When Ohio coach John Groce recruited Walter Offutt to Ohio State as a Buckeye assistant, he didn’t envision that the prized recruit would soon leave the program. But Groce didn’t think he himself would either.
Nearly two years after he decided to follow his former coach to Athens, Offutt is not regretting the move.
“Looking back at it, I’ve had the opportunity to start here and play here,” Offutt said. “I think I’ve been doing well for myself and for my teammates. I just thank God for giving me the opportunity.”
Offutt was the first of four players to commit to the 2008 Ohio State recruiting class and would have celebrated his senior day in Columbus on Sunday had he stuck around.
Instead, the junior guard is the second leading scorer on a team with an identical 23-6 record to that of his former Buckeye mates.
But before ever scoring his first point as a Bobcat, Offutt was forced to sit out for almost two years in compliance with NCAA transfer regulations.
After appearing in only two games during the 2009–10 season, Offutt — who stopped at Wright State before coming to Athens — originally hoped he would not have to sit out another year after transferring to Ohio. The NCAA would not comply, though.
Now a key cog on a team that will return almost all of its assets next season, Offutt said sitting out last year might have been a blessing in disguise.
“It’s just something that works out,” Offutt said. “God puts certain stuff in our lives that just kind of work out. I get another year and everyone’s coming back, and it’s a great honor to play with this team.”
Point guard D.J. Cooper is also relishing the idea of keeping Offutt around for another year.
“It’s just going to build our chemistry and help guys come together and get closer,” Cooper said. “We’ll be a much older team, but were just looking forward to this year, as of right now.”
Although Offutt does not lead the team in any major statistical category, he ranks in the top three in almost all of them, including points, minutes, assists, steals and 3-pointers.
Offutt was named Mid-American Conference East Player of the Week after scoring a career-high 23 points against Buffalo last Wednesday.
At 12.4 points per game, Offutt ranks 13th in the MAC in scoring, an area Groce said has greatly improved since first recruiting him.
“The one thing that’s different about him now is he’s worked so hard to become a better shooter,” Groce said. “He’s always been a wolf. He’s always played hard and had a physical and mental nastiness about him.”
Though he said he occasionally misses the bright lights of Big Ten basketball, Offutt said the ability to start every game at Ohio has made the switch worth it.
“Everybody would want to play in front of big fans and TV and ESPN all the time, but I enjoy playing here,” Offutt said. “We control our own destiny right now. If you want to get on TV, you want to be in the tournament, just win. That’s what we’ve got to do in these next couple games heading into next week.”
One component that has allowed Offutt to thrive at Ohio is his relationship with Groce, which began while Offutt was in middle school.
Groce said the mutual trust between himself and Offutt has allowed Offutt to grow into one of the team’s leaders.
“He’s a great example for the other guys in terms of how he deals with criticism, how he deals with success,” Groce said. “He’s a guy our guys want to follow because of how hard he works, how tough he is, and how good of a person and how good of a student he is. You combine those things and he has instant credibility as soon as he walks in the gym.”
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