'Cold' Jared Sullinger recalls emotional Ohio State win in last IUPUI meeting
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The usual emotion and fire wasn’t there when Jared Sullinger was dropped off at Value City Arena.
It was Dec. 9, 2010, and No. 2 Ohio State was hosting IUPUI that evening. Six games into his collegiate career, Sullinger had missed shootaround that morning to attend the viewing for his uncle Harold “Briefy” Sullinger. Less than two weeks earlier, his uncle had been in the stands to see the Buckeyes defeat Miami (Ohio), 66-45, a Nov. 26 game played one week before he passed away.
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In that game, Jared said he could clearly hear his uncle yelling at him amid the cacophony of the crowd. Now, with the Jaguars in town, he didn’t touch a basketball the day of the game until pregame warmups officially started.
“I get dropped off at the arena and I remember I was just cold,” Sullinger told The Dispatch. “I don’t even know how to explain it. You know I played with a lot of intensity at Ohio State. I was loud. I always was flexing every time on an and-one. I just remember how cold I was before that game. I was numb. I didn’t know what to expect.”
What would transpire remains the best individual performance for a freshman in Ohio State history, and it came in the last meeting between two teams who will reunite for the first time since that game Tuesday night at Value City Arena. In what would become a 75-64 win against an upset-minded IUPUI team, Sullinger scored 40 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to power the Buckeyes and cap an emotional day for the entire family.
Sullinger got to 40 points on 12-of-17 shooting, all from two-point range, and a 16-for-23 effort from the line. He still holds the Ohio State freshmen records for free throws made and attempted during that game. IUPUI actually held a nine-point second-half lead, but Ohio State closed the game on a 34-14 run where Sullinger scored 22 of those points.
“I just felt like the emotional burden of what I went through carried within the team,” he said. “They was so worried about me that they forgot we had a game. Then all of a sudden, things got rolling and the basketball hoop just got bigger and bigger. Next thing you know, I look up and I had 40 points. I don’t remember how.”
At the Miami game, Sullinger said his uncle called him out on a play where he was whistled for a blocking foul. Afterward, he criticized his nephew for only pulling down three rebounds.
“They called a block, and he yells out, ‘Hey, man! Instead of going for the charge, just swipe and go for the ball and call it a day,’ ” Sullinger said. “I remember how loud it was, and that was the only voice I heard. He’s even louder than my dad.”
Satch Sullinger, Jared’s dad and Brief’s brother, was upset that his son was at the viewing and missed out on time with the team preparing for the game. Sullinger’s parents, as well as his brothers, were still in section 124 for the game cheering him on.
“My dad actually was upset with me that day that I chose to be with the family over basketball because my dad’s so basketball headstrong that you’ve got to support your team,” Jared said. “You’ve got to be there for your team. He was big-time on that.
“I remember how he always taught me, when that ball is tipped nothing else matters outside of the court. When the ball was tipped, that’s what happened.”
After taking time off to be a dad, Jared Sullinger has resumed his professional career. He’s playing for China’s Shenzhen Leopards, where he played 53 games across the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. It’s been a lengthy career that started after two standout seasons at Ohio State led to becoming a first-round pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
Of the 74 games he played for the Buckeyes, the one against IUPUI in front of 11,410 fans stands out for him but not just for the black-and-white numbers in the box score.
“That’s No. 1,” he said. “I just felt like he was there with me. He carried me through that victory. He wasn’t going to let me see him and not play well, especially on the glass. He carried me through that double-double.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's Jared Sullinger powered emotional win against IUPUI
