Zed Key (born April 4, 2002) is an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tre ...

of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Early life and high school career

Key was born on April 4, 2002 in

Bay Shore, New York Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

. He was raised in Bay Shore and went to high school at

Long Island Lutheran High School Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School (commonly known as LuHi) is a Christian college preparatory school in Brookville, New York, United States. It was founded and built in 1960 on a estate and has a student body of approximately 420 stude ...

in Brookville, New York. With teammate and future

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

point guard André Curbelo, Long Island Lutheran was one of the best high school programs in the country. In his junior season, Long Island Lutheran won the New York Class AA state championship. He averaged 18 points and 8.7 rebounds in his senior season. In wins over national powerhouses Sierra Canyon High School and

The Patrick School The Patrick School is an independent private co-educational four-year high school in Hillside in Union County, New Jersey, United States. The school was established in 2012 following the closure of St. Patrick High School Academy, which was ...

, Key had standout performances, scoring 25 and 37 points, respectively.

Recruiting

Key was rated as a three and four-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and ranked as the fourth best player in New York. On September 22, 2019, Key committed to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

over offers from teams such as

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

College career

Key started his college career off the bench during his freshman year, averaging 5.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. He played in all 31 games and totaled 22 blocks, trailing only

E. J. Liddell Eric "E. J." Liddell Jr. (born December 18, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Birmingham Squadron of the NBA G League. He p ...

. In a win over Cleveland State, he earned a double-double, scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. In his sophomore season, Key became a consistent starter. He scored a career-high 20 points as an unranked

upset

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

at home. Overall, he averaged 7.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in 23 starts for the Buckeyes.

Career statistics

College

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, 31 , , 1 , , 11.7 , , .616 , , .000 , , .551 , , 3.4 , , .3 , , .1 , , .7 , , 5.2

References

External links

Ohio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Zed 2002 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York (state) Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players People from Bay Shore, New York Power forwards (basketball) 21st-century African-American sportspeople