Ohio State's Taison Chatman to miss sophomore season with torn ACL
After a physically and mentally challenging first year at Ohio State, Taison Chatman will have to wait another to make an on-court impact.
Chatman, the highest-rated member of a four-man 2023 recruiting class, will miss the 2024-25 season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee. The 6-foot-4, 175-pound guard underwent surgery Tuesday after suffering the injury while landing awkwardly during a summer workout and is expected to make a full recovery for the 2025-26 season.
“I’m incredibly sad for Taison that he’s going to miss the entire year,” coach Jake Diebler said in a statement. “After a tough start to his collegiate career, he worked his way back and played a role for us at the end of last season. He continued that development this spring and was working out really well. I was looking forward to watching him take the next step this year. But I know he’ll work hard and get back to form as soon as he can.”
It’s the same knee that required a surgical procedure leading into his freshman year at Ohio State to repair a meniscus injury that had hampered him during a senior season at Minneapolis Totino-Grace, but the two injuries are otherwise unrelated. He arrived at Ohio State as a four-star player and the No. 33 national prospect in the 247Sports.com rankings, but he was unable to participate in fall camp while recovering from the knee procedure.
He eventually made his season debut in a Nov. 24 win against Alabama, starting a run of four appearances in Ohio State’s next five games before a concussion sidelined him for most of December. From there, it was an uphill battle for Chatman, who totaled eight appearances in 25 games under coach Chris Holtmann totaling 25:46.
That changed when Diebler was elevated to interim coach after Holtmann was fired on Feb. 14. Chatman appeared in nine of the final 11 games of the season and scored all 17 of his season’s points during that stretch. His first career points came in a homecoming game at Minnesota on Feb. 22, and afterward he spoke to the challenges he'd encountered throughout the year.
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“He’s been really good in his minutes,” Diebler said March 25, one day before a season-ending loss to Georgia in the NIT quarterfinals. “You can see we’ve tried to give him an additional part of the rotation. He’s earned that. He’s a good player. There’s no question about it. It sets a tone for their growth and he’s a really, really talented player, but I think you’re seeing some qualities from him that he stayed ready, he’s gone in and he’s had some really good moments. Certainly some of that is his talent but it also speaks to who he is.”
Chatman remained with the Buckeyes, announcing his return for a second season with the program with an April 11 post to social media. In a backcourt with third-year returning guard Bruce Thornton and fifth-year South Carolina transfer Meechie Johnson Jr., Chatman was ticketed for a key reserve role as a sophomore.
In May, Chatman was named one of three Ohio State student-athletes of the month.
Ohio State still has one scholarship available for the 2024-25 season. The Buckeyes are expected to add an international player who will provide depth at center.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's Taison Chatman to miss season with torn ACL
