As mentioned yesterday, Ohio State freshman Brice Sensabaugh will be in the 2023 NBA draft. And it will be interesting to see where the young player lands.
Sensabaugh may be a one-and-done player, but he is not the only Buckeye to do so. The Buckeyes have a few players who attended their freshman year at Ohio State, then went on to enter the draft right after. For today’s post, one of those players will be discussed. That player is Mike Conley.
Conley attended Ohio State in 2006-07. He averaged 11.3 points, 6.1 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals. The Buckeyes nearly won an NCAA championship that year, but loss to Florida in the final game. Conley declared for the 2007 NBA Draft. He was picked fourth by the Memphis Grizzles.
Conley stayed with the Grizzlies from 2007 to 2019. He helped the Grizzlies make the playoffs six times before the Ja Morant era. He was one of their top players and in his final year with the Grizzlies, he averaged a career-high 21.1 points.
In 2019, Conley was traded to the Utah Jazz. The Grizzlies received Grayson Allen, Jae Crowder, Kyle Korver, draft rights to Darius Bazley and a draft pick. Conley played well in Utah, and received the first All-Star nod of his career. He stayed with the team from 2019 to 2023 (before the trade deadline). The Jazz traded Conley to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a three-team deal that involved Russell Westbrook and D’Angelo Russell. And for now, Minnesota is where Conley calls home.
Conley is a veteran player that contributes anywhere he plays. And it all started with Ohio State. Conley and Sensabaugh are not the only one-and-done players from Ohio State, but that will be explored in another post. So, stay tuned.
