CHICAGO – There were times in the previous 67 days when Brandon Noel thought it was over.
When a fracture in his left foot suffered during a Jan. 5 home loss to Nebraska sidelined him indefinitely, the sixth-year senior wasn’t just unsure when he might return to action for the Ohio State men’s basketball team. Facing a lengthy rehab process that figured to wrap up sometime near the end of the team’s scheduled games, the chance was very real that Noel might have played his final game for the Buckeyes.
“I wasn’t sure when I got hurt if that was the end of my career or not,” Noel said after Ohio State’s 71-67 loss to Michigan in a Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal game on March 13. “That was tough.”
While the final outcome of the game wasn’t what he had hoped for, the game marked his first appearance for the Buckeyes since suffering the injury against the Cornhuskers. As a reserve, Noel played 12 minutes against Michigan, scoring 2 points and grabbing two rebounds while getting his first taste of game action in more than two months.
As he said, it was a tough process to get back into the lineup. He just returned to practice within the past week, he said, and was able to practice only three or four times before playing against Michigan.
“Man, I’m just grateful for the opportunity that I had to even play today,” Noel said. “I saw the light at the end of the tunnel through weeks and weeks of rehab and just staying positive. It’s something out of my control if I was going to be able to play or not, but I put my head down and just worked, and whatever opportunity I was able to get after that point, I was playing with house money.”
After five years with Wright State, a tenure that included both a medical and a traditional redshirt season, Noel transferred to the Buckeyes and opened the season as the team’s starting power forward. He remained there for the first 10 games of the season before ceding the starting spot to freshman Amare Bynum, but Noel was still averaging 8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per appearance entering the game against the Cornhuskers.
From the bench, he saw the Buckeyes alternate wins with losses, play their way to the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble and then back again. As Selection Sunday nears, the Buckeyes played the Wolverines with a chance to improve their seeding, not in need of a win to simply make the postseason.
It was a tough journey for Noel to watch.
“Wrestling with the amount of control I had at that point was not ideal,” he said. “I can talk and bring as much energy as I want, but when it comes down to it I had no control. Really wrestling with that in my head was the toughest part, but I have a great support group of family and friends, this team, this staff, a lot of people who kept my head in the right spot and I’m so thankful for that.”
Senior captain Bruce Thornton said he appreciated Noel’s commitment to getting back on the court even as the season waned and time seemed to be running out.
“It means a lot, especially – I just know his senior year, his presence, his experience of playing college basketball definitely helps,” he said. “It was great seeing him back there today, him playing well, him just playing hard.”
The game against Michigan was the 112th of Noel’s career. The next one will be the first one he will have played in the NCAA Tournament, although he was redshirting as the Raiders made the dance in 2021-22 in Noel’s second season with the program.
“That was tough, just being able to watch from the sidelines,” he said. “I feel like I spend so much time on the sidelines, but this time barring any setbacks I’ll be able to go out there and contribute. When I came here, that’s what I wanted to do.”
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: After fearing end of career, Brandon Noel thrilled with Ohio State return
Reporting by Adam Jardy, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
