DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum OSU's B.J. Mullens declares for NBA draft...

Ohio State’s Mullens jumping to NBA

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)—B.J. Mullens is the latest “one and done” at Ohio State.

The 7-foot freshman announced Thursday he would declare himself available for the NBA draft, the fifth Buckeyes player in the last three seasons to leave after playing one year.

The Columbus-area native averaged 8.8 points and 4.7 rebounds, and shot 64 percent from the field to set a school freshman record. He started two of the 33 games this past season for the Buckeyes, who lost to Siena in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

After Ohio State went 35-4 and lost in the national championship game to Florida two years ago, freshmen Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook all were taken in the first round of the NBA draft. Last season, 7-foot freshman Kosta Koufos jumped was drafted by Utah.

Coach Thad Matta, who has had to basically rebuild the program each of the last three seasons, said he was disappointed that Mullens was leaving early.

“I am saddened to lose B.J.,” Matta said. “On one hand, I feel another year in school would have allowed him to develop into the player I know he can be and an additional season would have been beneficial to him both personally and monetarily in the long run. On the other hand, I am empathetic to the reasons why he has chosen to leave at such an early point in his career.”

Mullens’ decision was hardly a secret. He had a turbulent childhood and lived for a time in a homeless shelter. After the Buckeyes’ NCAA loss, he spoke of his college career in the past tense.

Nonetheless, he said the decision was difficult.

“But the many positive reasons for moving on outweigh the many good reasons for staying,” he said.

Oden, also a 7-foot center, was taken with the No. 1 overall pick by Portland in 2007. Conley went No. 4 in that same draft to Memphis with Cook going No. 21 and ending up in Miami.

Koufos went to the Jazz with the No. 23 pick in the first round a year ago.

Ohio State finished 22-11 this past season. The Buckeyes will return their entire roster with the exception of Mullens.

Just another example of a kid who would have been a draft pick coming out of high school, and will still get drafted based on his high school game.

Koufus, Dequean Cook, Mullens, etc...

Not much of a loss there.

Coach Thad Matta, who has had to basically rebuild the program each of the last three seasons, said he was disappointed that Mullens was leaving early

If he didn't dangle the carrot, he wouldn't have to rebuild.

Reap what you sow. It ain't like football (and that's getting tougher all the time) where you just reload. Diebler was the last best high school player in Ohio to come here and he's lost. Ohio HSBB just isn't that deep.

This kid needs to stay though; he's nowhere near NBA ready--he was hardly NCAA ready.

I have heard his family situation is hardline, financially speaking.

He'll have a nice career..... in the D-league.

He'd be better off staying in school and getting a degree cause he's not near as good as Koufos and he didn't get picked till 23. Unless Mullens flashes at those pre-draft camps he probably won't go till mid second rnd and end up spending the year in the developmental league.

I said Kosta was a idiot for entering the draft last year and so far I am right. I think BJ is an even bigger idiot. I wonder if he will get taken in the 1st round.

you are correct. I didn't care for koufous early in the year, but he really improved late in the year, especially the nit. I remember him having 20+ point games quite a bit. Mullens is nowhere near close to koufous.

Wow, where do I start...

Ok, if you notice in my post, I said Matta was an average coach and a GREAT recruiter.. Plain and simple, the guy is the best recruiter in the Big 10, and one of the best recruiters in America... Recruiting and coaching do not go hand it hand... He is an average game adjustment and "x and o" guy.. I didn't say bad, i said average... but lets make no mistake about it, he has had a TON of talent to work with in the past 3 years...

Now, if you don't think we had trouble getting Greg involved, then I dont know what games you were watching... Greg got ALOT of his points on tip in dunks and offensive rebounding... He also really benefite on Conley just being quicker than the guy who was trying to chase him....

You are not putting 2 and 2 together Candy... Do you remember Z when he was young? Spencer Hawes, Dirk, Krstic, Zach Randolph, etc.. All these guys are "soft bigs" that have an "outside first" offensive game You must think all those guys are too soft for serviceable minutes as well....

It seems some people forget that it takes bigs longer to develop at the highest level.. the reason is quite simple.. these guys were able to dominate through HS cause they were so much bigger than everyone else, thus its a tough transition when they get to college and everyone they play against is just as big.. its a learning/growth curve, and yes, it is frustrating to watch as a fan...

This kid was trash anyways...i hope he busts out and is driving a tow motor in 3 years...

You sound like a quality human being.

thank you....i am

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a TON of talent to work with in the past 3 years

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Whta hell have you been watching? Outside of Oden Conley and rest of that great class, we have had maybe 1 or 2 players since then. Mullens was all hype. He was avg at best this year. He had like 2 games where he dominated. Rest of the team was made of freshmen n 2nd year players.

Kofus got better towards the end. Both of these players (koof n mullens) would have been great their 2nd year IMO. Matta can only do so much. If the kids don't pick up his system in year 1 and leave before any real continuity it's not his fault.

Players who were most likely going to stay more then 1 year but didn't.
Conley, Cook, Kofus, Mullens.

Can you imagine a team if all 4 were still with this team? good god...we would have been at least better then 22-11 i'll tell you that much.


When we had the players we went to the freaking championship game and lost to a team who won the year before and had all starters returning.

Juco put him on the bench. I wish him well.

He has another great recruiting class coming in 2010. the best power forward,(sullinger) and 2nd best small forward(thomas) according to espn's rankings. plus 2 highly ranked shooting guards.

Matta has a knack for going into Indiana and chicago to still some gems. He owns Ohio right now, all the best players are going to Osu.

If Turner enters, with mullens already entering, we could have 6 bucks drafted in the 1st rd the last 3 years. I can't remember that many going in such a short time.

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You sound like a quality human being.

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looks like wojo has some negative mojo going on

yah that class of 2010 is going to be good. we are getting 3 in the top 20. Best being Jared Sullinger. Brother of J.J Sullinger who played at OSU.
We got screwed out of scholarships cuz of conley,oden,cook and doofus. i mean koofus which killed our 09 class. That means what we have this year minus mullens is what we will have next year. At least mullens didn't ruin a scholarship and declared before spring quarter.

We will truly suck next year unless that 7 footer from some country can be decent.

Mullens is likely going in the early 20s based on his talent alone...but to move this thread in a different direction, what a great pickup for the Cavs if he slips to 30 (knock on wood). You don't find many centers with upside at that point in the draft, and that's exactly what we need. Recent play is convincing me that AV is more suited at a PF role, and Hickson is a classic PF, so we really have no youth behind Ilgauskas at the 5.

Mullens would be a project type pick, but he's got a good outside game for a guy his size (key to our offense), and his defense is his biggest weakness, which is something we can give him a couple years to improve under Mike Brown.

~Lyuokdea

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Bob Hunter commentary: Wish Mullens well, OSU fans, but shed no tears
Friday, March 27, 2009 3:15 AM
By bob hunter


The news didn't knock me over. It didn't start my heart racing. It didn't make me gasp.

So B.J. Mullens is entering the NBA draft, huh? No kidding. Hey, does anybody know the score of the Angels-Indians exhibition game?

I don't mean to make light of his decision. OK, maybe I do. But this is about as shocking as a pizza flier in a doorknob advertising bag and will have probably about as much effect on the Ohio State men's basketball program.

It would have been fun to watch Mullens grow into the next Jerry Lucas or even the next Greg Oden, but if the NBA hadn't forced him to wait a year after high school, he probably wouldn't have gone to college at all.

How to say this without being too insulting? The 7-foot freshman didn't contribute much in his one season with the Buckeyes. He showed some promise, had a few brief stretches of "wow" and that's it. He didn't start and averaged only 20 minutes of playing time, not because he was being punished, but because that's what he earned. He's not much more ready for the NBA than I am, and I'm older than his mother and stand 5 feet 5 with my shoes on.

Mullens' posture during recent games made it clear this was coming. When coach Thad Matta took him out because of his poor decisions, laziness on defense or an inability to rebound, he practically sulked his way to the bench. A couple of times he walked away before Matta finished talking. These were the acts of a kid who knew he wouldn't have to put up with this much longer, a kid who didn't see the need for this kind of rigid structure.

We've all been there, but most of us aren't required to grow up so quickly. Most of us aren't required to become mature adults and make the decision of a lifetime when our biggest worries are whether we can get off work in time to see American Idol or why there's an extra $10 charge on our cell-phone bill.

I feel terrible for Mullens because of his personal situation: large family, not much money, lots of pressure to turn pro and get a big paycheck. I feel bad for him because at 20 he doesn't know what he doesn't know, and a lot of people are probably telling him things in their best interest and not his. But Mullens is going to make a lot of money, so from this point forward, we might want to reserve our sympathy for someone else.

Still, it shouldn't be like this. Mullens is about to become a boy in a man's league. He's about to discover he has little in common with his older teammates, some of whom will view him as a threat to their roster spots. He's about to discover the bumps and bruises he received from strong 20-year-olds in college practices are nothing like the ones he's about to receive from fully developed 30-year-old men.

He's about to discover how cruel some fans can be when he's making a lot of money and doing nothing to earn it. He's about to discover what it's like to tick off a coach whose job might depend upon his work habits and an owner who sees him as nothing more than an asset.

None of this is new. Since the NBA started allowing high school players to enter the draft in the mid-1970s, there have been lots of kids who made the mistake of turning pro too soon. In many cases, it was because they weren't cut out for college. Even in most of those cases, they would have been better off if they had gone and stayed four years. But for better or worse this is the system, good for the NBA, bad for college basketball and a crapshoot for most of the players.

And so, the Mullens crapshoot begins. Local fans who might have come to idolize him will consign him to the dead file -- it's currently titled "Koufos, Kosta" -- and a program that didn't expect him back will move on.

The real impact of Mullens' announcement?

Maybe the Buckeyes can use his scholarship on a much-needed point guard.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.

bhunter@dispatch.com

yep...best example unfloded in front of us yest when duke got smashed.

Sure, but just remember your history...

We made a Final Four run with Ken Johnson at center.... Like it or not, the bigs don't have nearly the affect in NCAA basketball as they do in the pros...

You need great guards with bigs who can "do their job." Obviously, Ken was a great shot blocker, so he really picked up the slack on the defensive end..

but lets make no mistake about it, ET is not a "shooter" whatsoever.. Hell, if he can establish an outside shot, he may be unguardable next year...

Also, when you look at our two most recent NCAA tourney runs, they have one thing in common... great pg play.. both scoonie and conley could really take control and facilitate the pace of the game... like i said, bigs are important, but to really thrive in bball, you need a pg that can be trusted, and history will always point that way...

Look, the bottom line is simple.. with all the athletes we have had that have come through in the past 3 years, why the hell can't we play man to man defense?

one more thing.. Duke was in the sweet sixteen for crying out loud... lets worry about getting their before we start using them as an example...

Good points. But you explained wht was this years problem. We had no PG to execute. We had the big guys but no PG to get them the ball. The same can be said if we have the guard play but no big body on D or post up game.

Duke is used as an example just because it's the most recent. I'm not saying you can't go all the way w/o inside game. I'm simply saying it's EASIER.

Man to Man D? your guess is as good as mine. I don't know..for whatever reason matta doesn't have confidence in them. Truth be told he probably knows them better then you or I..so i'll let him make that call and ride with it.

And you CAN win with the 3's, but you gotta be hot all the time,....or at the right time.

Isn't that what "at the right time" means ??

I'm just disputing the principle that everybody is using here...there's really no such thing as hot or cold in basketball (or in hitting baseballs for that matter)...if you hit your last two threes, your odds of hitting the next one is the same as your average, it's not streaky at all

~Lyuokdea

I would rather have a dominant player inside then a shooter who can pop 3's. Sooner or later he WILL have a game where he is off...can you afford it being in the sweet 16 or even the finals?

I remember when Oden wasnt playing because he was hurt we were jacking 3s like crazy. But once Oden came back we were much better team because when we were off from out there we would try and feed ODEN the ball(even if he wasn't great at O) he was still a threat the teams had to double sometimes. That gave open looks to our outside shooters.

You sound like my friend trying to explain me how roulette spin works lol...

While that may be mathamaticly true, it's a fact that sometimes players have a slump. And they aren't machines. players don't shoot their avg EVERY single day. Sometimes a player whos avg is 50% might have a night where he shoots 30%. What do you call that? sometimes they have like 4 games in a row where they can't shoot better then 30%! that my friend is a streak

Thanks for the backup,...it's a matter of "average" at the right "time."

That's mostly what I call luck; the crossroads of the avenues of opportunity and preparedness,...