Ohio State Basketball: Trevor Thompson the X Factor?
By Justin Golba
Over the past 5 years, the Ohio State Basketball team has severely lacked in productivity at one position…center. Guys like Amir Williams, Trey McDonald and even transfer Anthony Lee never played up to their potential and it showed when the Buckeyes needed a force down low. Trevor Thompson is trying to change that this season.
During the peak of the program in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s, guys like Greg Oden, Kosta Koufos, B.J. Mullin and Jared Sullinger led the way in the paint for the Buckeyes and helped keep the program at a high level. But since these guys have moved on, OSU has struggled to find that above average paint player…until now.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not calling Trevor Thompson the next Greg Oden or Jared Sullinger by any stretch of the imagination. However, I am saying that he has played well enough so far this season to take some pressure off the young Ohio State guards and give Thad Matta some much-needed scoring and rebounding. Thompson has also proven to be a capable defender and has been someone who teams take notice of as a rim protector when he is in the game.
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When the season began, Freshman Micah Potter was given the starting job over Thompson which confused many fans. They wondered what was the reason for the switch and how would Thompson respond?
As expected by many, the 7 foot center responded beautifully. He is currently averaging 11 points and 9 rebounds per game. Over the past 6 games, he has 4 double-doubles and in 2 of those games, he had 15 and 17 rebounds. This is the kind of production the Buckeyes desperately need from a big man. Especially going into Big Ten play when Thompson will have to go head to head against Ethan Happ, Caleb Swanigan, Thomas Bryant and many other great post players.
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Trevor Thompson will be the key player for an Ohio State team that has a good chance to make it back to the NCAA tournament, and be a tougher out than most expect. If he keeps up this level of play, the Buckeyes could be the dark horse in the Big Ten.