NBA Draft: Top 5 players to watch from Ohio State
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been ranked No. 1 in the 2018 NBA draft and Ohio State has been ranked at No. 4.
Ohio State’s top-ranked recruit has been a true superstar in the NBA for the past four years.
He’s been named to the All-Rookie First Team three times and the All (NBA) First Team four times.
He also made the All Star Game and has been voted into the NBA All-Defensive Team four different times.
The most obvious reason for Ohio State to have the No. 5 spot is because of the team’s success on both ends of the floor.
They are one of only two teams in the country with at least 100 wins this season and are the only team with five players averaging 20 points per game.
That includes four starters who are averaging double-figures: J.R. Smith, Aaron Craft, Marcus Paige, and Joel Embiid.
Ohio St. also has one of the top defensive players in the nation in Jahlil Okafor, who has scored at least 30 points in every game this season.
The Buckeyes are the first team in school history to finish with at or above 30 wins in each of their first four seasons, and have not missed the NCAA Tournament since 2003.
The team also has two players that have been selected in the first round (No. 3 in 2018 and No. 6 in 2019), and are also expected to be in the top five in 2019.
The Ohio State offense is ranked No of the nation’s top five offenses, but it has the No .6 efficiency rating on offense, and the No 8 overall offense efficiency rating.
The Cavaliers also have one of Ohio State ‘s most productive point guards in Marcus Smart, who averages 12.3 points per contest and 7.7 assists per game this year.
Ohio and Ohio St have played four times this season, and Ohio is coming off a 73-67 victory over Michigan State on Thursday.
Ohio’s season has been so successful that the Buckeyes have a record of 6-0 since December 6.
Ohio was ranked No, 1 in this year’s preseason poll, which was released on Monday.
The 2018 edition of the preseason poll had Ohio State ranked No., 3 in the preseason preseason rankings and No, 3 in this season’s preseason preseason poll.
The 2017 edition of that poll had them ranked No.: 3 in preseason polls and No.: 6 in this one.
The 2016 edition of this poll had the Buckeye’s No.: 2 ranking and the 2017 edition had Ohio ranked No: 1 in preseason preseason polls.
