Apparently, he had a great spring and should be a major contributor this coming season.
Here's a tweet from Jon Rothstein from CBS Sports. We all know we could use a 6-8 SG that can stroke it from the wing.
If Ross does live up to the hype, this is how I see the roster going into the season (all speculation):
PG Aaron Craft (6-2)
G Lenzelle Smith (6-5)
G LaQuinton Ross (6-8)
F Deshaun Thomas (6-7)
C Amir Williams (6-11)
Right off the bench:
PG Shannon Scott (6-0)
F Sam Thompson (6-6)
F Evan Ravenel (6-8)
Limited time:
G Amedeo Della Valle (6-5)
F Trey McDonald (6-9)
Although the squad lacks big man depth, this team could have more overall depth than in years past. Definetly a ton of talent on this squad.
this is great to hear...Ross looks impressive and has the tools, just needs to get rolling with his production. He'll be really important to OSU's Big 10 chances.
If Della Valle hits big shots, I'd like to see him play more often, but only when the matchup favors it
I thought Ross had to sit a year. I'm confused
"You'll be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the football field."
You may be thinking of Rodney Hood, the transfer who hasn't yet signed with anyone... but is friends with Ross.
Ross is a sophomore, played limited minutes last year due to academic ineligibility for part of the season, but was a highly rated prospect.
Music to my ears, cant wait to watch the bball bucks in action again!
I know there's a game saturday, and my ass will be there.
That is a very long OSU basketball team. And of course what Craft lacks in length he more than makes up for in tenacity. I really really like that roster-losing Sully won't be a deathknell afterall. In my opinion, that is about as deep as a team that Matta runs with anyway. If Amir can step his game up and become a little more aware on the court-this team is going to be terror to score on.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
Ross and Della Valle are two potential contributors IMHO.. Very excited about this team..
@Buck-I.8 wow I've lost my mind. Thanks for correcting me.
"You'll be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the football field."
David, that's the rotation I want to see, but I think we'll start off the season with Sam I Am starting in the SF spot, because Matta values defense above all else and Sam has shown that he can be disruptive in passing lanes and in his weakside help. That being said, I think it will quickly become apparent that a rotation with Thompson at the SF spot will not be effective offensively (teams will double and triple team Tank, the only dependable offensive player), and Matta will eventually relent and begin to start Ross. I think the inside-outside game between Tank and Ross will be devastating if they can develop a chemistry together, with Craft's slashing to the rim and Amir's pass and dunk game complementing them well. This will be a very intriguing season, offensively, and should provide a showcase for Jent's NBA sets (whereas, in the past, the offensive philosophy was more about just getting Sully the ball on the block, and not utilizing intricate plays).
Matt, you could definitely tell late last season that Thad loves Thompson. He's super athletic and can do things on defense that really change the game.
As he gets more PT, we'll start to see him average a few blocks per game and his rebound numbers will increase drastically.
I think that Thompson starting is very realistic as well. Ross can defintely be that boost that comes into the game, makes a few threes/scores some points when we can afford to give up some defense.
Although we haven't seen much of LaQuinton Ross, his game kind of reminds me of DerMarr Johnson as a freshman, for those of you who remember him. 6'9/206 shooter, played one season at Cincinnati and was drafted 6th overall.
Thompson's issue is his jumper looked average at best when he took shots outside of 6 feet. He, Craft, and Smith are all above average to great perimeter defenders though. Throw in Williams shot blocking ability and Ravenel playing tough inside and there's a lot of great defenders on the squad. Dare I say better than last year? (which btw, was the top 1 or 2 defense in efficiency according to Ken Pom)
Ross has tweeted he's been doing workouts where he goes until he hits 1000 shots. That's probably in the range of 1,600-2,000 shots a workout if they're not all layups....or if he shoots a ridiculous % uncontested.
D.T. will probably play 36+ minutes a game. Craft will probably play 35+ if there's no foul trouble. I can see Amir playing 25+ and Ravs coming in for him or Thomas when they need a break playing close to 20 minutes a game.
That leaves 85 or so game minutes for Smith, Ross, Thompson, and Scott. They should all be in that 20-30 minutes/game range barring foul trouble. Will make it tough for Della Valle unless he's Diebler-esque in his shooting and I don't see McDonald playing more than garbage time.