Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen had to prove himself a little bit off the regular college basketball path, at the University of Central Arkansas. That didn't stop him from becoming a Hall of Famer.
His son, Justin, has had a more conventional path in college hoops, and this season marks a new beginning for Justin Pippen.
Pippen transferred in the offseason to Ohio State, where the Buckeyes are hoping to be a program on the rise with a strong mix of returners, top freshmen and transfers.
It's actually looking like it could be a tougher rotation to break into than Justin Pippen may have expected, but with the season beginning next week, this is a look at how things are going for him so far.
Ohio State played two exhibition games with official stats, so we can break those down to learn a few things.
The first exhibition was actually an awesome one — it was outdoors at the usual home of the tennis Cincinnati Open.
Ohio State took on Cincinnati, and Pippen came off the bench for 22 minutes. He scored eight points on 3-for-6 shooting, including 1-for-2 from 3-point range. He made just 1-of-4 free throws (although we'll give him a pass in the outdoor setting). Pippen also had three rebounds, one turnover and one foul.
The Buckeyes lost that exhibition 79-68.
They ended up winning their second exhibition game over Butler, 82-73.
Pippen started that game and played 25 minutes. He shot just 1-for-7 from the floor (0-2 3FG) but made 8-of-9 free throws to give him 10 points. Pippen added four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, four turnovers and three fouls.
It wasn't the perfect showing in the exhibition slate for Pippen, but the fact that he got to the line and made a defensive impact when given a chance to start the second exhibition has to be a positive step for him.
Pippen was a top-100 recruit in the Class of 2024 out of Sierra Canyon in California.
He first went to Michigan where he averaged just 6.7 minutes per game in 28 games as a freshman in 2024-25.
Pippen's transfer to Cal for 2025-26 helped his career. He started all 32 games and averaged 30.8 minutes per game.
At Cal, Pippen averaged 14.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He shot 32.7% from 3-point range.
He used that performance with the Golden Bears to get a springboard back into the Big Ten, where he'll be the rare player to be on both sides of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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