Bucknell transfer Jimmy Sotos receives NCAA waiver for immediate eligibility

Jimmy Sotos will get to play for Ohio State this season after all.

After the Bucknell transfer guard had an initial waiver for immediate eligibility turned down by the NCAA, a second waiver request has been approved today. A senior, Sotos will now be counted on to provide important depth one day after Utah State graduate transfer Abel Porter’s career ended due to a medical condition.

"Everyone’s still reeling from the sad news about Abel but we were so glad to hear that all the doctors expect him to live a full and healthy life, albeit without being able to play ball," Sotos' father, Jim, told The Dispatch. "As far as Jimmy, we couldn’t be happier for him and we are so appreciative of all the efforts of OSU and its compliance professionals as well as the NCAA in considering and granting his waiver request.”

While at Bucknell, Sotos played In 100 career games during three seasons and averaged 8.1 points, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game. He has 77 career starts and has started all but one game during the last two seasons. Last year, he was the only player to start all 34 games and he became the first Bison since 2010-11 and the eighth ever to lead the team in both scoring (11.5 points) and assists (3.9).

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He gives the Buckeyes three true guards for the 2020-21 season. Sotos is expected to serve as a primary backup to fifth-year senior CJ Walker and junior Duane Washington Jr.

“We got word on that this morning,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said in a short video posted to Twitter. “We appreciate the work of our compliance office and the NCAA’s consideration.”

Sotos picked Ohio State after receiving interest from Gonzaga, Minnesota, Missouri, Vanderbilt and Xavier, among others. He had initially planned to sit out the season and spend the year acclimating to the system but instead began the waiver process about two months ago.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy