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Pre-season rankings place Sean Stewart at 4th

Pabio October 29, 2024

The first year of the Jake Diebler era will feature most scholarship players in Ohio State men’s basketball history.

Technically, the Buckeyes will feature a full roster of 13 scholarship players for the 2024-25 season. Yet as Ohio State built its roster for the year and suffered a summer injury to a slated rotation player, first-year coach Jake Diebler was able to add an extra piece to the puzzle as a backup of which NIL compensation will cover the costs. to enroll at Ohio State.

He is expected to finish eighth in the annual unofficial media poll conducted jointly by The Dispatch and The Indianapolis Star.the Buckeyes aim to return to the NCAA tournament after missing each of the last two seasons. Ohio State went 22-14 last season as Diebler was named coach after taking over on an interim basis mid-season.

Sifting through a 16-man roster that includes nine new faces, including two replacements, takes effort, and The Dispatch has what you need. To prepare for the season, The Dispatch is once again releasing its annual preseason power rankings. Every day of the week leading up to the season opener on November 4 against Texas in Las Vegaswe’ll count up while projecting which players will play the most important roles during the 2023-24 season. This is not simply a measure of who will lead the team in a particular statistical category, but a series of educated guesses about the contributions of the players who will contribute the longest to the Buckeyes’ finish.

The series continues today with second-year forward Sean Stewart.

No. 4 – Sean Stewart

Position: Before

Eligibility: Second year (two remaining)

Height/weight: 6 feet 9 / 220 pounds

Jersey number: 13

Major: Sports industry

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Sean Stewart’s journey

An Orlando native, Stewart played three years for Windemere High School before transferring to Montverde (Fla.) Academy for his senior season. As a junior at Windemere, Stewart averaged 20.5 points and 13.6 rebounds and shot 52.1 percent from the field.

He finished his prep career as a five-star prospect in ESPN’s rankings, which ranked him as the No. 19 player nationally, the No. 5 power forward and the No. 1 player in the State of Florida. In the 247Sports.com rankings, Stewart was a four-star prospect, the No. 21 player nationally, the No. 6 power forward and the best player in his state.

Stewart signed with Duke after also taking official visits to Ohio State, Michigan, Georgetown and Georgia Tech.

Stewart also represented the United States U17 team in the 2022 FIBA World Cup in Spain. Stewart averaged 7.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in eight games to help the Americans win gold and had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in the championship game against Spain.

After one season with the Blue Devils, Stewart entered the transfer portal, where 247Sports ranked him as a four-star transfer prospect and the No. 54 transfer player. He took official visits to Cincinnati, Georgetown and Ohio State before committing to the Buckeyes..

Sean Stewart’s 2023-24 season recap

Although he appeared in 33 of Duke’s 36 games as a freshman, Stewart had a limited in-game impact on a team that went 27-9 and reached the Elite 8. Stewart finished eighth in average minutes played (8.4) and scoring average. (2.6) but fifth in rebounding average (3.4).

His most prolific game was a 95-66 victory over La Salle on November 21, when Stewart scored 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting and also grabbed 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. It was the second of three straight games with double-digit minutes played, but Stewart’s playing time dried up early in ACC play. He would only have seven more games with more than one made field goal, reaching double figures again with a 12-point effort in a 79-64 victory at NC State – which featured current associate coach of Ohio State’s Joel Justus on staff.

Stewart scored 8 points in four NCAA Tournament games. Although he didn’t finish with many eye-catching stats, Stewart averaged 12.7 points and 15.3 rebounds per 40 minutes.

“Sean Stewart, the analytics behind his minutes and his rebounds in his minutes are elite,” Diebler said over the summer. “We recruited (for) that.”

He was named to the all-ACC academic team. Upon arrival, Stewart broke the standing vertical jump program record of 35.5 inches, set by Zion Williamson. Stewart jumped 36 inches.

What you need to know about Sean Stewart

Stewart is a third-generation elite basketball player. His grandfather, Mike, played for Santa Clara from 1969 to 1973 and was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1972 and a first-team All-American in 1973 after averaging 18.7 points and 9 .0 rebounds. Mike’s son, Michael Stewart, played eight seasons in the NBA, most of them with Toronto. He averaged 2.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 286 career games before retiring after the 2004-05 season.

Stewart has ties to a few Buckeyes. He was teammates with Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw during the 2023 McDonald’s All-American Game.. He played 18:24 in the game, scoring 6 points on 3-of-8 shooting and tying it for the game with eight rebounds. He also won the slam dunk contest at the event.

In high school, Stewart played for the Florida Rebels AAU program that also included Brice Sensabaugh, who played for Ohio State in 2022-23 and is now with the Utah Jazz, as well as Buckeyes junior guard Bruce Thornton.

He was one of three players to take an official visit to Ohio State as the Buckeyes hosted Penn State for a 2021 football game.joining fellow 2023 recruits Jahnathan Lamothe and George Washington III. Lamothe ultimately committed to Maryland and Washington at Ohio State before decommitting and signing with Michigan, and future Ohio State center Austin Parks was also in attendance at unofficial visit. Lamothe transferred to North Carolina A&T and Washington transferred to Richmond.

In his spare time, Stewart enjoys building Legos and recently completed the set of Notre-Dame de Paris.

Stewart cites Trey Murphy, Carmelo Anthony and Giannis Antetokounmpo as influences on his game.

His Ohio State teammates voted him the best dunker on the 2024-25 roster.

Sean Stewart’s outlook for the 2024-25 season

With his blend of size, athleticism and physicality, Stewart was quickly identified by the Buckeyes as a top target in the transfer portal. Although he hasn’t been fully healthy since arriving at Ohio State, Stewart projects as a primary player this season. whose ceiling will help determine how far the Buckeyes go.

Stewart is expected to open as the starting power forward alongside Bradshaw, but he is also on track to see minutes as a small-ball center.

“He’s an elite threat,” Diebler said at Big Ten media day in early October. “He can play on the perimeter, rip the drive, attack the paint, make decisions and finish. He works extremely hard, so I’m excited to see his game grow even over the course of the year as he gains more and more experience.

Stewart missed time over the summer with injuries that, while minor, nonetheless robbed him of potentially vital developmental time after a freshman year with limited playing opportunities. Given Stewart’s missed reps, it’s not yet clear if he’s added a 3-point shot to his game or where his perimeter skills might have developed since last year. In Ohio State’s loss at Cincinnati on October 18Stewart had 9 points on 3 of 6 shooting with two rebounds, two blocks, a steal and a turnover in 18:43.

“During the summer I was injured so I wasn’t able to play much, but coming back (Diebler) really gave me a lot of freedom to show what I can do,” Stewart said during the Ohio State media day. “He encourages me to shoot the ball and play despite the mistakes. It really helps me grow as a player.

If Stewart can shoot reliably from 3-point range, it will help open up the paint and provide more driving opportunities for Ohio State’s backcourt while taking pressure off Bradshaw. If not, and Bradshaw also struggles to shoot from the perimeter, Ohio State believes it is significantly more difficult to get to the rim and stretch opposing defenses.

History shows that most five-star prospects who are not isolated players have become outstanding and productive players the longer they remain in college. Stewart looks poised for a breakout year, provided the time missed during the summer doesn’t stunt his growth too much.