Key offseason pickup Meechie Johnson isn’t with the team

Njegovan’s 3-pointer with 31 seconds left against Auburn sealed the final margin of defeat, and it came on what currently stands as the last pass fifth-year guard Meechie Johnson Jr. has thrown in his Ohio State career. After the loss to the Tigers, Johnson departed the team for what has been publicly described as a leave of absence for personal matters.

He has not yet returned, and the possibility of him wearing an Ohio State uniform again gets less likely by the day. Johnson has been away for nearly six weeks and, should he return, would have to go through a return-to-play process that would likely take at least a week or two before he could participate in game action. That would take the Buckeyes, who, after facing Iowa on Monday, will have played as many games with Johnson as without him, into February before he could conceivably return.

As they say, it’s getting late awfully early. Johnson was expected to anchor Ohio State’s backcourt alongside Thornton but had struggled in his return after two years at South Carolina, averaging 9.1 points, 2.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds while playing 28.9 minutes per game and starting all 10 games for the Buckeyes.

Injuries, leaves of absence have hampered continuity

Johnson is far from the only player to miss time for reasons that have not been publicly explained. When the Buckeyes gathered to host Campbell on Nov. 22, they were without sophomore transfer center Aaron Bradshaw, who according to a university statement was not currently practicing in team activities. The Dispatch learned that Bradshaw was being investigated for an alleged domestic incident at his off-campus apartment, and it was not until Dec. 9 that the 7-1 center returned to the team.