March Madness: Profile of the 2018 Ohio State Buckeyes

The Players

Holtmann uses a nine-man rotation. He has a veteran squad and four starters who average double figures. The biggest question is can the reserves supply the necessary offense and whether the starting five can stay out of foul trouble.

Keita Bates-Diop leads the way on both ends of the floor for the Buckeyes. Bates-Diop is very versatile offensively as he can score on all three levels. He can shoot off the catch as well as off the bounce. Bates-Diop , an excellent defensive rebounder, also has an outstanding mid-range game.

Jae’Sean Tate is a shorter but stronger version of Bates-Diop. Although Tate is not as versatile as Bates-Diop on the offensive end. He is a good rebounder and an efficient scorer.

Kam Williams,  CJ Jackson, and Kaleb Wesson round out the starting roundup.

Starting lineup

Bates-Diop: 19.4 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 1.7 BPG, 1,0 SPG, 48.4% FG, 35.8% 3PT

The Buckeyes go-to-player. Bates-Diop has grown every aspect of his game this year. However, the biggest improvement has been in his three-point shooting and the ability to get to the foul line.

Bates-Diop has scored in double-figures in 30 of 32 games with 13 games of 20 or more points. He has also produced 12 double-doubles

 Tate: 12.5 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 2.9 APG, 55.6% FG

Tate does most of his damage around the rim, though he does have ability to step out on the perimeter. He has score in double-figures in 23 of his 32 games while producing four double-doubles.

Wesson: 10.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 56.8% FG

The 6-foot-9 freshman is the team’s tallest starter and at 270 pounds is their biggest. He has nice touch around the bucket and is relentless on the offensive boards. Wesson has been inconsistent this year, a typical issue with freshman.

Jackson: 12.2 PPG, 3.9 APG, 3.2 RPG, 41.9% FG 37.9% 3PT

The 6-foot-1 sophomore point guard has made tremendous strides in his second year.  He has shown the ability to score when he is hot from beyond the arc, where he attempts half of his shots on the season. Jackson is a good distributor as well, he just needs to cut down on the turnovers.

Williams: 8.2 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 48.6% FG, 44.0% 3PT 

Williams is an unflappable combo guard who can guard. He is capable of putting up solid numbers do to his efficiency. The thing is he doesn’t get to the free throw line much. Williams has scored in double figures in 12 of his 29 games this year.

Key Reserves

Andre Wesson, Andrew Dakich, Micah Porter

Next: Top 100 impact players of the 2018 NCAA Tournament

This Ohio State team has been one of the biggest surprises of the season. The question now is whether the surprises continue into a Final Four run.