Key, a 6-foot-8 forward and four-star recruit in the class of 2020, received a scholarship offer from Ohio State in June 2019 and committed to the Buckeyes that September. He played a full career at Ohio State — 121 games and 895 points in four seasons — but had one more season of eligibility because the NCAA didn’t count the 2020-21 season, played during the pandemic, against anyone’s eligibility.
Now about six years after Dayton coaches first started recruiting Key, they will have him on campus as part of the 2024-25 roster. He’s one of three transfers UD has picked up this spring, along with Alter grad Jacob Conner, a 6-10 forward who played the last two seasons at Marshall, and 6-0 guard Posh Alexander, who played three seasons at St. John’s and one at Butler.
The Dayton Daily News talked to coaches who know those three players well this week and will feature their comments in three separate stories. First on the list is Key, the first transfer to join the Flyers this spring. He committed April 15.
Buck coached him at Long Island Lutheran in Glen Head, N.Y., when Key was a junior and senior. Key is from Bay Shore, N.Y., about 25 miles from Long Island Lutheran. He attended Brentwood High School on Long Island for his first two years of high school.
“Zed is a really skilled player,” Buck said. “He has great hands and feet for someone his size. He played really well for us in big games. Sometimes you have guys who will put up big numbers in kind of meaningless games, but Zed’s best game in a LuHi uniform was against the Patrick School, who had Adama Sanogo, the most outstanding player in the NCAA tournament for UConn last year, Jonathan Kuminga, who’s with the (Golden State) Warriors, and Samson Johnson, who was the backup to Donovan Clingan at UConn this season.”
Key scored 37 points in that game in February 2020. Long Island Lutheran won 68-63.
Key had 25 points earlier that same month in an 84-74 victory against another nationally-ranked team, Sierra Canyon, which starred Brandon Boston, now with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Bronny James.
“He plays well in big games,” Buck said. “He had a great game against Duke his freshman year (at Ohio State). He’s not afraid of challenges.”
Buck followed Key’s progress throughout his Ohio State career. Key became a starter as a sophomore and put up his best numbers as a junior (10.8 points and 7.5 rebounds). A shoulder injury that season cost him the last nine games.
“The injury was unfortunate,” Buck said. “For a power player who looks to create so much contact, that was tough. But he came back and had some really strong games this year, even with maybe a little bit more of a reduced role. He’s got a great heart. You don’t really hear Zed speaking much negativity. He tries to be happy and positive around the people he’s around. And so along with a really great player, I think Dayton is going to enjoy his personality and just kind of the aura he brings to a community.”
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