Selecting 3-on-3 Teams from Coaching Eras of Ohio State Basketball

By Chris Lauderback on June 15, 2017 at 11:05 am
Herb Williams, Dennis Hopson and Clark Kellogg make up the 3-on-3 squad from the Eldon Miller era.
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With the announcement last Friday that 3-on-3 basketball will make its debut at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, my wheels starting turning on which Buckeye players would make the best such team from each of the coaching eras dating back to Eldon Miller. 

I reached back only that far because I wanted to select players that I actually saw play and Miller's era (1977-86), particularly from about 1983 going forward, is where that happened. 

As such, that puts players from the Miller, Gary Williams, Randy Ayers, Jim O'Brien and Thad Matta eras in the mix. 

How you might shape your teams could very well differ from mine but as you get ready to dispense your #takes in the comments, keep in mind 3-on-3 basketball awards one point for buckets inside the arc and two points for buckets outside of it. The winning team gets 21 points first or else has the lead after 10 minutes of play. 

With that, let's get to it. 

ELDON MILLER ERA: DENNIS HOPSON, HERB WILLIAMS, CLARK KELLOGG

Miller's run at Ohio State included four trips to the NCAA tournament as the program largely underachieved on his watch. That said, his 10-year run produced a handful of pretty talented guys. The second-tier of such players would include Carter Scott, Ron Stokes, Troy Taylor, Jimmy Smith, Brad Sellers and Granville Waiters. 

The five players in the top-tier, which I tried to whittle down to three guys, include Dennis Hopson, Herb Williams, Clark Kellogg, Tony Campbell and Kelvin Ransey. 

Hopson makes the team as my lead dog. I like his 6 foot, 5 inch frame in a 3-on-3 battle because it makes him a pretty versatile defender and obviously his biggest strength is being able to get buckets in a multitude of ways. Hopson averaged 20.9 points as a junior and 29.0 as a senior and did it on the strength of 52% shooting. He's a lock.

The only question here was if he should be on Miller's squad or if I should move him to the Gary Williams trio. I went with Miller since that's who recruited Hopson to Columbus and he only played one year (albeit an incredible one) for Williams. 

Joining Hopson is Special K, Clark Kellogg. At 6-foot-7, Kellogg's versatility is also a plus as I like his ability to score with his back to the basket or facing up. Kellogg averaged 17.3 points and 12.0 rips as a sophomore in Columbus with career marks of 14.9 points and 10.1 boards. 

The last spot came down to Herb Williams, Campbell and Ransey. 

It really was a toss up but I took Williams and is 6-foot, 10-inch frame though even as I type I could easily settle for Ransey or Campbell. 

Ransey could get his own shot (21.4 ppg as a junior) and his 49% career shooting percentage ain't bad for a little guy. Campbell could fill it too. He averaged basically 19 points per game over his final two seasons with six boards. He was smooth on the baseline. 

Still, I'm going with Herbie here. He averaged 20 points per game as sophomore, shot 50% from the floor and cleaned the glass to the tune of 9.7 a night. 

For what it's worth, Campbell would be my fourth guy ahead of Ransey. 

GARY WILLIAMS ERA: JAY BURSON, JERRY FRANCIS, PERRY CARTER

So yeah, this team is kinda booty in comparison to the others but that's what happens when you're only drawing players from a three-season tenure. 

Before bolting to Maryland, Williams produced two 20-win seasons in Columbus but just one NCAA dance bid as his Buckeyes went 24-30 in league play. 

Hopson would easily be the crown jewel of the Williams trio but since Miller brought him to Columbus and Dennis only played one year for GW, I couldn't use him to prop up this squad. 

Jay Burson averaged 22.1 points per game in his final season at Ohio State.

Instead, I landed on Jay Burson, Jerry Francis and Perry Carter. The only other names to draw consideration include freshman Jaamal Brown and Tony White. 

Barely 6-foot tall, Burson headlines this squad thanks to a ridiculous ability to get his own shot and respectable range. Burson averaged 18.9 points per game and another 22.1 over his final two years at Ohio State while shooting 41% from deep. He was also a fairly pesky defender considering his slight frame averaging 2.0 steals per game.

Columbus Wehrle product Jerry Francis joins Burson after a three-year run under Williams in which he averaged anywhere from 11.2 to 15.4 points per game with more than five boards. At 6-foot 5-inches, Francis played bigger than his height. 

Rounding out the Williams squad is Perry Carter. This dude was chiseled and despite lacking soft hands in the pivot he still averaged around 14 points per game over his final three seasons with eight boards. Like Francis, he played a little bigger than his size. It's worth noting Carter played two years for Williams and two for Randy Ayers but I pushed him to the GW team since he had no shot at making the Ayers squad. 

RANDY AYERS ERA: JIM JACKSON, LAWRENCE FUNDERBURKE, DEREK ANDERSON

The Ayers era spanned eight years offering a slew of talented guys with which to compare and contrast.

This was still a pretty easy selection process as Jim Jackson, Lawrence Funderburke and Derek Anderson fit nicely together. 

Jackson is an obvious choice for a ton of reasons. His 6-foot 6-inch frame is perfect for 3-on-3, he could score efficiently averaging anywhere from 16.1 to 22.1 points over his three seasons in Columbus on 50% shooting, he was a willing and gifted passer and a capable rebounder. The two-time B1G Player of the Year also wanted the ball in his hands with the game on the line. 

Funderburke works for this team because he can score with his back to the basket or off the face up. He averaged between 12.2 and 16.3 points per game during his three seasons and was always north of 6.5 rebounds. I like his 54% shooting as well. 

Rounding out my Ayers squad is Derek Anderson. The lanky wing who played two seasons at OSU before transferring to Kentucky averaged 15.0 points per game as a sophomore while adding a solid 4.9 assists and 4.9 boards. 

I love the overall versatility this threesome brings to the court as well as their collective willingness to find the open the man. 

I considered Brown, Mark Baker and Jamie Skelton but I think I got this one right. 

If you're interested the next tier included Chris Jent and Treg Lee. 

JIM O'BRIEN ERA: MICHAEL REDD, SCOONIE PENN, TERENCE DIALS

Fresh from a 10-year run at Boston College, Jim O'Brien lasted eight seasons in Columbus before leaving the program in shambles. 

Of course, his run produced a Final Four appearance and a handful of truly great college players. 

Headlining the O'Brien squad is Michael Redd. The Columbus West product spent three years at Ohio State and lit up the scoreboard averaging between 17.3 and 21.9 points per night with roughly six boards. 

Michael Redd averaged 21.9 points per game as a freshman.

His 6-foot 6-inch frame is ideal for a 3-on-3 game and his ability to create his own shot is inarguable. His only real drawback is 32% accuracy from distance at the collegiate level which some people forget because he went on to be a much better marksman at the pro level (38% over 12 seasons) despite it being a longer shot. 

Joining Redd is Scoonie Penn. Though his height could be exposed in a 3-on-3 setting, Penn could fill it averaging 16.3 points per game at Ohio State (2 seasons). 

The B1G Player of the Year as a junior, he tallied 16.9 points, 3.9 boards and 4.3 assists while hitting 38% from deep. And while that size is an issue, he could also pick pockets averaging 2.2 steals as a senior. 

Rounding out this threesome is Terence Dials. He gives the trio some size at 6-foot 9-inches and a solid back to the basket scorer. 

Dials averaged over 15 points on the strength of 56% shooting with eight boards during his final two seasons at Ohio State, winning B1G Player of the Year honors in 2005-06. 

The Youngstown product didn't star for O'Brien – instead doing so for Thad Matta – but I slotted him on OB's team since he recruited Dials to Columbus and Terence didn't make the cut on Matta's squad which brings me to.. 

THAD MATTA ERA: EVAN TURNER, JARED SULLINGER, GREG ODEN

Obviously, this was the toughest list to trim down to three players and frankly, I don't know if I got it right but I'm not sure exactly what I'd do differently. 

Matta's 13-year tenure produced so many talented guys that you could field at least two 3-on-3 teams capable of competing with the others on this list. 

I went with Evan Turner, Jared Sullinger and Greg Oden but depending on how you wanted to construct your trio here, cases can be made for Mike Conley, D'Angelo Russell, Jon Diebler, David Lighty, William Buford, Ron Lewis, Deshaun Thomas and holy crap I'll stop now. 

I wanted to make room for Conley because he's a personal favorite but his size concerns me especially when Turner can handle the point in a 3-on-3 game no problem. Russell carried the 2014-15 Buckeyes (19.3/5.7/5.0) but again, who do you replace? Diebler is obviously a bomber but could he defend elite wings with limited help? Thomas has a game built for 3-on-3 and was probably my next man up. 

Anyhoo, Turner is my absolute lock because he did so many things well. During his AP Player of the Year season he put up 20.4 points, 9.2 boards, 6.0 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 52% overall and 36% from deep (it should be noted he attempted just 55 triples). His 6-foot 7-inch frame also plays well in this setting.

Sullinger was a double-double machine averaging 17.3 points and 9.2 boards across two seasons. A serviceable ball-handler at 6-foot-9, Sullinger could face up or use his butt to clear space in the paint. 

The final member of the Matta squad is Greg Oden. I tabbed Oden primarily for his defense (9.6 boards, 3.3 blocks) but he also averaged 15.7 points per game (62% shooting!) despite averaging barely 29 minutes often due to foul trouble. 

Hard to argue against any of these guys but again, with so much talent to choose from, I could see different strategies create different lineups. 

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