# 2007–08 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 2007–08 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2007–08 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by fourth-year head coach Thad Matta, and played their home games at the Value City Arena, in Columbus, Ohio as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished in fifth place in the Big Ten, squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble. However, they were not selected, marking the only time in coach Thad Matta's head coaching career his team missed the NCAA tournament while being eligible. The team dominated in the 2008 National Invitation Tournament on their way to a 92–85 victory over Massachusetts in the final.

## Preseason

The Buckeyes lost three important players from their 2006–07 NCAA Runners-up team to the NBA draft. Greg Oden, the 2007 Second Team All-American, was selected in the lottery of the 2007 NBA draft, going #1 to the Portland Trail Blazers. Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook also were drafted in the first round, by the Memphis Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers, but traded to Miami Heat, respectively. Senior guard Ron Lewis also declared to the draft but went undrafted.

### Recruiting

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Jon Diebler SG | Upper Sandusky, OH | Upper Sandusky HS | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 23, 2005 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Kosta Koufos PF | Canton, OH | GlenOak HS | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 250 lb (110 kg) | May 19, 2006 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 97 ||||||
| Dallas Lauderdale C | Solon, OH | Solon HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Jun 1, 2006 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Evan Turner SF | Chicago, IL | St. Joseph's HS | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Jun 29, 2006 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Eric Wallace SF | Winston-Salem, NC | Hargrave Military Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Oct 11, 2006 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 91 ||||||
| Junior College/Transfers ||||||
| P. J. Hill PG | Minneapolis, MN | Midland College | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 165 lb (75 kg) | Jul 18, 2007 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 7 Rivals: 7 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Ohio State 2007 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "2007 Ohio State Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "Ohio State Basketball Recruiting 2007". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "2007 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. ||||||

## 2007–08 Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 31* , BTN | | Ashland | W 88–59 | | Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH |
| November 6* , BTN | | Findlay | L 68–70 | | Schottenstein Center Columbus, OH |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 12* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Wisconsin-Green Bay NIT Season Tip-Off | W 91–68 | 1–0 | Schottenstein Center (13,644) Columbus, OH |
| November 13* 9:00 pm, ESPN | | Columbia NIT Season Tip-Off | W 68–54 | 2–0 | Schottenstein Center (13,427) Columbus, OH |
| November 21* 9:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 21 Syracuse NIT Season Tip-Off | W 79–65 | 3–0 | Madison Square Garden (8,388) New York, NY |
| November 23* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 15 Texas A&M NIT Season Tip-Off Championship Game | L 47–70 | 3–1 | Madison Square Garden (6,054) New York, NY |
| November 25* 8:00 pm, BTN | | VMI | W 90–57 | 4–1 | St. John Arena (6,670) Columbus, OH |
| November 28* 9:05 pm, ESPN | | No. 1 North Carolina ACC – Big Ten Challenge | L 55–66 | 4–2 | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| December 1* 7:30 pm, ESPNU | | at Butler | L 46–65 | 4–3 | Hinkle Fieldhouse (10,000) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 10* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Coppin State | W 47–39 | 5–3 | Schottenstein Center (15,496) Columbus, OH |
| December 15* 12:00 pm, BTN | | Presbyterian College | W 87–43 | 6–3 | Schottenstein Center (16,569) Columbus, OH |
| December 18* 7:05 pm, STO | | vs. Cleveland State | W 80–63 | 7–3 | Quicken Loans Arena (12,715) Cleveland, OH |
| December 22* 4:00 pm, CBS | | Florida | W 62–49 | 8–3 | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| December 29* 11:00 am, BTN | | Maryland-Baltimore County | W 92–83 | 9–3 | Schottenstein Center (17,847) Columbus, OH |
| January 3 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at Illinois | W 74–58 | 10–3 (1–0) | Assembly Hall (16,618) Champaign, IL |
| January 6 12:00 pm, BTN | | Northwestern | W 62–51 | 11–3 (2–0) | Schottenstein Center (18,722) Columbus, OH |
| January 9 7:00 pm, BTN | | Iowa | W 79–48 | 12–3 (3–0) | Schottenstein Center (18,473) Columbus, OH |
| January 12 4:00 pm, BTN | | at Purdue | L 68–75 | 12–4 (3–1) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 15 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at Michigan State | L 60–66 | 12–5 (3–2) | Breslin Center (14,759) East Lansing, MI |
| January 19* 3:30 pm, CBS | | at No. 7 Tennessee | L 69–74 | 12–6 (3–2) | Thompson–Boling Arena (21,784) Knoxville, TN |
| January 22 9:00 pm, BTN | | Illinois | W 64–58 | 13–6 (4–2) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| January 26 8:00 pm, BTN | | Minnesota | W 76–60 | 14–6 (5–2) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| January 26 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at Penn State | W 68–56 | 15–6 (6–2) | Bryce Jordan Center (10,956) University Park, PA |
| February 2 5:05 pm, BTN | | at Iowa | L 48–53 | 15–7 (6–3) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,235) Iowa City, IA |
| February 5 7:00 pm, ESPN | | Michigan | W 65–55 | 16–7 (7–3) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| February 10 1:00 pm, CBS | | No. 13 Indiana | L 53–59 | 16–8 (7–4) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| February 13 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Northwestern | W 65–47 | 17–8 (8–4) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (3,822) Evanston, IL |
| February 17 1:00 pm, CBS | | at Michigan | L 70–80 | 17–9 (8–5) | Crisler Arena (13,751) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 24 4:05 pm, CBS | | No. 11 Wisconsin | L 53–58 | 17–10 (8–6) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| February 28 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 12 Indiana | L 69–72 | 17–11 (8–7) | Assembly Hall (17,389) Bloomington, IN |
| March 1 4:00 pm, ESPN | | at Minnesota | L 57–71 | 17–12 (8–8) | Williams Arena (13,443) Minneapolis, MN |
| March 4 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 15 Purdue | W 80–77 $^{OT}$ | 18–12 (9–8) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| March 9 12:00 pm, BTN | | No. 18 Michigan State | W 63–54 | 19–12 (10–8) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 14 2:35 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 19 Michigan State Quarterfinals | L 60–67 | 19–13 | Conseco Fieldhouse (15,355) Indianapolis, IN |
| NIT tournament ||||||
| March 18 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. NR (1) | (8) UNC Asheville First Round – Ohio State Bracket | W 84–66 | 20–13 | Schottenstein Center (7,117) Columbus, OH |
| March 24 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. NR (1) | (4) California Second Round – Ohio State Bracket | W 73–56 | 21–13 | St. John Arena (13,276) Columbus, OH |
| March 26 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. NR (1) | (3) Dayton Quarterfinal – Ohio State Bracket | W 74–63 | 22–13 | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| April 1 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. NR (1) | vs. (2) Mississippi Semifinal | W 81–69 | 23–13 | Madison Square Garden (9,823) New York, NY |
| April 3 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. NR (1) | vs. (2) Massachusetts Championship Game | W 92–85 | 24–13 | Madison Square Garden (8,407) New York, NY |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

* Kosta Koufos, NIT Most Valuable Player

## Team players drafted into the NBA

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 23 | Kosta Koufos | Utah Jazz |

## 2008 Recruiting Class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| William Buford SG | Toledo, OH | Libbey HS | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 188 lb (85 kg) | Oct 30, 2006 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Anthony Crater PG | Wolfeboro, NH | Brewster Academy | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 27, 2006 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 92 ||||||
| B.J. Mullens C | Canal Winchester, OH | Canal Winchester HS | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 260 lb (120 kg) | Mar 28, 2004 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 98 ||||||
| Walter Offutt SG | Indianapolis, IN | Warren Central HS | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Mar 10, 2005 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Junior College/Transfers ||||||
| Nicola Kecman PF | Thatcher, AZ | Eastern Arizona College | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Apr 27, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Jeremie Simmons PG | Flint, MI | Mott Community College | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 27, 2008 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 2 Rivals: 5 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Ohio State 2008 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "2008 Ohio State Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "Ohio State Basketball Recruiting 2008". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. ||||||