NCAA Men's Final Four: Ohio State's Jared Sullinger Heard the Haters

Ohio State's Jared Sullinger heard the haters loud and clear. Just about a month ago many were calling the Buckeye's big man a big bust who was overrated and spent too much time berating officials and not boxing out.

But all that has changed. Sullinger scored 15 points in the second half of the Buckeyes' East Regional Final win over Syracuse this weekend, leading Ohio State to its first Final Four since 2007. For his tournament effort, Sullinger was named Most Outstanding Player of the East Region.

In a story by Doug Lesmerises in today's Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sullinger made it clear the critics were ringing in his ears.

"I know I've probably been dogged by a lot of people who are saying I'm not as good as I used to be. But at the end of the day, it's not about what they think, it's about how we can win basketball games."

In fairness to Sullinger, a sophomore post player, there was a legitimate excuse for his sluggish play. He was sidelined with a back injury early in the season that caused him to miss several games, including a 78-67 loss at Kansas back in December. Ohio State faces those same Jayhawks this Saturday night with a trip to the NCAA title game on the line.

But since a loss to Wisconsin on Feb. 26., Sullinger has averaged 20 points per game to go along with  9.9 rebounds. Ohio State has gone 8-1 in those games. Prior to that he was averaging 16.8 points an outing an 9.3 rebounds a contest.