I've seen a lot of comments concerning Marcus Carr or adding another guard to the mix for next season.  I am certainly not opposed to it, and Keith Mitchell from Cincy seems like a particularly good fit.

But I also am not concerned if Holtmann feels comfortable staying put with the group has.  Let's remember, the Buckeyes had 3 true guards lined up to play for the 2020-21 season.

1. Duane Washington

2. CJ Walker

3. Abel Porter

Duane obviously had a strong season, buoyed by the fact his 2 point pct dramatically improved in the last 12 games of the season.  CJ had some great moments and a solid season. But he also missed 4 games due to a hand injury (had only missed 2 in his previous 3 seasons) and had the worst 3 point shooting numbers (27%) of his career, maybe because of his injury.  And Porter obviously never played and we never had a viable replacement. Meechie performed admirably given the situation, but played only 98 mins over 17 games. Sotos played really well in his one opportunity for major mins (@Rutgers, more on that later), but was lost for the season after that game. And Sotos was supposed to redshirt as was Meechie should have been a senior in HS if not for Porter's injury. And I know it is hard to shake that Oral Roberts loss, but this team went 19-6 when both Kyle Young and EJ Liddell were available. That's with 3 true guards (only 2 for a couple games) with the 3rd option being less than ideal and averaging about 6 mins a game.

As for 2021-22, this is where they stand:

1. Jamari Wheeler- obviously added due to his defensive reputation (2 time All Defensive Team in Big 10), but his offense seems to be on the upswing. His offense was a non factor his first 2 years at psu, and was only marginally better as far as volume as a Junior and the first half of last season.  But he really turned it on down the stretch as far as volume and his efficiency actually improved:

First 14 games: 5.1 ppg, 36% FG pct, 35% 3pt FG pct, 1 double digit scoring game (Virginia Military Institute)

Last 11 games: 9.0 ppg, 43% FG pct, 36% 3pt FG pct, 6 double digit scoring games (all Big 10 opponents)

2. Jimmy Sotos- I know people aren't going to get excited about a Bucknell transfer. But since I am crazy, I have rewatched nearly every osu bball game this summer. And in my humble opinion, our best offensive performance for 2 halves (nothing beats the 1st half against Purdue in the BTT) was against Rutgers. They were the #16 team in the country in def efficiency and the Buckeyes carved them up for 79 pts without Duane (17 pts, 6-14 shooting) or EJ (15 pts) having an elite performance. And a lot of that was due to Jimmy, who had to have a near +20 plus/minus in that game. And I know it is just one game, but he is a damn good passer (6 assists a game on a 21 win Bucknell team his soph season), has good size (6'3") and is a solid outside shooter (mid 30s for his career from 3pt land). I think Branham will likely start, either from the get go or take over by January or so, but I think Sotos is going to play a  10-20 min role regardless. And I think fans will be surprised how well he does.

3. Malaki Branham- The big question mark for Branham is his outside shot.  But the good thing is, if he is out there with our primary bigs (Young and Liddell) and either Sueing or Ahrens at the wing, the spacing should be great for him to do serious damage taking the ball to the rack, where he thrives. He also has a great mid range reputation.

4. Meechie Johnson- I am probably higher than most on Sotos and more reserved on Meechie. That being said, Meechie did not shy away from taking and making some big shots and I thought his defense was better than expected given the situation (his block on Brad Davison was a major highlight for the season). And I still believe he has a high ceiling (probably a Top 75 recruit if he stayed in the 2021 class) and is a damn good 3rd/4th option to have.

Not any one of those players is going to replace Duane's scoring ability. But we don't need them to do that. If Wheeler and Branham can each get us 7-10 and Meechie and Sotos can get us 4-7, that's right at the 25.9 that Duane and CJ combined to score. And I don't think those scoring numbers are crazy high expectations.

And on the defensive front, losing a player with the worst defensive rating (DW) and an average defender (CJ) and adding a 2 time All league defender and 3 guys with decent size/athleticism has the potential to be a major upgrade in that area.