Kam Williams is back, but a lot of new faces join him in Ohio State’s backcourt. Will it be enough to offset the losses of D’Angelo Russell and Shannon Scott? All last season, the majority of the headlines regarding Ohio State basketball were about All-American freshman guard D’Angelo Russell. He had a phenomenal season, but the Buckeyes as a whole underachieved. After Russell left for the NBA and Shannon Scott was lost to graduation (the two combined for 27.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 10.9 assists, and 3.3 steals per game), Thad Matta had to retool his backcourt. With only Kam WIlliams returning, Ohio State’s backcourt will feature a young but talented core. Let’s take a look at who will likely be a part of Matta’s rotation. Kam Williams The lone returning guard for Ohio State had a limited role as a freshman. Playing just 14.3 minutes per game, Williams averaged 5.4 points with 45/35/91 shooting splits. With all the talent that is coming in, a big jump is needed from Williams if he wants to lock down the starting shooting guard spot. Considering all of the shooting coming in (I’ll get to that in a minute), Williams really needs to improve on that 35 percent clip in order for Matta to give him more minutes. JaQuan Lyle Lyle is the guy tapped to fill Russell’s shoes. The 6’5″ combo guard probably won’t have the ball in his hands quite as much as Russell did, but will be a huge part of Ohio State’s offense…
Continue Reading: 2015-16 Big Ten Preview: Ohio State Buckeyes Backcourt
