Jacy Sheldon on Ohio State freshman basketball player Jaloni Cambridge

Ohio State freshman Jaloni Cambridge has already had several memorable moments three games into his collegiate career.

She was the only underclassman to start for the Buckeyes in the season opener. To prove she got the place, she dropped a team-high 31 points.

Against Charlotte, Cambridge fell hard on the lower back after she was fouled on a fast break, sidelining her for nearly the entire second half. The injury was minor and Cambridge returned to face Belmont and hit the game-winning basket with 13 seconds left.

“She obviously has great talent,” the Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “I know she’s young and inexperienced, but she also has something about her that really puts her in a position to make plays like that.”

After the 67-63 victory, McGuff confirmed that the play was designed to give Cambridge a one-on-one opportunity as time expired.

Asked how to trust in such a pressured situation despite his youth, Cambridge insisted that “any one of us could have done it.”

She was still grateful that the pitch required her to have the ball in her hands.

“We worked on that, in practice, all summer leading up to this. Even in the fall, we’re working on this,” Cambridge said. “The fact that everyone on my team believed in me, I proved out there that if I need to get a bucket, I can.”

How Jacy Sheldon feels about Jaloni Cambridge taking over at point guard for Ohio State

From the moment Cambridge committed to Ohio State, expectations were high.

ESPN’s No. 2 recruit from the Class of 2024, Cambridge joined the program with a resume that included being named a McDonald’s All-American and a finalist for Gatorade’s Player of the Year Award.

With touch screen Jacy Sheldon After leaving his stellar five-year career, there was an immediate need for Cambridge to step in.

“We lost Jacy, but I feel like Jaloni is perfectly capable of filling the role that Jacy had and really lead this team in the right direction,” the Ohio State forward said. Cotie McMahon said. “She’s very fast, very skilled, very smart for her age.”

Nearly a week after Ohio State’s first game of the season, the program announced the addition of Sheldon to his staff as Director of Player Development.

The hire gives Cambridge the opportunity to learn Ohio State’s system, both on and off the court, from the player she essentially replaces at the point guard position.

“She’s new, she’s a freshman,” Sheldon said, “so I think (she’s) just picking up on those things even faster, and she’s already picked up so much. But the pressure is something I love to do while I was here, but it took a minute to learn everything we do.”

What impresses Sheldon most about Cambridge is the freshman’s speed. It’s the same quality that Sheldon was best known for during her time with the Buckeyes and that allowed her to become No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Cambridge may be on a similar trajectory.

“She’s special,” Sheldon said. “You already see what she’s all about, and she has so much more potential as well. She’s just going to continue to get better every day, but a great player. I think her speed is something that makes her so good and can be so fast and to stop on a dime, very few players can do that.”

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