Ohio State’s Weatherspoon transferring to UT
Written by Zach Davis | | zdavis@toledofreepress.comSince becoming the head coach at Toledo, Tod Kowalczyk has made his mark recruiting transfers. Now he has added another to his stable.
Ohio State forward J.D. Weatherspoon will be joining the UT men’s basketball program after sitting out this year due to NCAA transfer rules. He will be eligible to play beginning in 2013 as a junior.
Tod Kowalczyk, photo by Nick Kneer
“J.D. brings a great deal of athleticism and excitement to our program and we are happy to welcome him to our Rocket family,” Kowalczyk said. “He’s a forward that plays above the rim and is a very good rebounder at both ends of the floor. I think a year to sit out and work on his skill level will benefit J.D. greatly, and we look forward to him being an impact player for us as a junior.”
Weatherspoon, a 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward from Columbus, averaged 3.0 points and 1.1 rebounds in 25 games as a sophomore. Although he played just 6.3 minutes per game last season, Weatherspoon shot a team-high 61.7 percent (29 of 47) from the field in limited action.
In his freshman season, Weatherspoon played in just 10 games before being ruled academically ineligible for the second half of the season. He averaged 1.8 points and 0.8 rebounds in 2010.
Weatherspoon scored a career-high 10 points on Nov. 23 against VMI. He also was featured on ESPN’s news program SportsCenter in its “Top 10 Plays” segment with a dunk against Miami (OH) on Dec. 22.
Among the transfers who have played under Kowalczyk are senior guard Dominique Buckley (Iowa State), junior guard Rian Pearson (Wisconsin-Green Bay), senior guard Curtis Dennis (New Mexico), junior forward Matt Smith (Wisconsin-Green Bay), and former forward Anthony Wright (Michigan).
Tags: forward, J.D. Weatherspoon, Ohio State University, Rockets basketball, Tod Kowalczyk, transfer, Zach Davis
