Ohio State's Chris Holtmann on Baylor's Dale Bonner: 'Fastest player we've coached here'
Roddy Gayle and Bruce Thornton converged on the basket at the same time. With the ball in his hands, Thornton was able to finish at the rim as his classmate and teammate did everything in his power to stop the shot attempt.
It’s the type of play that happened dozens if not hundreds of times last season during Ohio State men’s basketball practice. What happened next, though, was a strong indicator that this year could be a different story. Almost immediately, the ball was in Dale Bonner’s hands, and the graduate transfer guard from Baylor was up the court in the blink of an eye.
His pace allowed him to beat a few defenders, approach midcourt and fire a pass up the left wing to a wide-open Jamison Battle. With the defense still chasing, the Minnesota graduate transfer took the pass, squared up and calmly sank the transition 3-pointer. He’ll be expected to make a lot of those for the Buckeyes this year, like Brice Sensabaugh and Justice Sueing were expected to do last season. Gayle and Thornton will be featured offensive players tasked with helping make the Buckeyes run.
But that speed and pace that led to the transition bucket? That’s all Bonner, and it’s something that could have as big an impact on how Ohio State will play this season as anything.
“He gives us a speed we’ve never had,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “He’s the fastest player we’ve coached here from end-to-end, for sure. He just has tremendous quickness and speed with the ball.”
Ohio State has had talented guards during Holtmann’s six seasons. Malaki Branham earned Big Ten freshman of the year honors in 2021-22 and went No. 20 in the subsequent NBA draft. Duane Washington Jr. played his way into the NBA after three years. Thornton and Gayle, both sophomores, will arguably have the biggest say in what this year’s ceiling and floor could be.
There are others, as well, but none of them have brought the ability to change the tempo of a game like how the Buckeyes have described Bonner. Ohio State was 247th nationally in adjusted tempo last season according to KenPom.com.
“It helps me on both ends of the floor,” Bonner said. “Defense, being able to read the offense or stay in front of the ballhandler. That helps me a lot. Offense, transition, getting out and running, using my speed in every aspect. I think it’s a really good thing.”
That was evident in Ohio State’s charity exhibition game at Dayton on Sunday. Although lineups were mixed and minutes distributed a bit more evenly than they will when the games count for real, Bonner played 26:01 off the bench. It was the second-most playing time among the Buckeyes, and he finished with 4 points on 1 of 6 shooting, four steals and three assists. He also had four turnovers.
Fourth-year center Zed Key said Bonner is the fastest guard he’s ever seen. At Ohio State’s media day, Gayle said he’s excited to play with more pace this year.
“That’s one of the ways I want to play,” he said. “Dale’s speed, it’s great for our offense because he can get downhill at any time. It gives me an opportunity to spot up every time we run the floor.”
Some of the turnovers will be worked out as the actual season approaches and Bonner and his new teammates get more accustomed to each other. It’s clear, though that the Buckeyes plan on utilizing his pace at both ends of the floor. Holtmann said they will play lineups featuring Thornton, Gayle and Bonner together and that he expects the new addition to take on a more significant role than the one he played for the Bears.
Last year, Bonner averaged 4.7 points, 2.7 assists and 1.4 steals while playing 19.4 minutes per game in a backcourt that also included first-round NBA draft pick Keyonte George and all-Big 12 guard LJ Cryer. The year prior, those numbers were 3.1, 1.5 and 0.9, respectively, while sharing backcourt minutes with first-team all-Big 12 guard James Akinjo.
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Now he will be expected to do more while meshing with Thornton and Gayle this year.
“He’s a little bit slight in build but he’s been able to really shoot the ball,” Holtmann said. “We’re going to need him to play a bigger role. He was playing behind a couple NBA guys at Baylor. I think he’s ready for it.”
In more than one way, the answers will come quickly. And there still might be more Bonner hasn’t shown yet.
“Sometimes, I don’t realize how slow I might be going,” he said. “(Holtmann) always tells me I have an extra gear. When I hear that, I try to turn on my extra gear and do whatever I need to do.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Dale Bonner's speed, pace bringing new tempo to Ohio State's plans
