Shannon Scott sat next to teammate Sam Thompson at a roundtable Thursday, fielding questions for over an hour as media members shuffled in and out.
Each new wave of reporters that made its way to the Ohio State table seemed to keep asking Scott a similar question, though: What is this year going to be like now that it's your team?
It's not that Scott hasn't been an important part of the Buckeyes' basketball team over his first three seasons — he has. He just had to share backcourt duties with one of the most popular players in Ohio State history: Aaron Craft.
Not this season, however.
Craft has graduated and for the first time in what seems like a decade, the Buckeyes will have a new point guard running the show.
“It’s not really a different feeling because I’ve had a lot of these guys around me for the last three years so I kind of understand what they like to do on the court, but I understand that I’ve gotta be very aggressive this year," Scott said at Big Ten Media Day. "I can’t look to Aaron to help me on the court, I’ve really gotta pick it up and keep going by myself in getting everyone where they need to be.”
The task of replacing Craft goes beyond the box score.
For his career, Craft averaged just 8.9 points and 4.7 assists per game — neither of which are eye-popping numbers. But Craft's impact on games was much deeper. He affected outcomes with his defense, tenacity and overall aggressiveness.
Scott is similar in a lot of ways.
Like Craft, he's been an All-Big Ten defender for the past two seasons and his offensive game is somewhat limited at times. Where they differ, though, is in their leadership. It's been noted what type of leader Craft was for Ohio State, but for Scott, it remains to be seen.
Ohio State head coach Thad Matta is hoping Scott can step into that role in his senior season.
"I think one of the things we've talked to Shannon about is that he's always
played a supportive role from teams he's been on high school to AAU to here," Matta said. "He needs to step out of the supportive role and be more aggressive in terms of what we're trying to accomplish."
What Ohio State wants to accomplish is to get back to where the program has been the previous four seasons before last year's early-round loss to Dayton.
In order to get there, the Buckeyes will need to still play the hard-nosed defense they've played for years, but they will also need to be more effective on the offensive end of the floor.
"A lot of times last year, we didn’t really attack that much and we kind of let the game come to us," Scott said. "This year, everybody wants to attack and keep the team playing defense on their heels so that’s probably the biggest difference.”
That starts with the point guard.
So, what has been the biggest difference in Scott's game from last year to this one to help ensure that's the case?
“It’s just that peace of mind in knowing that it’s his team. He’s not sharing the ball, he doesn’t have to worry about if he’s playing the two some possessions or he’s playing the one some possessions," Thompson said. "I think that peace of mind has really helped him out. He’s always been a great player, been a great passer, been a great playmaker, but I think that he’s really settled in and stepped into that role and really embraced that role and he’s gonna be huge for us this year.”
