I feel like these guys making a significant move up in competition rarely put up good numbers. 10 points a game at that level? What does that translate to, 6-7 a game in the Big Ten? I’d pass. Last year at this time we all wanted Justin Pierce, who was awful this year (and had plenty of opportunity on an awful team). Jaaron Simmons was supposed to come in and be the savior at PG, he barely played.
With 6 guys coming in, I don’t see how we would have any room for a grad transfer unless it’s a superstar PG.
From a pure talent perspective Ohio State will be stacked next year. DJ Carton (if he returns), Duane Washington, Aikens, Alonzo Gaffney, Young, Wesson, Liddell, Ahrens, etc. will be as talented as anyone and most of them are returning guys…strong recipe for success if they can put it together
OSU already has a transfer combo forward sitting out (Justice Sueing–as an attorney, I would kill for that name) whose numbers, in a power 5 conference setting (Cal) were similar to those of Towns. I think Towns is a very good player, but with Sueing, Liddell, Young, etc. on the roster, and a plethora of guards, I’m not sure playing time is going to be as plentiful as he might think. Evan Boudreaux tore up the Ivy League too.
Those guys are different talent levels. Towns was a top 100 recruit that chose Harvard over HM offers. Then won Ivy POY as a sophomore. He’s also a 6’7 wing with skills and athleticism. Boudreaux is a 6’8" undersized big and played for a terrible Dartmouth team.
The Cal team that guy is transferring from is significantly worse than the Harvard teams Towns was on.
Kaleb Wesson is a for sure goner according to pretty much everyone. Thats a lot of good b1g players but I am not sure theres a true difference maker in that group other than carton and I am pretty doubtful he’ll be back at osu. A lot of overlap on that roster too, have to wonder if theres going be chemistry issues from it.
Towns is better than Boudreaux, but (a) he hasn’t played in 2 years, and (b) he’s walking into vastly more competition for minutes at OSU than was Boudreaux at Purdue. There was literally no one on the roster at Purdue at Boudreaux’s positions who was as talented as any of Liddell, Gaffney, Sueing or Young, much less all of them. Moreover, Budreaux isn’t the only guy from a small conference who has been a POY type guy (Aaron Simmons, Mike Alstorck, Juwad Proctor, Joe Crepo, I can go on and on) and dropped precipitously in a bigger conference. I get that Towns was a highly ranked recruit, but that was 4 years and 2 season ending injuries ago.
And the issue with Sueing is not whether his Cal team is significantly worse than Towns’ Harvard team, but rather whether the competition he played is better. It was, and despite that, Sueing’s offensive efficiency rating was significantly better than that of Towns. Maybe Towns will be better than Sueing, but I’m not convinced, especially with the 2 year layoff for Towns.
Towns is the one probably going to OSU, not Aiken. Wesson is almost definitely going pro. Also from what I’ve seen OSU fans expect Gaffney to transfer.
I also wouldn’t be surprised to see one of their Combo Guards transfer considering they have Walker, Carton, Ahrens, Washington, Muhammad, Jallow, Sueing coming in as a transfer and a low 4 star coming in as a freshman. Just from a playing time perspective you’d guess 1-2 of them would transfer. No idea who but gun to head I’d guess Jallow and/or Ahrens.
The concerns with Towns is definitely the injuries .And I get what you’re saying as far as grad transfers, a lot of them don’t work out, and you can of course always expect some drop off. I agree with all that. But Towns is a different level the the listed guys cause he has the pedigree and the measureless that those guys lacked. And Towns can shoot lights out and I think that will translate easily.
Sueing stats are markedly lower than Towns. He was slightly more efficient than Towns as you said, but he wasn’t bearing nearly the load and his efficiency was because he got fouled so much. Good luck with that in the B10. Also the P12 the years Seuing was there was not that good of a conference.
All I’m saying is that if Towns is healthy he’s a player anyone in the conference would want and I’d take him over Sueing.
Forgot about Muhammad. They are pretty stacked in the backcourt imo. I think that’s a contender-level backcourt if guys make the necessary development this summer. I think DJ Carton has the tools and showed flashes that he could be the go to guy next year. He’d have great shooting around him in Washington, Ahrens, etc as well.
They seem to think he is coming back from what I’ve heard. He already wanted to come back for the Big Ten tourney but I think they and Carton’s parents weren’t going to allow that to make sure he’s 100%.
We’ll see but it is generally very rare that a kid takes a leave absence like carton did and comes back to that school, especially when the school is 7hrs from home.