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Now that all 60 names have been called in the 2017 NBA Draft, it is official that for the second year in a row, no former Ohio State players have been selected. This year, there were two Buckeyes eligible for the draft, senior forward Marc Loving and redshirt junior center Trevor Thompson. The pair must now likely need to look overseas or at the via the NBA G-League to continue their careers.
Loving finished his time in Columbus with 1,337 points, averaging 10 per game to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists. The Toledo-native entered his college career with sky-high expectations as a former Mr. Ohio Basketball. However, his perceived passive approach on and off the court led many Scarlet and Gray fans to view his time in Columbus as a bust. That being said, Loving leaves OSU as the seventh-highest scorer in the Thad Matta era.
Unlike Loving who had exhausted his collegiate eligibility, after transferring from Virginia Tech following his freshman year, Thompson could have returned to Columbus for one final season. However, the 6’11 big man finished his OSU career on a high note, averaging a career high 10.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game during his junior season.
With D’Angelo Russell remaining the last OSU player to be selected in the NBA Draft, this marks the first time since 2005-2006 that no Buckeyes were selected in consecutive years. That leaves the total players drafted from Matta’s tenure as coach at 10. The program had at least one player selected in every year from 2007 to 2013, before the Lakers selected Russell in 2015.
In addition to four former Buckeyes currently on NBA rosters (Mike Conley, Kosta Koufos, Russell, and Evan Turner), numerous players can be found in other professional leagues around the world, including the NBA’s recently renamed developmental G-League. While the option of being signed as an undrafted free-agent is a possibility, Loving and Thompson will more than likely have to look to begin their professional careers in a league other than the NBA.