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247sports.com
Ohio State's Bruce Thornton taking on a bigger leadership role, must keep developing
Ohio State’s most impactful player from the team’s talented 2022 recruiting class has been Brice Sensabaugh. A quick look at the stats shows Sensabaugh as the team’s leading scorer, by more than four points per game, and the second-leading rebounder. But the team’s most important freshman is Bruce Thornton.
The point guard out of Alpharetta, Georgia was a starter from Day 1 for the Buckeyes and hasn’t relinquished that role. He has run the offense, been the first line of defense and received high praise from both his teammates and head coach Chris Holtman
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“Bruce is great, and I really believe he's gonna be one of the best point guards in the country here before his time’s done,” Holtmann said after the Scarlet and Gray’s recent 93-77 win against Iowa. “I have no question about that in my mind. He's gonna be one of the best point guards in the country before his time here is done.”
Over halfway through his freshman season, Thornton’s numbers haven’t been standout. He averages 8.7 points per game on 41.9 percent shooting. The former four-star prospect, who was the No. 10 point guard in his class, dishes out 2.8 assists per contest but has also turned the ball over 1.6 times per game.
It has been rare that Thornton has “taken over” a game so far in his freshman season. His career high in points is 17, something he did against both Cincinnati and North Carolina, but he’s had five or fewer points five times this year. Thornton reads the game well but he doesn’t make ridiculous passes and has never had more than two steals in a game. Yet when Thornton plays well, his fingerprints are all over the game.
One of Thornton’s key attributes that has been important for Ohio State this season has been his leadership. Not only does he run the team when he’s on the court, but Thornton has grown more comfortable speaking up as the year has progressed and, because of this, Holtmann has started to include the freshman in meetings with the captains.
“I feel like it's an honor to just be a captain on any Big Ten team for me honestly,” Thornton said. “Just trying to just figure it out and still growing at the same time. But the main thing for me is to use my voice, seeing stuff that I can help people with. If I keep it to myself, I'm hurting the team. That's me being selfish. So me just being more vocal.”
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