The curse of zero: how a certain number has become tainted in Ohio State basketball

When Jared Sullinger entered his freshman year at Ohio State for the 2010-11 season, the young power forward instantly became a national star. He was the best player on perhaps the NCAA’s best team, a 34-3 Buckeye unit that earned the #1 overall seed ahead of the NCAA Tournament. Through Sullinger, the #0 jersey became easily recognizable and a part of Buckeye lore. The next year, Sullinger took things even further, leading Ohio State to the Final Four for the first time since 2007.

Sullinger left to be a first-round draft pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, and the #0 remained vacant for two seasons, when superstar freshman D’Angelo Russell picked it up in 2014-15. In his only year with the program, Russell certainly achieved stardom, becoming a consensus All-American in his route to being the second pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Following Sullinger and Russell, everyone knew that it would be difficult to fill in the shoes of such iconic players, but nobody expected how things would turn out over the next nine seasons. Since Russell left for the NBA, every single Buckeye that would don the number would struggle to find the success that they had hoped for and transfer out of the program. We’ll look at each of these players and explore what happened.

Mickey Mitchell (2015-16)

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The first Buckeye to wear the #0 after Russell was Mitchell, who was entering his freshman year. Mitchell actually wore 00, but it counts all the same. A 6’7’’ forward, Mitchell got a bit of time in his lone season with the Buckeyes. Appearing in 23 games and starting in seven of them, he was not a consistent rotation player, but got spot minutes here and there, as evidenced with his brief time in the starting lineup, averaging 2.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game. Over the course of the year, Mitchell shot 36% from the field, not a high percentage considering only four of those attempts were from three.

After the 2015-16 season, Mitchell transferred out of the program, landing at Arizona State. After sitting out for all of the 2016-17 season due to the old transfer rules, Mitchell came back the next year with a larger role than he ever had with the Buckeyes, playing 22.5 minutes per game and starting in 11 of the 24 total games played. That year he produced a career high of 5.8 points per game and helped the Sun Devils to an NCAA Tournament berth. The last two years of Mitchell’s eligibility did not go as smoothly, as he missed most of his junior year with injury and played only 15.8 minutes per game during his senior year, the 2019-20 season. Mitchell’s career ended in mediocrity, the first Buckeye to fall victim to the curse of 0.

Micah Potter (2016-18)

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After Mitchell’s departure, Potter picked up the number in his freshman season. He had some moderate success in his first year as a Buckeye, playing in 30 games, starting 12, and averaging 14.1 minutes per game. A post player, Potter averaged just over four points and three rebounds per game and didn’t make too much of an impact in the stat sheet. He did, however, stay with the program into sophomore season despite the coaching change from Thad Matta to Chris Holtmann, but didn’t improve much in that next year. His minutes dropped to 10.1 per game and only started in four games, with his points staying exactly the same at 4.1.

That was enough for Potter to call it quits with Ohio State and depart for Wisconsin, where he would see much more success. In his two years with the Badgers, Potter would average 11.6 points per game and start in just under half the contests that he would appear in. His success would help Wisconsin win an NCAA Tournament game in 2021, a game where he would come off the bench and score 10 points and 10 rebounds. Potter showed enough promise at Wisconsin to make the jump to the NBA, where he still plays today for the Utah Jazz.

Alonzo Gaffney (2019-20)

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The number remained vacant for a year before Gaffney would pick it up and wear it for one season. A long 6’9’’ forward, Gaffney entered the program with plenty of promise, but was seldom utilized in an experienced Buckeye group. He would only play in 17 games, averaging 6.8 minutes per contest and 1.8 points per game. Gaffney’s athletic abilities were hampered by his low feel for the game and despite the promise he showed, he just couldn’t carve out a role for himself and left after a single season.

Like Mitchell, Gaffney would find himself at Arizona State where he has played three seasons. His role certainly increased after leaving Ohio State, as he has started 55 of the 98 games played with Sun Devils. His flaws, though, have continued to hamper him. Inefficiency has caused him to only average 4.5 points, shooting 38% from the field and 26% from three. Arizona State has also struggled with relevancy in Gaffney’s time there, and with hardly any accolades and success to be remembered, the physically gifted Gaffney looks to be headed towards basketball irrelevancy. 

Meechie Johnson (2020-22)

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Just before the 2020-21 season began, the then 17 year-old Johnson decided to graduate from high school early and start his college career with Ohio State. Because of his young age and the success of the veteran laden Buckeyes, a team that earned a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Johnson played only sparingly, playing in 17 games on 5.8 minutes per game. The next year, in 2021-22, Johnson found himself in a slightly larger role, starting in five of his 26 games played. He played in 17.7 minutes per game and averaged 4.4 points on 31% from the field. He did have some memorable moments, though, including a three-pointer in the final seconds to beat Seton Hall.

After the 2022 season, Johnson transferred to South Carolina where he has played his last two seasons. In that span, he has started all but one game as a Gamecock and has seen a big uptick in production, averaging 13.4 points per game. Johnson’s contributions also helped South Carolina make their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2017. Despite being part of the failed 0’s, Johnson is bucking the trend in a way, as he recently announced that he will transfer back to the Buckeyes for the 2024-25 season.

Tanner Holden (2022-23)

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Holden came into the program with a different background than the players before him, as he transferred to Ohio State after three years at Wright State. A double-digit scorer in all three of those years, Holden really got his name out there in 2021-22, averaging 20.1 points and 7.1 rebounds per game on 50% shooting from the field. However, that success did not continue after joining the Buckeyes, as he struggled to find consistent footing in the rotation. He played in 27 games but started none of them and averaged just 13.6 minutes per contest. It especially did not bode well for him that Ohio State did not have a good year, making it unlikely that any future role would open up.

Like Johnson, Holden did have his shining moment as a Buckeye, hitting a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to give Ohio State a crucial conference win over Rutgers. In the offseason, Holden announced that he would transfer back to Wright State for his final year of eligibility, but it wasn’t the same as before. He was still effective, however, averaging 16.3 points in a slightly lesser role than in 2021-22.

Scotty Middleton (2023-24)

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The most recent player to take on #0 has been Middleton, who showed plenty of promise over this past season. He quickly found a consistent role off the bench, where he was relied on to make threes and play defense. Luckily, that worked out for him, as he got blisteringly hot from distance, especially late in the season and shot 45% from beyond the arc, contributing to his 4.4 points per game. When it was all said and done, Middleton appeared in 30 games, starting one and averaging 15.3 minutes per game. Middleton missed the team’s three-game run in the NIT Tournament for personal reasons. Just days after the Buckeyes’ season-ending loss to Georgia, Middleton entered the transfer portal and will, in all likelihood, be the latest Ohio State #0 to find another school.