Sidelined by injury, Ohio State's Zed Key transforming his body and, hopefully, his game
The transformation is striking at first glance.
The last time Ohio State fans saw Zed Key, the third-year center had his left arm in a sling after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. It was March, the Buckeyes were exiting the Big Ten Tournament after a surprising run to the semifinals and the 6-8, 255-pound Key was just starting a significant recovery process.
He’s not back to full contact yet. That final hurdle will be cleared sometime in the next few weeks. But on this Thursday, Key is going through a 45-minute workout at Just Hoops in Powell under the eye of Drew Slone, one of the coaches on staff.
There are jab steps. High-intensity perimeter dribbling moves. Lots of outside shooting and drives to the basket. It’s the workload of a player who figures to spend time away from the paint, and it’s work being done by a player of corresponding stature. Unable to participate in physical, contact drills, Key has spent much of the past five months working on his body and expanding his game.
He looks quite different.
“When I first had the surgery, I thought to myself, ‘You have to watch what you eat. You can’t work out,’ so I changed my diet and changed my body,” Key said.
With the help of Ohio State’s training staff, Key is now weighing in at 236 pounds. It’s the lightest he’s been since his junior year at Brookville (New York) Long Island Lutheran, and the difference is immediately noticeable. Three half-court baskets face the northern wall of the facility as Key sets up work on court one, stopping to take selfies with multiple younger players finishing up a group session. Key towers over the kids but gives each of them a moment before changing into his white Ohio State Nikes and getting to work.
He starts with deep jumpers, hitting 12 in a row at one point and 30 of 34 as he makes his way around the court with Slone feeding him passes. Within 20 minutes, Key is starting to sweat through his black Ohio State shirt as the two work on specific movements and skills designed to help Key grow his game.
The Buckeyes saw hints of a more versatile Key last season, when he took 24 3-pointers and made 7 of them. He shot 29.4% from deep after not attempting any during his first two seasons as a post-only player, but his effectiveness and ability to shoot dipped precipitously when he suffered an injury to his labrum that he initially tried to play through before shutting things down in the final weeks of the year.
Key’s scoring (10.8), rebounding (7.5) and minutes played (24.8) averages all were career highs, but he wound up missing 10 games including the final nine with the injury.
“In the beginning it was a little rough,” he said of his recovery. “You couldn’t see the end, but rehab every day, working out, the end is near. Shoulder’s gotten stronger every day. The training staff did a great job. They did an amazing job with my rehab, making sure my shoulder was moving. The second day after surgery I was moving my arm. They did a really good job strengthening it and getting all the muscles firing back to where now I can work out and feel good on the court.”
Although Key showed off a wider variety of shots and moves than he’s shown during his first three years in the program, he made it clear that he’s not trying to suddenly morph into a completely different player. Work on his post moves will resume in earnest when he is cleared for full practice participation. Being prohibited from banging down low with the likes of Felix Okpara and Austin Parks has forced Key to work on those other parts of his game, but the senior said he’s ready for that to soon change.
“Obviously I’m still going to post (up),” he said. “That’s going to be my bread and butter down there, but just to add on top of what I added on last year, to keep teams guessing. Teams hone in on what you do well, so you need to work on other stuff. I’ve still got to be able to go down there and impose my will down there. I’m still going to be doing that, and offensive rebounding.”
It’s been a mostly quiet summer for the Ohio State program, which save for occasionally showcasing a few photos of players in workouts has largely avoided social media and the public eye. A captain last season, Key said those who return from the team that went 16-19 are working to ensure that the Buckeyes don’t endure a similar season again.
Among those helping to lead a hopeful turnaround are second-year guard Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle.
“Last year I had some areas I needed to work on about being a leader, which I worked on this summer and still am working on,” Key said. “As an older guy, the younger guys look up to me. I’ve been here. I’ve been through it. Bruce and Roddy are good leaders as well. Bruce is just a natural leader. He’s always been a leader since he got here. Roddy is growing, Felix is growing.”
When the Buckeyes return to campus, Key said the first focus will be to “get reps. We’ve got to continue to play the game of basketball with each other. That’s how you get better and get to know each other on the court, so keep playing. I’ll be back full-contact so I get to mesh in with the guys and we’re going to be good.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's Zed Key working on new game, new body in recovery
