Ohio State landed Bucknell guard transfer Jimmy Sotos this past week to help their depleted numbers after a number of Buckeye players entered the NCAA transfer portal. Ohio State lost Luther Muhammad, DJ Carton, and Alonzo Gaffney to transfers prior to Sotos selecting them. Sotos had the opportunity to play at Minnesota, Gonzaga, Butler, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Ohio State or Missouri in 2021. He will redshirt his first season in Columbus and will hit the hardwood as starting point guard CJ Walker graduates.
What Jimmy Sotos Offers
Sotos is a tall 6’3” point guard coming out of Illinois, Conant High School. He was born in Elk Grove Village Illinois. He is what Ohio State has looked for in guards the last couple of seasons, a seasoned veteran that will sit a year and then come in as a starter.
Sotos started 77 games at Bucknell in his three years with the Bisons. He averaged 8 points a game with 3.9 assist and 3.4 boards. He was 37.1% from behind the arc his third year in college.
Why Ohio State?
Sotos got along well with Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann and Ryan Pedon. Bucknell fans were a little surprised with the news of his transfer, but he feels this is the next step in his college career. He was only in the transfer portal for 3 days when his transfer to OSU was announced on his twitter account. Sotos felt that he could compete at a high level after having good games against Syracuse, Ohio State, TCU, Penn State, and North Carolina while at Bucknell.
With in-person visits banned during the COVID 19 pandemic, Sotos had to make a transfer decision without a visit. He relied on Zoom meetings and online research to determine the best location for his next two years.
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Ohio State Basketball 2020
Ohio State has a roster of 12 players going into next year. They could add one more immediate transfer if coach Holtmann is able to find a strong candidate. They were pursuing Wichita State’s guard Jamarius Burton and Santa Clara’s Trey Wertz when Sotos committed to them.
Its hard to see great guards like Carton and Muhammad leave, yet Ohio State has proven that they can go out and get players they need to fill out their roster and stay competitive year after year.