Ohio State point guard C.J. Walker out indefinitely with hand injury

According to a release from Ohio State basketball head coach Chris Holtmann, guard C.J. Walker will be out indefinitely with a hand injury.

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The Ohio State basketball program isn’t headed in an optimistic direction these days. The Buckeyes just got blitzed by a good — not great — Minnesota team to push their Big Ten record below .500. That was followed by a postponed game against Penn State because of COVID-19 issues within the Nittany Lion program.

And now, according to a statement from head coach Chris Holtmann, the team will be without the leadership and steady hand of senior point guard C.J. Walker indefinitely because of torn ligaments in his right hand.

“CJ has battled this hand injury since our first preseason scrimmage and as the pain and discomfort has increased it became clear to him and our medical staff that he needed to rest and rehab in hopes his hand will heal,” head coach Chris Holtmann said in a statement. “His leadership and toughness in battling this through 11 games has been really impressive. Obviously he is very important to our team but I’m most disappointed for CJ because I know how much work he put in during the offseason. CJ will closely remain with our team while he rests and rehabs his hand.”

This is another shot of adversity for a team that’s already trying to get the team fully healthy to make a run towards the postseason. And while this year’s team has more depth and ball-handling at the guard position than the most recent teams, the loss still leaves a huge hole.

Walker is the catalyst that gets the team into its sets by bringing the ball up the court in the midst of pressure, gets those involved around him, and has shown the ability to get in the lane and score when the team is in a scoring drought. Without him, the duties to bring the ball up the court will most likely now rely on guards Duane Washington, Jr. and Jimmy Sotos.

Walker is averaging 8.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. Hopefully, he gets the rest he needs and gets back healthier and ready for an end of the season run.

Ohio State is next in action at Rutgers on Saturday.