Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith give Ohio State senior support

Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith no longer enjoy the luxury of worrying about themselves. The two Ohio State guards can't fixate on their respective games.

Selfishness yields to selflessness now. Such is the plight for the two seniors.

"Each year guys are trying to find themselves or want to contribute to the team and make the team better. This year it's more about being a senior leader on the team. You do everything," says Smith, a 6-4 shooting guard. "It's not trying to figure out what you're going to do. It's knowing what you have to do, and you have to do those things from Day One, especially when you have guys looking up to you."

For Ohio State, it's a welcome change.

The Buckeyes went the last two years with one senior on those rosters -- all-Big Ten guard William Buford two seasons ago and backup big man Evan Ravenel last year. Neither was known as a vocal leader.

"We've been through the battles. We've been in tough situations. We've won some big games. We've lost some games pretty big. We've seen both ends of the spectrum," Craft, a 6-2 all-Big Ten point guard, says of the experience he and Smith bring.

The duo started at the Final Four two years ago. They've been part of two Big Ten championships and a pair of conference tournament titles. The two also know the frustration that comes from losing on the road last season by 19 at Illinois and 22 at Wisconsin. They understand the disappointment that comes from being upset in an NCAA tournament game when they were eliminated by Wichita State 70-66 in the West region final in March.

So if there was any void in that department the last couple of seasons, that shouldn't be the case in this one.

"You have to lead guys," Smith says. "As senior leaders, a lot of teammates will come to us. Being the older guys, you have to be the one who knows what to do."

Turn back the clock

Craft says he and Smith learned from the best when it came to how seniors were supposed to act.

When they were freshmen, fifth-year player David Lighty (who went back to the Greg Oden and Mike Conley era) was in the lineup, as was center Dallas Lauderdale and Jon Diebler, the Big Ten's all-time leading three-point shooter.

Craft absorbed everything he could.

"The first thing I noticed with all three of those guys is they loved the game of basketball," he says. "They came in every day and really appreciated and were grateful for the opportunities they had. It was very rare you came into practice and they weren't excited and the first ones clapping and cheering. That kind of excitement is contagious."

Craft hopes to replicate that environment he experienced when he first came to Columbus.

Lighty, Lauderdale and Diebler allowed Craft to just be a freshman by learning from his mistakes and figuring out what it means to be a Buckeye. While he was the sixth man on the team, Craft didn't have to carry the team by any means.

"They were just a calming force out there on the floor," he says. "Even on the road you could see those guys were unwavering. There was no fear in their eyes, and they were just ready to go on to the next play. That's huge, especially in some of the games we get to play on the road in the Big Ten against great teams.

"You have to be able to take some punches. It's how you fight back after you get punched, that's the biggest key."

Veteran team

Unlike the 2010-11 squad that featured three seniors with a threesome of fresh-faced rookies in All-America center Jared Sullinger, prolific scorer Deshaun Thomas and Craft, the makeup of this year's team is different.

The Buckeyes welcome a pair of freshmen in 6-2 combo guard Kam Williams and 6-7 forward Marc Loving, but the core of the team has played together for the last two seasons.

Sam Thompson, a 6-7 junior uber-athlete at forward, and Amir Williams, a 6-11 center, both started a year ago, while 6-1 junior point guard Shannon Scott and 6-7 junior forward LaQuinton Ross were big-play performers off the bench, and 6-8 junior center Trey McDonald offered depth in the frontcourt. Shooting guard Amedeo Della Valle, a bit player as a 6-5 freshman a year ago, is coming off a summer in which he led his native Italy to the U20 Euro Championship and earned MVP honors in the international tournament.

"With me and Aaron on the same page and doing the same things, guys are more inclined to listen," Smith says.

But Craft cautions they won't be dictators.

"In order to be a great leader, you have to have great followers," Craft says. "Not that we're a team full of followers and a couple of leaders, but I think we have a great group, with multiple guys who can step up on any given day."

Both acknowledge if a teammate is having a bad day or having trouble picking up an offensive play or a defensive scheme, it is up to Craft and Smith to make it better.

And both bring different strengths to the role.

"Lenzelle is a character," Craft says. "He does a good job of keeping most situations pretty light. He's a jokester, too. He's just a good guy to have around. He's been through the ups and downs here at Ohio State, and he can pass that knowledge down to our younger guys.

"He's seen both ends of the spectrum, and he's worked his butt off to be where he is."

Smith sees Craft as an extension of coach Thad Matta, only more relatable since he's a peer.

" Aaron has worked hard from his freshman year, trying to be that type of guy and be that leader," he says. "It's true more than ever this year that we will have that type of leadership just because of Aaron's relationship with Coach Matta."

Final days

Craft and Smith just experienced their final offseason. Next will come the final first practice of the year, the final season opener, the final tour of the Big Ten, the final home game and, if things go as expected, a final NCAA tournament berth.

"This is our last go-round," Craft says. "We're just trying to enjoy it as much as possible, but at the same time keep the big picture in mind."

Craft isn't one for sentimentality, instead preferring to focus on the here and now.

"We've done some pretty cool and great things since we've been here, but we really hope that the best is still in front of us," he says. "As seniors, we're trying to do that as well as we can.

"We put in a lot of work, and it's been great to represent the university in such a positive way. I know our focus is on leaving everything on a better note."

It's the selfless thing to want.

McCurdy also writes for the Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal.