An offseason of largescale roster movement continues.
Ohio State lost a guard on Sunday, and it added one on Monday.
A day after Luther Muhammad entered the transfer portal, Bucknell's Jimmy Sotos announced his transfer to play for the Buckeyes. He chose Ohio State over Minnesota, Missouri, Xavier, Butler, Vanderbilt and Gonzaga.
#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/4nByyw1ukO
— Jimmy Sotos (@SotosShow4) April 6, 2020
Sotos, who played the past three seasons for the Bison, is not a graduate transfer. He'll have to sit out the 2020-21 season with one year of eligibility remaining to play in 2021-22. Ohio State will wait until the fall to determine whether or not to purse a waiver to allow Sotos gain immediate eligibility next season, a source told Eleven Warriors, though as of now it's unlikely the Buckeyes choose to do so.
The Sotos File
- Year: Redshirt Senior (2021-22)
- Size: 6-foot-3, 195 pounds
- Pos: Guard
- School: Bucknell
- Stats: 11.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists per game in 2019-20
The 6-foot-3, 195-pound backcourt addition with lead guard experience started 77 of 100 games at Bucknell.
Sotos averaged 8.1 points, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds across three seasons. As a junior last season, he led the Bison with 11.5 points and 3.9 assists in 32.1 minutes per game while shooting 40.6 percent from the field, 37.1 percent from behind the 3-point line and 80 percent from the free-throw line.
An experienced ballhandler, he has shown the ability to play point guard at a high level, which made him an attractive option for Ohio State. He led the Patriot League in assists as a sophomore, averaging 6.1 assists per game.
Becoming eligible the year after CJ Walker graduates, Sotos could become Ohio State's starting point guard for the 2021-22 season after sitting out next year.
Along with 2021 commit Meechie Johnson and incoming freshman Eugene Brown III, he will join a backcourt that needed a veteran presence. Ohio State had been involved in the transfer market with Santa Clara's Trey Wertz, Wichita State's Jamarius Burton and Air Force's AJ Walker, but it ended up with Sotos, who has one year of eligibility remaining after sitting out next season.
If Chris Holtmann deems his team needs additional depth behind Walker and Duane Washington Jr. in next season's backcourt, he'd need to target a graduate transfer guard.
Sotos is a native of Elk Grove Village, Illinois. He'll join E.J. Liddell as the second player from Illinois on Ohio State's roster.
Out of Conant High School, Sotos was an unranked recruit without any offers from power conference programs. He ended up going to Bucknell over his other two finalists, Princeton and Dartmouth. Northern Iowa, Illinois State, Drake and Loyola (Chicago) were among the other teams that offered him scholarships.
