It’s championship week here at tBBC, and we’ll have all your B1G Tournament coverage coming up until the Buckeyes cut down the nets.  So, it only makes sense, then, to have our soundtrack for today be the latest from OSU alum and friend of the site Mekka Don, who’s scored an exclusive deal to provide music for their coverage. From the press release:

The intersection of music and sports is prominently on display during high profile sporting events.  Almost every sports arena has a DJ; players submit playlists to be played during warmups; and networks license music to help create excitement for their broadcasting.  Mekka Don, an independent hip-hop artist and former NCAA athlete (Ohio State football), has inked a multi-song licensing deal with the Big Ten Network to provide music for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament games and coverage.  The Big Ten Tournament begins on March 14^th on the Big Ten Network.

And here, in an exclusive for tBBC readers, is the the title track for tournament time:

You can support Mekka Don and download this at his site on iTunes… just in time for March’s Madness.

Buckeye 411

• That Happened- And we’ll talk about it in today’s commentary. But first, some better updates.
• 

  Heacock is going WHERE?

  Welcome Back? Rumors have been swirling all week that former Buckeye Defensive Coordinator Jim Heacock would be returning to the WHAC in a “quality control” capacity; huge tip, it seems, to Nevadabuck from the Scout site for dropping the knowledge first.  The position would be similar to what a number of schools (most specifically Alabama) are doing in expanding their staff, and you’ve got to think that it will not only strengthen the Silver Bullets but also maintain the relationships that Heacock had with area high school coaches. In addition, it provides a fallback of sorts should the defensive staff lose a member to another opportunity.

• The Ping Of The Bat- What are you doing Friday, before the Buckeyes tip off in the B1G Tourney? Might as well head over to Bill Davis Stadium for the Scarlet and Gray’s Home Opener.  Ah, spring…
• Once A Buckeye, Part One- Ramzy at 11W is a must read every Tuesday, but today’s article knocked it out of the park. It’s a continuation of his conversation with Maurice Clarett, who several of us have had the privilege to connect with over the past year or so. Ramzy talks deeper about MoC’s story outside of Ohio State, particularly his passion for impacting the lives of young adults and his new project… do yourself a favor and go read it now.  I’ll wait. When you’re done, head over to Maurice’s site and pick up a copy of his book… incredible stuff.

• Major Awards- Well, Monday was Awards Day for the B1G Hoopsters, and Deshaun Thomas made all-conference for both the media and the coaches polled.  Aaron Craft was first team for the media, but not the coaches- who chose instead Tim Hardaway Junior, much to the surprise of even a few Michigan fans.  Coach Of The Year went to the coach of the fifth place team in the conference, the one that’s currently not ranked in the top 20. While Bo Ryan certainly did a lot with not much, it does kinda’ seem like recruiting is in his job description… so, yeah. Ah well, Jim Tressel could tell you that the B1GCotY award has never been about excellence, right?
• Once A Buckeye, Part Two- It has been an interesting couple of days for Buckeyes in NFL: First, Chris Gamble retires rather than trying his luck in a pretty saturated free agent cornerback market.  Then, Antoine Winfield was released by the Vikings after failing to come to terms about a restructure of his contract.  Santonio Holmes and Will Smith were able to get their money situations worked out so they could stay with the Jets/Saints respectively, but Arizona decided to release Beanie Wells. The good (?) news is that he’s already been visiting with Cincinnati’s Bengals, where he’d join Mike Nugent, who received a contract extension this week.

Commentary- Due Process

Ok, let’s dive right in.  Tuesday afternoon, ABC6 ran a story online and as a part of their evening broadcast indicating that three members of the Ohio State football team were being investigated for their participation in a rape/sexual assault. The members were identified as freshmen who met the complainant at a party- her story is that a consensual interaction with one student became a non-consensual interaction with another student; the respondent’s account is significantly different, according to the report.

ABC6′s account indicated that the event in question happened toward the end of October, and that the complainant reported the event in November. The report indicated as well that one of the students under investigation is no longer with the program, having left recently. That makes it pretty easy to identify at least one of the people involved.

The others involved were not initially named, although the original ABC6 video account accidentally gave footage that included the identity of one other OSU student athlete and possibly the complainant. That video, and the original story, have since been removed from ABC6′s site, probably due to this error. As of the 11 PM broadcast, however, ABC6 repeated the story- albeit with no names or footage this time. The third party being investigated is not known, although several have speculated that it might have been a recruit who did not sign with Ohio State. It should also be noted that one person has been named as the respondent while the others are included in the warrant as a part of the information gather stage.

At any rate, it’s important to remember that this is an investigation, and no arrests have been made as of yet. The timing is interesting to be aware of as well- the report cited by ABC6 indicated that the complaint was filed in early March, although the narrative said that the complainant came forward in November.  Again, purely speculative, but that could indicate that the November report was made to the University and has since been investigated; sexual assault requires a 60 day timeline for investigation as per Federal Title IX guidelines. It could also mean that the University was outside of this timeline; however, given the emphasis that the entire University has places on compliance recently this seems unlikely.

This discrepancy in the timing of the reports could also (again, emphasis on could) indicate that the complainant was just now seeking legal action, as it is within her rights to do. The article from the Dispatch linked above indicated that there was a possibility of off-field issues leading to the player’s decision to leave the University- it may be that the complainant was choosing to pursue criminal charges since the respondent was beyond the ability for the University to act.

Again- it’s all speculation at this point, which is what the Internet does best. The University is not legally able to respond, and the persons in question will be advised to not talk further. It’s why I really appreciated Lori Schmidt’s tweet earlier- highlighted that it was an “investigation” that “may” involve OSU student athletes… nothing certain, only the facts as they were known.

For another take on the matter, Hayden Grove over at Buckeye Empire approached this story from the perspective of a bystander of sorts- a fellow student at Ohio State. It’s a good read, and pretty well balanced, and also indicates something that I’ve been struck by as this developed on Tuesday. After the “Oh… sh*t” that ran through the twitter and intertrons, most Ohio State fans that I am aware of chose to not deny the situation’s ugliness, blame the complainant, vilify the persons involved, or make other statements that would not be indicative of both the seriousness of these potential allegations and the possible tragedy that this situation represent.

There were some outliers, sure, and this might change over the coming days as OSU fans start responding to the comments from “outsiders”, but for the most part it sounded as if the main concern was “justice” for everyone involved, whatever that may look like.

I wonder, though, if we’re as conscientious about waiting to find out the truth when 18-22 year olds who attend other Universities are involved. I can admit that schadenfreude is a pretty powerful emotion- heck, I’m at the point now where I don’t even have to look up how to spell it anymore. We’d all like to be given the benefit of the doubt and have that extended to the things we care about, while too often failing to do the same in similar circumstances.

In the “real world”, I’m both honored and heartbroken to be a person who is involved in investigating these types of issues on college campuses; both to support the survivors and to hold persons found responsible accountable for their actions. Interestingly enough, I spent two days last week with a national expert on just this type of issue- I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen lives impacted by moments of not clear thinking, or thinking that was impaired somewhat.

So, as this moves forward, my thoughts are not on football. They are with the young people involved and their families and friends, even those that are not a part of the Ohio State community for whatever reason. And I hope OSU fans will join me there- both for the persons impacted by this situation and for the others as they occur across the nation, no matter the color of the jersey or helmet.

Because there’s a lot more to life than just college athletics.

Madness, I Tell You

• It’s Coming:

• Follow The Money- In this year’s “Networks pay the NCAA a ton of cash, but the players don’t get to see any of it” tournament, the participants do get some swag if they win it all.  Seems a bit of a pittance, given the revenue we’re talking about thought.
• Particularly Since- The whole shooting match is moving to cable (yup, “pay TV”) as early as next season. Nope, no money for the participants… that would just be wrong.
• Contested Results- Sure, we’ll have a March Madness Competition this year… be on the lookout a bit later in the week.

Around The NCAA

• Speaking Of Scandal- Friday’s twitter eruption that the sky was falling in Austin has mostly fizzled away, but it will be interesting to see if there are any residual impacts of some of the allegations. For the best (well, at least the most hilarious) overview, we wholeheartedly recommend this thread over at Shaggy Bevo; the tl/dr version is that there are rumors of sexual impropriety throughout the athletic department- we know that a women’s track coach and a current football coach have both been disciplined. Whether or not there’s more to this will only be known after ThuJone does a review in MS Paint.
• Landslide in Chapel Hill- As if an academic scandal weren’t bad enough, now there are allegations that several Tarheel football players took money from an agent while they were members of the athletic program.  I’m not saying that this should implicate the basketball program as well, but Tarheel Football ain’t the tail wagging the dog there.\
• And Yet- Notre Dame still wants to be a part of the ACC… as early as next year. Basketball only, though… they’re waiting for smoke signals to tell them if their football team should join a conference.
• Congrats, Denard! On winning the EASports ballot stuffing event contest and being selected for the cover of NCAA2014. This selection does leak some information about next year’s version of the game: there’s a September Heisman option, as well as one that let’s you quit midway through a game. A MSU site has already seen the cover that EA is going to use… and I couldn’t agree more.
• No Sponsor, No Problem- At least according to ESPN, the College Football Playoff Yet To Be Named won’t have a corporate sponsorship, similar to the “Super Bowl” not being brought to you by Tostitos.  It’s a smart move, actually- having no official sponsor means that you can have ALL of them.

And Finally

Like a boss? Like a boss.

Tags: Aaron Craft, ACC, Antoine Winfield, B1G Basketball Awards, Baseball, Beanie Wells, Bo Ryan, BTN, Chris Gamble, Denard Robinson, Deshaun Thomas, Eleven Warriors, Jim Heacock, March Madness, Maurice Clarett, Mekka Don, Mike Nugent, North Carolina Tar Heels, Notre Dame, Santonio Holmes, SBP, Shaggy Bevo, tBBC Playlist, Texas, Will Smith
Categories: College Basketball, College Football, Ohio State Basketball, Ohio State Football