The painful, rebuilding year is over for Ohio.
And though first-year coach Bob Boldon didn’t lead the Bobcats to the Promised Land, he put them on a road to recovery.
In a frustrated season full of growing pains, Ohio finished with a 9-21 record, which shows improvement in comparison with the team’s worst year in program history last season, when the Bobcats went 6-23.
There were also plenty of mood swings for the young, largely inexperienced squad.
After two seniors weren’t medically cleared to play, junior guard Mariah Byard became leader of the Bobcats’ three sophomores and seven freshmen.
Following a 78-62 loss to Bowling Green midway through Mid-American Conference play, Boldon said he had been impressed with his team, which had to learn a new system with new coaches with the majority of the roster new players.
“I’m thrilled with our freshman class,” he said. “I think they’re all doing a great job. Our goal is to be good in three years. We’d like it to be sooner than that, but we’re in a process that can be uncomfortable at times.”
If Boldon was uncomfortable in early February, then he must have been in a living nightmare by March.
After dropping numerous winnable games, including a loss to Miami in the regular season finale, he belittled everything the team had worked for throughout the season and said the Bobcats were “not a good basketball team.”
But there were bright spots in a year overshadowed by a ten-game losing streak and just one win in the final 15 games.
Though they did not win the games, they gained experience in a pair of losses to Top Ten opponents, and the Bobcats began MAC play by winning three of their first four contests.
In an announcement by the MAC on Monday, sophomore guard Kiyanna Black received honorable mention All-MAC honors, while freshman guard Quiera Lampkins earned All-MAC freshman squad honors.
In addition to postseason accolades, redshirt sophomore guard Kat Yelle played her first full season for the Bobcats after injuries plagued her in both 2011-12 and 2012-13 and will return with experience.
Whether improvements are apparent, Boldon said in every interview (except after Miami’s game) that the Bobcats were maturing and moving in the right direction, as the team will not lose any players next year.
And Boldon knows a thing or two about improvement. Before taking over at Ohio, he transformed the Youngstown State he inherited from a 0-30 team to a 23-10 squad in 2012-13.
Boldon said he expects a competitive team will come in three years, and he’s done it before.
gh181212@ohiou.edu
@CharlieHatch_
