the Big Red but also the Virginia Tech Hokies in the second round of 32-team tournament.

2-seed Ohio State will host 4-seed Georgia Tuesday night with a trip to the NIT semifinals on the line.

After making a good first impression in non-conference play, Middleton had a rough start to 2024. While Ohio State dropped 8-of-9 games from Jan. 6 to Feb. 6., Middleton missed two games. He didn’t play against Penn State on Jan. 20 — the Buckeyes’ lone win in that winter slump — because of his violation of team rules, and he didn’t play at Iowa on Feb. 2 because of an ankle injury. Middleton said he actually twisted both of his ankles this season, another obstacle to navigate in a season full of hardships.

In the seven games Middleton played during Ohio State’s month-long Big Ten slide, he wasn’t the 3-and-D contributor he proved to be at the beginning of the year. He converted just 3-of-12 attempts from long range, plus he scored more than five points only once in that span.

By mid-February, seventh-year Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann — the man who signed Middleton as part of the Buckeyes’ 2023 recruiting class — was fired with six regular season games left.

Ohio State as a whole could have folded, and Middleton especially could have thrown in the towel. Instead, he continued to work.

Middleton is averaging 4.4 points per game this season but 6.3 points per game since Diebler took over as head coach. During that eight-game span, Middleton has shot a blistering 65% from beyond the arc. In other words, he’s converted 13-of-20 3-pointers.

He recorded four multi-make 3-point games in that run. To put that in perspective, Middleton had logged three such outings in his first 22 appearances for the Buckeyes.

Middleton also brought back the defensive intensity he delivered at the beginning of the season, serving as a catalyst for several Buckeyes transition buckets.

He’ll have a chance to build on that success as Ohio State continues its NIT run.