Ohio State graduate forward Seth Towns (31) stops the ball from going out of bounds during the Ohio State-Illinois Big 10 Tournament game on March 14. Ohio State lost 88-91. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
The hurdles that graduate forward Seth Towns overcame during the 2020-21 season were incredibly high for a player who hadn’t seen playing time on the court in more than two seasons.
Now, Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann hopes he can aim higher and contribute even more next season as the 6-foot-8 forward continues to recover from knee injuries that limited Towns’ minutes in his first year as a Buckeye.
“I was really proud of him. He helped us win games,” Holtmann said April 28. “I’m excited about what’s next for him. I think his offseason is as critical as anyone on our team.”
Towns averaged 11 minutes and appeared in 25 games last season, his first taste of in-game action since the second half of the Ivy League Tournament Final against Pennsylvania March 11, 2018, when he was with Harvard.
The Columbus, Ohio, native was a star in his two seasons with the Crimson, earning 2017-18 Ivy League Player of the Year honors as a sophomore after averaging 16 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Since transferring to his hometown after the 2019-20 season, Towns’ focus has been rehabbing from multiple surgeries on his left knee.
The Buckeyes were injury-ridden throughout the 2020-21 season aside from just Towns. Redshirt senior guard C.J. Walker dealt with torn ligaments in his hand, redshirt junior forward Justice Sueing underwent a procedure in early March and senior forward Kyle Young missed the final three games of the season due to a concussion.
In fact, Holtmann added that he and his coaching staff have been examining “why we were banged up towards the end of the year like we were.”
“All of those collectively, that impacted us,” Holtmann said. “We’re taking a good, hard look at that, as there’s some things we could’ve done better as a staff.”
One day after second-seeded Ohio State’s 75-72 upset loss to 15th-seeded Oral Roberts in the first round of the NCAA Tournament — in which Towns played 12 minutes and went 0-for-3 from the field — he tweeted, “healthy szn otw,” signifying his determination to return to form.
It wasn’t the first time Towns took to Twitter to express his longing to get healthy. Following the Buckeyes’ 74-62 win at then-No. 10 Wisconsin on Jan. 23, Towns tweeted, “I can’t wait until I’m healthy healthy.”
Towns was coming off of a 5-for-8 shooting performance — both season-highs — in 16 minutes against the Badgers. He played in 15 more games and eclipsed 10 minutes in seven contests, including a season-high 28 against top-seeded Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament Final.
Ohio State’s frontcourt will see the additions of former Indiana 6-foot-11 center Joey Brunk and incoming Top 100 recruit 6-foot-8 Kalen Etzler, and the former figures to factor into the rotation with frequency alongside Towns — if both are healthy.
Brunk has also dealt with injury, however, as surgery on his back kept him out for all of last season. Ohio State will be the third stop for the former Hoosier, who started one season under Holtmann at Butler during the 2016-17 campaign. Brunk has shot 65 percent from the field in his four seasons of play.
Depending on Towns’ health come the season-opener, he could vie for a greater share of playing time among players on the Buckeyes’ roster. One thing is for sure, though: Holtmann is optimistic for one of his eldest-returning Buckeyes.
“I think his offseason is critical. He’s just got to get healthy, you know, he’s got to get fully healthy,” Holtmann said. “I was really proud of Seth this year.”
