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The Ohio State Buckeyes provided an injury update yesterday for two players that were expected to have a growing role this upcoming season. Sixth-year senior forward Seth Towns will be out several months as he will be undergoing back surgery, and redshirt freshman point guard Meechie Johnson Jr. is currently suffering from a lower leg injury but is expected back in time for preseason practice.
Ohio State’s Seth Towns will undergo back surgery soon and is likely to return this season within 3-4 months, the school announced.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) September 7, 2021
Towns is expected out for three to four months following his back surgery scheduled in the near future. His recovery is predicted to take three to four months and allow him to “likely” return for the 2021-22 season. Towns has had a number of serious injuries in his career dating back to his time at Harvard. He missed the 2018-19 season after suffering a severe knee injury when with the Crimson and sat out 2019-20 season while completely recovering from surgery.
Towns was, however, the Ivy League Player of the Year during the Crimson’s 2017-18 season prior to his injury the following year. He helped Harvard to an 18-14 record (12-2) while averaging 16.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.8 apg, and 0.8 spg. He played in 25 games for the Buckeyes last season, finally making his debut in mid-December. Towns averaged 3.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.8 minutes per game off the bench.
Meanwhile, Meechie Johnson was a four-star prospect in the 2021 class who decided to forgo his remaining senior year and enrolled early after reclassifying. He arrived in Columbus in Dec. 2020 and debuted in his first collegiate game against Rutgers on Jan. 9.
Johnson finished the season averaging 1.2 points, 0.3 rpg, 0.2 spg, and 0.2 assists in 5.8 minutes per contest. He is expected to play an increased role this season.