After 4 years at Ohio State, former captain Zed Key entering the transfer portal
After four seasons at Ohio State, Zed Key has entered the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining.
A 6-8, 225-pound forward/center, Key averaged 7.4 points and 5.0 rebounds in 121 career games including 49 starts. A fan favorite for his energetic celebrations and off-the-court personality, Key was an Ohio State captain and four-year contributor.
He endeared himself to the Buckeye Nuthouse student section from his early days, shooting off imaginary “finger guns” to celebrate and-one opportunities and raising the roof after each dunk. His teammates called him "Mr. Fix-It" for his ability to help with just about anything they needed. During the summer of 2022, he was one of five Ohio State representatives on a trip to Selma, Alabama, as part of the Big Ten Equality Coalition. A lover of cars, Key also owned a pet snake.
"These last four years have been nothing short of a dream come true," Key wrote in a post to Instagram. "From the moment I arrived on campus I felt embraced and accepted in this community and I'm forever grateful for every moment on and off the court. Playing for this university has been an honor that I will always cherish."
After averaging 5.2 points and 3.4 rebounds as a freshman, Key moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore and saw his production grow to 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game. He assumed a captain’s role as a junior and was in the process of putting together a breakout year as a Jan. 5, 2023 home game with Purdue loomed.
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Key had averaged 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds through the first 13 games of the season while shooting 62.9% (66 for 105) from the floor including a 6-for-19 mark from 3 (31.6%), but within the first four minutes he suffered a shoulder injury while guarding Zach Edey that would irrevocably change the course of his season. Key missed the next game, returned for the next 11 and played with a heavy brace on his left shoulder before shutting it down after a Feb. 16 loss at Iowa and undergoing season-ending surgery.
As a junior, Key averaged a career-high 10.8 points and 7.5 rebounds despite the injury.
While the Buckeyes were putting together an unprecedented run in the Big Ten Tournament that season, Key took a bus to Chicago to cheer them on because he wasn’t able to fly so soon after undergoing surgery. During the offseason, Key then reworked his body, lost nearly 30 pounds and reported for fall camp fully healthy and in the best shape of his career while accepting a reserve role behind sophomore center Felix Okpara.
He finished the 2023-24 season averaging 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds while appearing in all 36 games including two starts. After seeing his minutes increase in each of his previous seasons, Key’s minutes per game dropped from a career-high 24.8 in 2022-23 to 15.4 in 2023-24. He averaged the same number of points as Okpara despite playing roughly 270 fewer minutes than his counterpart.
After a loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, the Buckeyes faced an uncertain future. An NIT bid was likely, but inside the locker room at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Key was asked about the possibility that he had just played his final game for the Buckeyes.
"It’s honestly sad," he told The Dispatch. "It’s crazy. I feel like yesterday I was a freshman coming in here. Now, I’m a senior, four years. It hasn’t hit me yet. I still have another year of eligibility left, but we’ll see. I’ll graduate first. There’s a lot of unknown here."
Key's weight loss, something he had been encouraged to do by the coaching staff, made him more able to stay on the court but also took away the size and strength that had helped him be successful in the paint against his Big Ten counterparts.
When Ohio State's season ended with a 79-77 loss to Georgia in the NIT quarterfinals, Key raced to the crowd and hugged his father, Zed Key Sr., in an emotional embrace. He then left the court with hands aloft making a heart-shaped gesture toward the fans after what turned out to be his final game for the Buckeyes.
"Now’s not the time to get into roster specifics, but I hope fans remember Zed when he played with a smile and his finger guns and energy and raising the roof," coach Jake Diebler said after that game. "He has such an energetic personality. He cares about Ohio State. I hope people see that in the way that he played and the work that he’s put into this program."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: After 4 years at Ohio State, Zed Key entering the transfer portal
