OSU Basketball: Sibert, Weatherspoon Transferring

It was announced today by The Ohio State University Men’s Basketball program that sophomore guard Jordan Sibert and sophomore forward J.D. Weatherspoon were transferring out of the program. The moves leave the Buckeyes with just nine scholarship players for the 2012-2013 season.

Sibert, a 6’4″ guard out of Cincinnati, played in 24 games this season, averaging 3.0 points and shooting 30.4% in 11.4 minutes per game. Jordan actually played in one more game last season with similar statistics but played in just 4 of the team’s final 18 games for a total of 11 minutes, losing playing time in favor of freshmen Sam Thompson and Shannon Scott. Sibert was effective for stretches on defense his freshman campaign, but he never shook his shooting deficiencies, shooting under 30% in his Ohio State career. Sibert was a four-star recruit, ranked 82nd in ESPNU’s Top 100 prospects in 2010.

Weatherspoon, a 6’6″ forward, was a teammate of Jared Sullinger’s at Columbus Northland High School, and he was ineligible for part of his freshman campaign due to academic issues. This season, ‘Spoon saw some time as Deshaun Thomas’s backup at the four spot. With the ability to rattle off highlight reel dunks, ‘Spoon struggled to consistently get minutes as Thomas became more of a go-to player, averaging 3.0 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.0 minutes per game. Weatherspoon was a three-star recruit not ranked in the Top 100 by ESPNU.

The team is left with four guards (Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr., Thompson, Scott), two forwards (Thomas, LaQuinton Ross), and three centers (Evan Ravenel, Amir Williams, and Trey McDonald) at this point in time.