Ohio State freshman Alonzo Gaffney appears in ESPN's 2021 NBA draft projection
![Alonzo Gaffney (left, in navy blue jacket) at an Ohio State game in February 2018. [Barbara J. Perenic]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/2019/10/14/NBUX/ghows-OH-94e19274-ba96-5ed7-e053-0100007f9712-95d3e219.jpeg?width=300&height=336&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
He hasn’t played a game for Ohio State, but freshman wing Alonzo Gaffney appears in ESPN’s first 2021 NBA mock draft.
In a story posted Monday morning, the 6-foot-9, 198-pound Gaffney is projected to be the third pick in the second round, going No. 33 overall. He is the only Buckeye projected to be taken in the draft. You can view the entire draft, plus an explanation on some of the methodology, by clicking here.
No Ohio State player appears in ESPN’s 2020 mock draft.
A Cleveland native who played his senior season for Wolfeboro (New Hampshire) Brewster Academy, Gaffney arrived at Ohio State as the No. 50 national recruit according to the 247Sports.com composite database. He was the No. 2 overall player from Ohio and the No. 12 small forward in the country.
“I think the year away (at Brewster Academy) he would probably say helped him in a lot of ways, growing and maturing and getting better,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said at his team’s media day before practice started. “He obviously presents a tremendous physical, tangible self: length and size and the ability to move at his size is really good. He would tell you he’s an interesting story because he really burst onto the scenes in one summer and went from really lightly recruited to really heavily recruited. I think the biggest thing is the challenge for him has always been the consistency of his effort and his play.”
You can read more about his year at Brewster Academy and how it impacted him by clicking here.
As a freshman, Gaffney is expected to compete for significant minutes in Holtmann’s rotation.
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