The hours are ticking off the clock until “basketball thirty” resumes in The Convo when Ohio tips off its season Saturday against Northern Iowa.
Although this year’s Bobcats bunch does not have the NCAA Tournament expectations that the past two squads had entering the year, it doesn’t mean Ohio won’t be able to accomplish the same feats.
We all know that the D.J. Cooper era is over and the familiar faces of Ivo Baltic and Reggie Keely are also gone, given that the trio signed to play professionally with different European clubs this fall.
However, a roster filled with new and familiar faces is looking to turn the page and begin a chapter of its own.
Stevie Taylor, a junior, and Javarez “Bean” Willis, a redshirt junior, appear ready to fill the point this season. Willis did not play in last week’s scrimmage against Ashland because of a one-game suspension, so Taylor played the majority of the game and finished with a well-rounded 10 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.
Willis, a transfer from Texas Tech, is one of eight players who will suit up for the Green and White for the first time Saturday. He’s joined by a pair of transfer forwards Maurice Ndour, a junior from Monroe College, and Treg Setty, a redshirt sophomore from Southern Illinois.
With a wealth of talent throughout the roster, Ohio coach Jim Christian had yet to set a lineup for Saturday as of Thursday, and the second-year coach joked after last week’s scrimmage that he could realistically pull his team’s lineup out of a hat.
I’ll call his bluff and assume that he has a plan about which players will be leading the team this season. However, I appreciate his point, which was that he’s designed this team to be deep and not reliant on one player’s success game in and game out.
As is the case every year in the Mid-American Conference, the regular season does not hold much merit for most teams’ postseason hopes, but if Ohio can gain experience from games against Ohio State, Valparaiso, and the rest of the MAC, who knows what its possibilities could be.
After a disappointing finish to last season, the new group of Bobcats could coast under the radar and surprise most this season.
Chad Lindskog is the Sports Editor of The Post and a junior studying journalism. What are you looking forward to this men’s basketball season? Let him know at @ChadLindskog or cl027410@ohiou.edu.
