Two more depart from thin roster
The Ohio State roster for the 2017-18 season has taken two more hits. Friday night, the Buckeyes announced the departure of two players yet to play an official game — redshirt freshman Derek Funderburk and freshman Braxton Beverly — leaving only eight recruited scholarship players on the roster for the upcoming season.
Funderburk, who redshirted last season, was dismissed from the program for “failure to meet team
expectations.” In a wide-ranging interview with a few local reporters on June 23, new coach Chris Holtmann confirmed that Funderburk was facing serious academic concerns but said he was optimistic that Funderburk could turn things around.
Beverly, on the other hand, asked for and received his release from the program. In a statement posted to Twitter, Beverly thanked former coach
F Keita Bates-Diop Jr. G C.J. Jackson Jr. C Micah Potter So. F Jae'Sean Tate Sr. F Andre Wesson So. C Kaleb Wesson Fr. G Kam Williams Sr. F Kyle Young Fr.
Thad Matta and athletic director Gene Smith before announcing that he was re-opening his recruitment.
It’s a familiar situation for Beverly. After initially signing with Miami University for the class of 2016, he instead opted to withdraw his commitment and go through the recruitment process again while playing a postgraduate season at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va. He then committed to the Buckeyes, who under Matta’s direction were one of only a handful of schools to show serious interest in the point guard. ESPN had ranked him as a four-star recruit for the class of 2017. He was initially thought to be ticketed for a reserve role behind JaQuan Lyle and C.J. Jackson, but Lyle quit the team in April. That leaves Jackson as the only true point guard left on the roster.
Funderburk, a Lakewood, Ohio, native, spent his senior season at Hargrave and was ranked as the No. 66 overall prospect in the class of 2016 by ESPN. He found himself stuck on the outside of a crowded depth chart and ultimately redshirted for the Buckeyes, but he fell behind in the classroom. He initially was suspended indefinitely from the team on June 15.
Ohio State now has seven available scholarships for the class of 2018 and no current verbal commitments.
Holtmann has made it clear that he is looking for immediate roster help, provided that it is the right fit for the program and not a reach. He has the backing of Smith, who has made it clear that this is a rebuilding process that will not be completed overnight.
One possibility would be four-star combo guard Eric Ayala of Wilmington, Delaware, who plays for Putnam Science Academy in Putnam, Connecticut. Listed as a member of the class of 2018, Ayala has graduated and will either reclassify for the class of 2017 or play a postgraduate year. Putnam coach Thomas Espinosa said it’s “5050” that Ayala will reclassify but said he won’t make a decision until after playing AAU ball in July.