Ohio State Basketball: Keita Bates-Diop not a top 25 player?
With how he has led the Ohio State basketball team this season, Keita Bates-Diop has to be considered one of the top players in the country.
The John R. Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 has been released and one player is noticeably absent from the list, Ohio State forward Keita Bates-Diop. It makes you wonder if those who made up the list have actually been watching college basketball games this season.
KBD has arguably been the best player in the Big Ten so far this season. How could a player like that not be one of the top 25 players in the country?
Two Big Ten players made the list and deservedly so. Michigan State’s Miles Bridges and Minnesota’s Jordan Murphy are outstanding players.
Bridges is the only one of the two that Bates-Diop has matched up against so far. There was no doubt who the best player on the floor was that day, and it wasn’t the Michigan State swingman.
Bridges played well scoring 17 points and pulling down 7 rebounds. But Bates-Diop matched his rebound total and scored 15 more points in the Buckeyes’ 80-64 victory over the Spartans. That performance, combined with 27 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Iowa, earned KBD the National Player of the Week Award.
I’m not trying to say Bates-Diop is head and shoulders better than Bridges, just that he has proven he can match up with the top-tier talent in the country.
More from Scarlet and Game
- Ohio State Football: How Denzel Burke has bounced back so far this season
- Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes conference schedule is set
- Ohio State Football rolling into form at the perfect time
- How Ohio State football has done historically versus new Big 12
- Ohio State Football: We need to see “Killer Ryan Day” at South Bend
And if you take a look at the scoring and rebound averages of Bates-Diop versus the two Big Ten players on the top 25 list you will see they compare favorably.
- Keita Bates-Diop 20.3 ppg, 8.8 rbg
- Jordan Murphy 18.3 ppg, 12.1 rbg
- Miles Bridges 16.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg
It should also be taken into consideration how KBD has led the Buckeyes to a 14-4 season and a 5-0 Big Ten record thus far, and the stats he is putting up is in the normal flow of the offense. He is a consummate team player who only takes over on the offensive end when his team needs him to.
I want to give credit to James Grega of Eleven Warriors for bringing it to my attention that Keita Bates-Diop was left off the Wooden list. I was stunned when I read Mr. Grega’s article.
Next: Grading the offensive coaches for 2017 season
There are many outstanding players in college basketball who are having fine seasons so I’m not saying KBD should be named Player of the Year. I’m just saying that with his performance so far this season he should be in contention for the prestigious award.