Ohio State’s Kaleb Wesson Will Play Against Indiana on Thursday

The biggest open question regarding Thursday’s Big Ten Tournament matchup between Indiana and Ohio State was the status of Buckeye forward Kaleb Wesson.

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann quickly addressed that topic on a Big Ten coaches teleconference on Monday morning, indicating that Wesson will play in the Thursday contest that tips-off at 12:30 p.m. Eastern in Chicago.

Now the question will be how quickly the Buckeye forward can get himself integrated and back to full speed —

“With him coming back now, it will be interesting to see after his layoff how quickly we can get back to playing when he was at full strength and the team was at full strength,” Holtmann said.

“I don’t think we can expect too much. I think we’ve got to be careful not to expect too much. But it is nice to have him back. If he’s off really a couple of days we’re worried about his conditioning, much less 14 days. But trust me, he has done early morning workouts and afternoon workouts as well.”

Wesson had been suspended since March 1 for an undisclosed violation of athletic department policy.

The Ohio native is a critical component to the team. The Buckeyes lost all three games that Wesson missed and never held a lead in any of those games.

On the season, the 6-foot-9 and 270 pound forward is averaging 14.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest.

In the first meeting against Indiana, Wesson scored 10 points and added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks.

Thursday’s contest is widely viewed as a must-win for both team’s NCAA Tournament chances.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo also indicated on the teleconference that forward Nick Ward will return this week.  The Spartans will play the winner of Indiana and Ohio State.

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