By Seth Davis

During his first week of practice as an Ohio State freshman, David Lighty, a 6-foot-5 swingman from Cleveland, was so dominant in a full-court, zig-zag defensive drill that he nearly brought the exercise to a halt. "He was turning the guy over and over. The line of guys going next was all backed up," Ohio State coach Thad Matta recalls. Though it was early in Lighty's college career, Matta sensed the kid could be something special. "I told him right there, 'I've never seen anything like that. If you play your cards right, you could be the best defender who ever played at Ohio State.' " Matta says.

That was a huge compliment, but it is not the sort that a freshman usually likes to hear. After all, Lighty was a big-time scorer at Villa Angela-St. Joseph High. He once put up 50 points in a game, he averaged nearly 28 points a game as a senior and as a result was ranked by Scout.com as the No. 30 player in his class. But Lighty was also smart enough to realize that when you come to college with a class that includes Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook and Greg Oden, your best chance at earning playing time is not going to be as a scorer. So he had to find other ways to make himself valuable.

In other words, he had to turn himself into a Glue Guy.

Lighty embraced Matta's challenge to be a great defender while applying a variety of skills to blend in at the offensive end. As a freshman, he played 32 minutes a game by doing a little bit of everything, averaging 9.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists. But it was on the defensive end that he made his mark, especially during the Buckeyes' run to the national championship game, when he showed he could blanket both bigger and smaller players. His signature performance came in the Final Four against Georgetown, when he held the Hoyas' 6-9 forward Jeff Green to nine points on five shots. "I still show clips of that game to teach our guys how to defend," Matta says.

Lighty missed all but seven games last season with a broken foot, but he has come back this season to lead Ohio State to a 24-7 regular-season record, a share of the Big Ten title and a chance at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. He is still not the featured player in Ohio State's offense -- we all know that is Evan Turner -- but he is excelling in all areas of the game, both tangible and intangible. For all of his varied and often unnoticed contributions, Lighty has been bestowed the ultimate honor for college basketball's unsung heroes: the captaincy of SI.com's 11th annual All-Glue team.

A Glue Guy is hard to define but easy to spot. You certainly won't pick him out by reading the stat sheet. He's the guy who sets screens, dives for loose balls and makes the extra pass. He embraces the chance to defend the opponent's best player and doesn't complain that he's not getting enough shots. He is a leader and a good teammate. He has an unusual combination of skills, like a big guy who can shoot or a guard who gets rebounds. And lest you think that tabbing someone a Glue Guy is damning him with faint praise, he also demonstrates at times that he could be a featured performer if called upon. Why does he suppress those abilities? Because that's what his team needs, and it's a Glue Guy's job to hold everything together.

Lighty was called upon to produce more in January, after Turner went out with a back injury and Lighty had to assume many of Turner's point guard responsibilities. After his first outing, in which he had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists in a loss at Butler, Matta said Lighty "literally played nine positions out there." During the six games when Turner was out, Lighty averaged 16.8 points (he scored 30 in a win over Cleveland State), 5.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Having proven the ability to score, many players would continue to seek those numbers even after Turner returned. But Lighty was happy to return to Gluedom, and the Buckeyes haven't lost a step.

"You can't be selfish and win games," Lighty says. "I guess a lot of players come out of high school and want to say it's all on me, it's my ball, but I tried to come in with the mindset to help my team win."

Lighty brings this winning attitude every day. He is the prototypical high-energy guy. Turner recalls a time when the Buckeyes were leaving their dorm for a pre-dawn workout, and while Turner was lying down in a hallway waiting to wake up, Lighty came bounding out of his room and lifted him off the floor. "He's always happy," Turner says. Buckeyes guard Jon Diebler calls Lighty a "loud guy" who "likes to scream and yell and have a good time," while Matta pays him the ultimate compliment by saying Lighty is "the best practice player I've ever had." Adds Matta, "You can't put a price on what this kid does for our team and our program."