NCAA Basketball: Updated early top-25 rankings for 2021-22 after NBA Draft deadline

At one point, Ohio State was my No. 2 team in the country for my way-way-too-early power rankings for next season. But that was dependent on all the double-return of stars Duane Washington Jr. and EJ Liddell. The All-Big Ten players both were in the NBA Draft process and they each could’ve gone either way.

In the end, the leading scorer Washington decided to stay in the NBA Draft, after averaging 16.4 ppg and 2.9 apg this past season. His loss is big for the program, leaving a hole at the shooting guard position. But the good news is that the Buckeyes did manage to land Louisiana transfer guard Cedric Russell. The 6’2 guard put up 17.4 ppg last season and was All-Conference USA.

The hope is that Russell can at least be a double-digit contributor, whether as a starter or off the bench. Not all mid-major transfers do well at the top conferences but if top-30 freshman guard  Malaki Branham can have a big impact next season, the absence of Washington won’t be felt too much.

But at least Liddell is back, anchoring the frontcourt along with 5th-year senior Kyle Young. Forwards Seth Towns and Justice Sueing are back as well, along with Indiana grad transfer Joey Brunk. The frontcourt is set but Washington being gone creates some questions in the backcourt, including whether or not Penn State transfer and defensive standout Jamari Wheeler is good enough offensively to get them to the top of the Big Ten.

Losing the leading scorer stings but adding Russell offsets it just a bit.