With defined role, Gene Brown III hoping to help Ohio State turn season around

Gene Brown III has a role. It might not be the one he had last season, or the one he hoped for when the preseason started, but it’s a role.

After a conversation with coach Chris Holtmann sometime in the last two or three weeks, the challenge for the third-year wing is to fulfill that to the best of his abilities in however much time Ohio State has left this season.

“He feels like I can help them on the defensive side, help out with rebounding, stuff like that,” Brown said Tuesday. “Just going out there and trying to contribute any way I can, trying to connect guys out there defensively, keep the team connected, be a leader out there. Just do whatever I can to help the team win in whatever minutes I’m out there, really.”

As one of two players on the 2022-23 roster to have played in more than two games for the Buckeyes last season, Brown was in line for a more substantial role after averaging 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 17.0 minutes in 26 appearances including 10 starts. Instead, an offseason injury stunted his development and a preseason concussion sidelined him for the first 11 games of the season.

Ohio State Buckeyes: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy

It's been an uphill battle ever since for Brown to claw his way into significant playing time. He logged a season-high 17 minutes in a loss at Maryland on Jan. 8 when starting center Zed Key was out with a shoulder injury, then totaled 18 minutes in the next three games before being an unused substitute for a Jan. 21 win against Iowa.

In Sunday’s loss against Michigan, Brown played 14 minutes, hit a 3-pointer and pulled down two defensive rebounds.

“He does a good job pursuing the ball and he does have really good length,” Holtmann said of the 6-7, 195-pound Brown.

His newly defined role has come as Holtmann has trimmed Ohio State’s playing rotation.

Ohio State’s best lineup on the season has started eight games including a stretch of six in a row leading into the Purdue game that saw Zed Key suffer a game-ending shoulder injury in the first four minutes. That lineup of Bruce Thornton, Sean McNeil, Brice Sensabaugh, Justice Sueing and Zed Key is plus-50 (233 points scored, 183 allowed) in 118:59 this season and plus-37 (143 points scored, 106 allowed) in 78:23 of Big Ten action. In the loss to Michigan, this lineup was a team-best plus-8 (14 points scored, six allowed) in 6:54.

It is one of only two lineups to have logged more than 50 minutes this season.

That same lineup with Felix Okpara in Key’s place is minus-3 (65 points scored, 68 allowed) in 34:32 of Big Ten play. It is plus-4 (78 points scored, 74 allowed) in 41:59 overall.

Some early-season lineups have faded as the year has progressed. A lineup of Thornton, McNeil, Likekele, Sueing and Key, which started the first eight games of the season, has outscored opponents by 51 points (190 scored, 139 allowed) in 104:26, but in Big Ten play it’s minus-5 (25 points scored, 31 allowed) in only 19:43.

Brown’s ascension to his current role has seemingly come at the expense of fourth-year Wright State transfer Tanner Holden. After playing 16:37 against Iowa, the 6-6, 220-pound guard played 6:18 or fewer in the next three games before being a healthy, unused substitute at Michigan.

“Your rotation is somewhat limited right now,” Holtmann said. “Just can’t play 10 or 11 guys. We feel like we’ve needed some help in terms of our length and defense and rebounding, and we’ve decided to give Gene a shot there.”

Ohio State’s best lineup with Holden, who is averaging 4.0 points and 2.6 rebounds in 14.8 minutes per game, also features Thornton, Sensabaugh, Okpara and Roddy Gayle. That lineup is plus-16 (53 points scored, 37 allowed) in 25:17 and plus-12 (27 points scored, 15 allowed) in 12:24 in Big Ten play.

Brown said having a defined role helps him feel more comfortable within the team.

“It gives you a sense of direction of how you can get on the court, how you can contribute,” he said. “Before the season I kind of had all these expectations so I was trying to act based off of that. Coming in and having that conversation and that defined role just helps your mindset and focus on where your energy’s at.”

Ohio State vs. Northwestern: Buckeyes hoping to regain form

The last time the Buckeyes faced the Wildcats, they emerged with arguably their most decisive win of the season. Ohio State won at Northwestern, 73-57, on New Year’s Day in a game that marked its best adjusted defensive efficiency rating of Big Ten season according to KenPom.com.

“That was probably the best game where we came out and punched somebody in the mouth from the start,” Ohio State guard Sean McNeil said. “We got up really good. They didn’t shoot it well that game. We don’t expect them to shoot it that same way this time around. We have to come out and be ready to play. That’s something we’ve been harping on a while now.”

Sean McNeil: With offense stalling, Ohio State looking for more 3-point attempts

Everything has gotten harder since that day, as the Buckeyes have lost nine of their last 10 games leading into the rematch. The hope among the Buckeyes is that seeing the film from such a strong showing could help remind them that the ability to play high-level basketball is still there.

“It was probably our best performance of the year,” Holtmann said. “It was as good as we’ve been offensively and defensively. Certainly they’ll come with adjustments. They’re a very good road team as well. Clearly there was a confidence that came in a game like that that maybe some guys played with that are struggling with a little bit right now.”

Sean McNeil’s family now Duke fans after medical emergency during game

Ohio State guard Sean McNeil was playing in the Nov. 30 game at Duke as he realized something had happened involving his family. It wasn’t until after the game that McNeil learned that his father, Jeff, had suffered a heart attack and was undergoing emergency, life-saving surgery at Duke Medical Center.

As the Blue Devils hosted Wake Forest on Jan. 31, they aired a video on the scoreboard showing Jeff McNeil thanking the medical personal who saved his life before recognizing those men and women during a timeout.

“It was awesome,” Sean McNeil said of that moment during the Wake Forest game. “Dad’s doing really well. We never thought we’d be Duke fans, but here we are today.”

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State basketball turnaround could be sparked by Gene Brown III