It's now been a week since the transfer portal in College Basketball officially closed. At this point, the Ohio State basketball roster is pretty much set. With that said, some of the transfer portal additions made should fill one of the team’s biggest weaknesses from last season: Bench Production.
The transfer portal pickups of Jimmie Williams and Curtis Givens III are key additions. They’re expected to be strong rotation players for the Buckeyes and give them some good depth with the current roster construction.
Williams and Givens III are solid scorers offensively. Williams, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound guard, started all 33 games last season for Duquesne and averaged 15.1 points per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. His versatility gives Diebler the ability to use different looks with him backing up at guard or on the wing.
For Givens III, listed at 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, he appeared in 25 games for Memphis while getting the starting nod in 15 of them, averaging 9.4 points per game for Penny Hardaway last season. He shot the three at a 36.5% rate last season and is another ball handler that Diebler can utilize in the backcourt.
Ohio State’s bench production was arguably its biggest weakness last season. They ranked 355th of 365 College Basketball teams in bench points per game at 11.1 per game, including 10 games where they had 4 points or less in that area.
These two portal additions can bring the offensive boost off the bench that Ohio State more than lacked. They’re both experienced with the ability to score in any way, and they present some underrated positional size with their length, which will help the Buckeyes in a big way.
Outside of a late-season surge from Taison Chatman once he started getting consistent minutes, the bench was a big hole for Ohio State. Williams and Givens III are proven and now give them strong depth in the backcourt. With these additions, there’s confidence in believing the bench production won’t be a weakness for the Buckeyes next season.
Add us as a preferred source on Google