It's been a while since Thad Matta put an inexperienced floor general on the court.
Freshman Aaron Craft eventually fought his way into the rotation and wrestled minutes from Dallas Lauderdale on the 2010-11 squad, but Matta still started junior William Buford at point guard. Even the maligned guards on the 2008-09 team had experience, led by junior P.J. Hill and sophomore Evan Turner.
Essentially, throughout his entire career at Ohio State, Matta has never been completely bereft of a veteran option at the point. That may change this year.
The 2015-16 squad loses Shannon Scott and D'Angelo Russell, replacing them with some combination of freshmen – JaQuan Lyle, A.J. Harris or even Mickey Mitchell. Point guard is a demanding position, particularly without any upperclassmen to tutor them.
With that in mind, Ohio State is interested in Seton Hall grad transfer Sterling Gibbs:
Seton Hall transfer Sterling Gibbs tells ESPN his final list is Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Connecticut, Baylor, North Carolina State and VCU.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) May 5, 2015
Gibbs is visiting Columbus, today, following his two-day visit at his brother's alma mater, Pitt. He is eligible immediately, per the NCAA's grad transfer rules, and would provide an immediate upgrade to the rotation.
Jim Hague, who covers Seton Hall for the Associated Press, praised Gibbs' tenacity.
"He is an extremely competitive player with excellent skills going to the basket. In fact, there wasn't a player in the Big East who could stop him off the dribble," Hague said. "He's a good kid, very respectful and would be an asset to the Ohio State program. I think he'd be a very good Big Ten player considering the way he goes to the basket."
Gibbs averaged 16.3 points and 3.8 assists per game while shooting over 43 percent from three, last season. His offensive rating – an estimate of points produced per 100 possessions – was even higher than Russell's.
He attempted nearly seven three-point attempts per game, which Hague took issue with.
"Gibbs also has a decent long range game. He sometimes falls in love with the three-pointer too much and that hurts him," Hague said. "He's also prone to go into perimeter shooting droughts, like 1-for-7 from three or even 0-for-10 from three."
It's also worth noting this will be Gibbs' third different school during his college career. Originally a four-star prospect out of New Jersey, Gibbs signed with Texas and only played one year with the Longhorns. He transferred to Seton Hall for the next two seasons and his playing time increased by over 23 minutes per game.
The reason behind his transfer from Seton Hall, as Hague details in a recent blog post, is due to some inner-turmoil on the Pirates' squad. Allegedly, he did not get along with freshman guard Isaiah Whitehead, and head coach Kevin Willard was "way over his head" in dealing with it all.
Either way, Gibbs wasn't completely comfortable at either Texas or Seton Hall. If he feels at ease with the OSU staff, Matta will gladly extend him a scholarship.
