Former Ohio State Buckeyes' Sharpshooter Jamison Battle Inks Deal With Toronto Raptors

There's a new former Ohio State bucket-getter in Toronto.

Mar 26, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Jamison Battle (10) applauds the crowd following the NIT quarterfinals loss to the Georgia Bulldogs at Value City Arena. Ohio State lost 79-77. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

Months after Toronto-born artist Drake performed in Columbus, the city will be welcoming a Buckeye of their own.

The Toronto Raptors signed former Ohio State forward Jamison Battle to an Exhibit 10 NBA deal Tuesday, as reported by Sportsnet's Blake Murphy.

The Raptors have signed Jamison Battle, as suggested they should within!

It's an Exhibit 10 deal, per a source. So camp, battle for a spot, bonus if he's cut and joins 905. https://t.co/Y9WpxOjkxn

— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) July 17, 2024

As a part of the Raptors NBA2K25 Summer League team, Battle has averaged 7.7 points in three games on better than 50-50-100 splits (albeit a small sample size), but this is nothing new for the 3-point specialist. In his one season with Ohio State, Battle finished second in scoring with 15.3 points on near 50-40-90 splits.

Last season was the closest he was to achieving the feat in his college career.

Although Battle never played in the NCAA Tournament, he showed out for all three of his teams in college. He started off in Washington D.C. at George Washington, where he averaged more than 14 points per game on 36% shooting from downtown before transferring to Minnesota.

Feb 22, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Jamison Battle (10) shoots as Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Braeden Carrington (4) defends during the second half at Williams Arena. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

There in Minneapolis, Battle got the chance to play just 11 miles from his home town of Robbinsdale, Minnesota, where he put up career numbers across the board. In his junior season, Battle averaged 17.5 points and 6.3 rebounds in 36.7 minutes per game — all career highs for him.

Although his second year at Minnesota wasn't as good statistically, he arrived in Columbus for his final year of eligibility and helped give Buckeye fans a season to remember.

Despite narrowly missing out on the tournament, Battle helped Ohio State to the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals. There he posted 20 points per game in the tournament. Along the way in the regular season, however, Battle was instrumental to a Buckeye team which took down then No. 1 Purdue on its way to finishing 7-3 through the postseason.

Of course, Battle can continue his sharpshooting in Toronto, an area where the team severely underperformed last season. The Raptors finished 27th in 3-point percentage and 22nd in attempts, to go along with being 23rd in opponent 3-point defense.