Buckeye Blogger NetworkWelcome to Wednesday, the first of May… it’s officially grilling season (unless you live in California, where it’s always that time). Here’s today’s soundtrack; if you don’t know why, then… well… keep reading.
Archie’d
Buckeye 411
SBP gets the ol’ bumperino this week to accommodate life. It happens, right?
Ooooh! Shiny!
Buckeye 411
Smith said multiple offenses by individual teams is a concern of his, especially if the violations committed are in relation to recruiting.
Smith was cited for breaking NCAA recruiting policy despite his distaste for recruiting infractions in particular.
“I intend to retire here as a Buckeye. You can never say never that you won’t do something else, but as far as athletic director or athletic administration, this is my last stop.”
I’m sure there are alumni and fans who have an opinion regarding that timeline.
Fox Sports Ohio was gracious enough to invite us to write a bit about the #Hop2theRafters movement, and published the following article yesterday.
In an era defined by highlights, by “Oh! Did you see that!!” tweets and texts to friends, every fan is convinced that the others they know need to recognized the greatness of their favorite star or team.
2096 for #32
But, as quickly as the excitement builds, it also dissipates; athletes who are all over today’s timeline or emailed YouTube clips are soon out of the public conscious as “Next!” becomes “Now.”
Sure, there are those who transcend the sport – the hall of famers, the heroes of a championship team, the persons responsible for iconic moments in a franchise or team history — those names are readily offered up by the fanatics and casual fans.
Most, though, end up in the “Hey, what happened to?” file, the “I remember that guy…” area of conversations between people who are deeply knowledgeable about the sport, or the discussions where followers of an earlier area are defending their favorites against the young guns of the modern day.
What does it take to be recognized, though, by the institution itself? For some Ohio State basketball fans, that question has been answered in their quest to have the University retire the number of the career scoring leader, Dennis Hopson. Read More
Joe D and WVaBuckeye bring you another round of the tBBC All-Time Tourney! Today pits Evan Turner and the 2010 Buckeyes versus the Diaper Dandy 2007 squad featuring Greg Oden and Mike Conley. Enjoy!
As the seeding’s were finished and Joe and I prepared to do our match up research, this game became the most intriguing. Both teams feature National POY candidates in Greg Oden and Evan Turner and of course Evan walked away with every major award during his junior season in Columbus. Both teams feature a star from our previous match up in David Lighty who has the distinction of being on three of the nine teams we are featuring. The 2007 team came close to being only the second Buckeye team to bring home the big dance hardware since 1960. They had attempted to go through a Florida team that had their number during the regular season 86-60. The 2007 squad never lost at home going 27-0 and lost just three on the road to UNC, the Gators and Wisconsin. They finished the season ranked #1 in the AP poll and in the RPI. The 2010 team was led by quite possibly the best all around player to ever don the Scarlet and Gray. Evan Turner led this team to a second place Big Ten finish behind great single season stats that made the rest of the starting line up better. Almost averaging a double/double at 20.4 PPG and 9.2 RPG as well as 6 assists a game the rest of the starters averaged in double digits.
What are to follow will be several comparisons of each team’s makeup. We will be including our opinions of each comparison with who has the advantage and at the end will be guest appearances. We hope you enjoy our tournament as we look forward to the outcome!
I began a journey to do a comparison of the two greatest teams in Ohio State Basketball history. At first glance it seemed a simple task to pick two teams and write a nice article about who was better at a given skill. The more I read about teams in Buckeye lore, the more I realized I couldn’t write such an article. I had my teams picked out and as things would have it, Joe Dexter and I started brain storming. We came up with the idea of presenting tBBC readers with a challenge.
Is the Jerry Lucas Era the best in Ohio State History? It's time to find out your opinion!
Joe and I are going to break the teams down based on certain criteria: Playmaker, Post Presence, Ball handling, Head Coach and we’ll throw in some other advantages to go with those. We are also planning on having a guest writer or two as we move along through the tourney. We’ll provide you with some stats to chew on between the two teams in each match up.
We had six teams we were going to go with initially and each time we looked at it we knew we had to have eight. Then that turned into nine because we found one more team we felt deserved to be in the tourney. The criteria were simple. Which teams accomplished more for THE Ohio State University were our first choices and then teams that were led by All-time Greats.
LaQuinton Ross at Life Center Academy
Hometown: Jackson, Mississippi
High School: Life Center Academy
Position: Forward (3)
Year: Freshman
Height: 6-8
Weight: 200
The fifth member of the 2011 class, LaQuinton Ross is reportedly the most talented and athletic of the bunch. During summer workouts it was commented that Ross was easily the most ready of the class to play now. Unfortunately, he was declared an academic non-qualifier before the season started due to a snafu with the State of Mississippi’s grading system. Being declared a non-qualifier is far worse than being simply declared as ineligible. As a non-qualifier, Ross was no longer bound by his letter of intent and could be recruited again by other programs. That Ross is back speaks volumes both of his integrity, and of his desire to play with this team.
As a four star recruit (by Scout.com), Ross was highly recruited out of high school, picking up offers from names such as Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, and Syracuse. He was the 16th ranked player at his position, three spots behind Sam Thompson, and the 53rd ranked player in the ESPNU 150.
Once upon a time, in old St. John arena...
With the drafting of Jon Diebler by the Portland Trailblazers in last Thursday’s NBA Draft, the Buckeyes added one more of their products to the professional ranks. Diebler joins former Buckeye Greg Oden on Portland’s roster, although it remains to be seen if the two will ever fulfill the opportunity to play together that was not afforded in college due to Oden’s departure for the NBA after his freshman season. Oden’s injury troubles since joining the NBA are well known for both their regularity and severity, and those following his career are now mostly hoping just to see him get some minutes on the floor, as the prospect of making a big impact on the league seems to be dwindling. It would be a welcome sight to see Oden running the floor again, demonstrating the defense and shot-blocking that were his signature in college and feeding the ball out of the post to Diebler on the perimeter, but before these two young players that contributed so much to Thad’s efforts at building the Ohio State program can hit the hardwood together, Oden must overcome the initial hurdle of getting healthy.
In a way, Oden ushered in a different kind of era for Ohio State basketball. Although he has struggled in the NBA, Oden had a stellar freshman year at Ohio State, earning him the #1 overall pick in the subsequent draft. Beginning with that pick in 2007, Ohio State has had a player taken in the first round of the draft each year until this year, when Diebler was taken in the middle of the second round. Mike Conley and Daequan Cook joined Oden in 2007 at the #4 and #21 spots, respectively, 2008 featured Kosta Koufos going #23, 2009 saw B.J. Mullens selected #24, and last year Evan Turner was taken with the #2 pick. Prior to Oden’s class, Buckeyes appearing in the draft were few and far between, and selections of Ohio State players were always in the second round when they occurred. Even Michael Redd, who went on to have an All-Star caliber season in the NBA, and who remains a member of the Milwaukee Bucks to this day, was not selected until #43 in 2000. Read More
Apparently this is a photo of Evan Turner’s room, trophies and all (via Lighty’s twitter account).
Like most college rooms, with a few key additions.
Me thinks he will be able to hire a decorator in a few months.
