Ohio State basketball adds a guard from the transfer portal

The Ohio State basketball team knew they needed to get better at the guard position. So they went ahead and grabbed one through the transfer portal.

The Ohio State basketball team isn’t participating in the NCAA Tournament after losing to 15-seeded Oral Roberts. One of the biggest reasons they lost that game is because of a lack of depth at guard, specifically point guard. They went ahead and addressed that right away.

Ohio State has landed guard Jamari Wheeler from Penn State. Wheeler played four years at Penn State and started for the Nittany Lions the last three. Wheeler will be a grad transfer and will be immediately eligible to play for the Buckeyes next season.

Wheeler averted 6.8 points per game for the Nittany Lions this season. He also averaged 4.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.8 steals. He can do a little bit of everything, including shooting the three. He shot 35.7% from deep this past season on 3.4 attempts a game.

The Buckeyes needed ball handlers who could create for others and now they have that in Wheeler. It’s unclear whether or not he will start for the Buckeyes next season, but my guess is yes. He will probably be part of the starting backcourt along with Duane Washington.

It’s very unusual to have someone transfer in-conference like that. I’m sure Chris Holtmann will welcome him with open arms, as will the rest of the team. If he can help the Buckeyes win, that’s all that matters. I think he can, and that’s great news.

Holtmann has done a very good job of navigating the transfer portal. I talked last week about how he needed to look for players, and it seems that he did. Now they just need work on getting a big man. That is the biggest thing the Buckeyes need.

We’ll let you know if anyone else transfers into the program.