First-year Scotty Middleton (0) with the ball against Oakland Monday night. Middleton scored 13 points in his first collegiate game as Ohio State won 79-73 at Value City Arena. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
Scotty Middleton was all by himself, walking downstairs in the Schottenstein Center during his first visit to Ohio State when he was called over by an older custodian sitting alone.
The custodian got Middleton’s attention to share his views on the university.
“He told me that being a Buckeye goes beyond basketball,” Middleton said. “If you’re a Buckeye, you’re always going to be a Buckeye no matter what. You can always come back here, you’re always going to be loved by the fans, the media and everybody on campus.”
This was the moment when Middleton’s view on Ohio State changed.
Middleton, the four-star forward from Miami, is in the midst of his first season with Ohio State. He is one of four freshmen from the 2023 recruiting class and is already making a big impact on the court for the Buckeyes.
Middleton played high school basketball at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kansas, where he averaged nearly 12 points per game and was the team’s second-leading scorer.
Out of high school, Middleton had 16 offers to play college basketball, including the likes of Kansas, Michigan State University, the University of Connecticut, Texas A&M and Ohio State.
A few months later, Middleton was on his first visit to Ohio State and was heavily debating on where he wanted to showcase his talents at the collegiate level.
That conversation with the custodian, whom Middleton had never before seen in his life, completely shifted his mindset and provided a new light on his potential new home in Columbus.
“I feel like that conversation really changed my view on Ohio State because if somebody who doesn’t know me can come up to me and just say things like that, it really touched my heart,” Middleton said. “It was from the bottom of his heart, he wanted to talk to a recruit and just tell them about Ohio State.”
Middleton had heard enough; he decided he was going to play collegiate basketball at Ohio State.
Now just 10 games into the season, Middleton has helped lead the Buckeyes to an 8-2 record. He has provided the team with a spark on both ends of the floor.
“A lot of people don’t want to pick people up full court or really play defense,” Middleton said. “I’m a person who’s highly competitive and I love to win, so I’ll do anything to win.”
Senior forward Zed Key remembered the first time he took notice of Middleton.
“One of the first open gyms we had, he started picking people up 94 feet,” Key said. “I was like OK, this kid is going to be special, nobody picks up 94 feet in an open gym like that’s unheard of. He’s going to be special.”
Former Buckeye star and current guard for the San Antonio Spurs Malaki Branham recalled returning to campus and participating in some pick-up basketball games with Middleton prior to his first season in Columbus.
“He did some things where I’m like OK, I can see him doing that in the pros,” Branham said.
Middleton envisions himself playing in the NBA one day, as did Branham. The idea of a one-and-done type of experience at Ohio State is realistic for the 20-year-old, up-and-coming star, who is already making an impact for the Buckeyes this season.
