Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
The Ohio State Buckeyes return a lot of players from last year’s Elite Eight team. The only problem is that they lose their best one in Deshaun Thomas. With that in mind, can LaQuinton Ross lead the team in scoring in the 2013-14 college basketball season?
I doubt that Ross will score around 20 points per game, but that is okay. In just 16.9 minutes per game last season, he was able to score 8.3 points per game on average. It helps that he is 6’8”, which goes very well with his 38.9 percent shooting from behind the arc. He also made 46.8 percent of his shots from the field.
Ross definitely has the talent to lead the team in scoring. He may not be the returning leading scorer, but the two guys returning that scored more than him–Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr.–barely did so and they played at least 10 more minutes on average per game.
Craft (10 PPG) may be one of the best point guards in the nation and his defensive abilities cannot be denied, but it would be hard to see him being the go-to guy for a full season. Smith Jr. (9.2 PPG) is capable of leading the team in scoring as well.
Even with the loss of Thomas, Ohio State has a top 10 team in college hoops. Sure, the team will have to find scoring somewhere, but it should be great on defense once again and players like Ross are set to have big seasons.
The Buckeyes may not be the team to beat entering the season, but if Ross can emerge in the scoring department, every team in America better watch out for Ohio State.
If you’re a tweeter, feel free to follow me @TheTrevorLowry or add me to your network on Google.
