Live Blog: Following Cedarville Basketball Against Ohio State

by Tim Miller

The Cedarville men’s basketball team is getting a holistic Columbus experience today ahead of their exhibition with Ohio State. Follow along throughout the day to see what the team is up to.

10:15am

The Yellow Jackets board their team bus and head to Columbus. Traveling along with the 15 players and five coaches are two athletic trainers, two student assistants, and two members of the university’s marketing team.

11:15am

The team bus arrives at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, and the squad enters the locker room. At this time, the team also goes on a tour of the arena, taking in the rich basketball heritage owned by the Buckeyes.

The Yellow Jackets also see where they’ll play in less than eight hours. Junior forward Adam Standley steps on the floor with eyes wide, saying “it’s big”.

Sophomore forward Isaiah Speelman is less impressed with the bright lights, huge video board, and numerous championship banners hanging from the rafters.

“It’s nice, but it’s not Callan,” Speelman joked.

12:00pm

After praying at half court, Cedarville’s players take part in a shootaround. They warm up with light stretching before getting some shots up.

Assistant coach Patrick Bain takes the team through some potential looks the Buckeyes could show tonight.

1:00pm

After finishing the shootaround, the players hit the showers. The coaches and other staff joke about how important size is for an MMA fighter.

1:35pm

After departing from the Schott, the team grabs some tacos and heads to Speelman’s house.

2:00pm

The team arrives at Speelman’s house. Redshirt sophomore forward Quinton Green and senior guard Demond Parker are the first to make themselves at home in a recliner.

After a couple minutes of getting settled, Bain leads the team in a film session to study the Buckeyes before the game.

The team also gets to watch their hype video for the year, produced by videographer Will Brethauer.

The team gets time to chill for a while longer. Some play ping pong, others watch Netflix, and others lounge around to relax.

3:45pm

The team travels to Texas Roadhouse for their final meal before the game. The players, coaches, and other staff have their name tags for their seats and salads already prepared for them.

4:45pm

The team arrives back at the Schott for the final time before the game. Staff gets uniforms ready and hung up while the players get their gear in order.

The team then heads out to the court to get some light shots up and get more acclimated to the environment. Some Buckeye players make their way out to the court as well, which is the first time Cedarville gets a look at their opponents.

6:15pm

The Yellow Jackets head back into the locker room to hear from head coach Pat Estepp.

They start their meeting by praying for Ohio State, then they pray for their own team.

Estepp then takes his team through final game plan points both offensively and defensively.

Estepp told his team he’s fine if they fire a bunch of shots from deep so long as it’s the best shot to take. He also instructed his guys to play fearlessly.

Defensively, Estepp told the Yellow Jackets to keep Buckeyes out of the paint.

Estepp also reminded his team that this is in fact still just a basketball game, just like a game against a typical conference tournament.

Lastly, he told his team the players’ hustle and desire must beat the Buckeyes’. He wants Ohio State to look back on the film tomorrow and look at how hard the Yellow Jackets played.