A day after announcing bad news regarding a transfer guard, the Buckeyes announced something positive related to another transfer guard.
Yesterday, the program announced Abel Porter’s basketball career was over due to the discovery of a rare heart condition. Today, Ohio State announced that Jimmy Sotos will be immediately eligible following the approval of his appeal.
Just more than two weeks ago, Sotos’ waiver for immediately eligibility was rejected by the NCAA. Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann and his staff appealed the decision, and the Bucknell transfer guard will have to years of eligibility with the Buckeyes starting this season following the NCAA’s reversal.
“Jimmy Sotos, his waiver was approved. We got word on that this morning,” Holtmann said in a video released on Twitter. “So we appreciate the work of our compliance and the NCAA’s consideration.
“I’m happy for Jimmy and his family. I’m also thankful for the hard work that our compliance office put in to get this matter resolved with a positive outcome for Jimmy. He has been working hard to prepare for this season.”
Time to hoop https://t.co/sd4EGHXqmw
— Jimmy Sotos (@SotosShow4) November 5, 2020
Sotos, who responded to the news by posting, “time to hoop,” is slated to be the Buckeyes’ primary backup at guard behind CJ Walker and Duane Washington Jr.
At Bucknell in 2019-20, Sotos became the eighth Bison to lead the team in scoring and assists with 11.5 points per game and 3.9 assists per game. The 6-foot-3 guard shot 80.0 percent (80 of 100) from the foul line while connecting on 40.6 percent (127 of 313) of his field goal attempts and 37.1 percent (56-151) of his trey tries.
Sotos averaged 8.5 points, 6.1 assists and 3.9 boards per game as a sophomore, shooting 40.1 percent from the floor and 31.0 percent from deep. His assist-to-turnover ratio can improve after dishing 6.1 assists to 2.9 turnovers per game as a sophomore, and 3.9 helpers to 2.8 giveaways as a junior.
Holtmann spoke highly of Sotos in April, which was well before he realized the transfer guard would be eligible this year.
“Jimmy has good size, shooting ability and is a terrific passer,” Holtmann said. “He will sit out the upcoming season and provide experience in the 2021-22 season at the guard position. I know he is excited about using the year off to learn our program and grow as a player.”
For four free issues of the print edition of Buckeye Sports Bulletin, no card required, sign up at the link here: https://www.buckeyesports.com/subscribe-4issue-trial/
