Williams’ suspension is lifted

Ohio State’s quest for a Big Ten regular-season title in men’s basketball will commence with a full roster.

Coach Chris Holtmann said Wednesday that fifth-year senior guard Kam Williams will return to the active roster after serving what amounted to a threegame suspension for a violation of team rules.

Holtmann did not specify, however, that Williams would return to the starting lineup for a game Thursday night at Penn State.

“We had conversations and meetings that I’ll leave private, but he’s fulfilled those (obligations),” Holtmann said in announcing the lifting of the suspension. “I don’t know if I can be necessarily certain what it will look like in terms of his role because obviously we’ve played well in this last stretch. He’ll have to earn his way back to whatever role gives our team the best chance of winning.”

Williams’ suspension was announced about two hours before a home game Feb. 4 against Illinois. Sophomore forward Andre Wesson replaced him in the starting lineup and helped the Buckeyes earn successive wins against the Fighting Illini, at then-No. 3 Purdue and at home against Iowa.

The starting lineup of C.J. Jackson, Jae’Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop, Kaleb Wesson and Andre Wesson also has given the Buckeyes some greater flexibility.

“I think it balanced us more on the defensive end,” Jackson said. “Andre’s ability to make shots helps us a lot, and defensively we’re able to guard a little bit better with him and Keita and JT being able to switch a lot of these screens that we have to go through. Defensively, it stabilizes us a little bit more.”

In 24 appearances that include 16 starts, Williams is fifth on the team in scoring with an average of 8.0 points while shooting 46.3 percent (31 of 67) from three-point range.

For the season, Andre Wesson has averaged 2.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in 27 appearances but had a 13-point performance in the Buckeyes’ upset win at Purdue.

Holtmann said both Williams and Andre Wesson “have strengths that they bring” and indicated that Williams’ return could mean fewer minutes for him as well as other players.

“It’s something that could be very fluid on a game-to-game basis,” Holtmann said. “We have won three here in (Williams’) absence, and right now it’s not my intent to change the lineup. Could I make that change (Wednesday) after watching practice? Sure, but I’m not certain that’s what I’m going to do.”