Along The Olentangy

Davonte Neal Commits to Notre Dame

2012-02-22T19:49:40Z

Davonte Neal Commits to Notre Dame

Davonte Neal completed his winding recruitment and arrived at Notre Dame. The highly regarded athlete committed to the Fighting Irish over Arizona today. Neal will play either wide receiver, where he would fit well in the slot, or cornerback, a position of need for third-year head coach Brian Kelly.

Neal was considered a heavy Ohio State lean following his official visit to the Buckeyes, but the relationship between Urban Meyer and the Neal family soured shortly before National Signing Day. Rumors have Neal as the out-of-state wide receiver Meyer claimed he passed on because the prospect's "last step was always out-of-bounds."

Illinois Fighting Illini @ Ohio State Buckeyes Preview and Gamethread

2012-02-21T15:00:25Z

What: Illinois Illini vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

When: Tuesday, February 21st; 7 p.m.

Where: Value City Arena; Columbus, Ohio

Television: ESPN

Illini Record: 16-11 (5-9 in-conference)

Opposing Coverage: Hail to the Orange

We are in must-win territory now. Following a road mishap against Michigan on Saturday, a loss partially due to horrid officiating, Ohio State has officially slipped and lost control over the Big Ten race. Michigan State sits one game ahead of the Buckeyes in the conference standings with only four games remaining. The Spartans and Buckeyes will play once more before the season ends--the last game on both schedules, incidentally--but Ohio State will need help from their conference brethren if they are to win the conference outright.

Michigan State will play Minnesota, Nebraska, and Indiana before their climactic finish at home against Ohio State. A loss versus any one of those teams would even up the championship race once more and establish the final game as winner-take-all. In each earlier matchup, Michigan State beat their opponent handily, yet they will travel to face Minnesota and Indiana on the road, leaving some room for hope.

Of course, Ohio State must take care of its own schedule before the coaches and players can worry about standings. One more loss, against anyone, would doom the Buckeyes to second place, a finish that would be disappointing after such a strong start to the season. Against Illinois, whom upset the Buckeyes, 79-74, earlier in the season, Ohio State cannot afford another lapse. The Illini have stumbled through another mediocre season under Bruce Weber, and they stand far from Big Ten and NCAA Tournament contention.

Junior guard Brandon Paul leads the Illini with 14 points and three assists per game, energizing the offense with electric outbursts like his 43-point performance against Ohio State on January 10th. Paul played beyond exceptional at home, hitting 11 of 15 shots, eight of which came from behind the arc. If there's any certainty heading into tonight's contest, it's that Paul cannot repeat his performance on the road. And without that incredible performance, Illinois will have trouble matching Ohio State point-for-point.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Rob Oller criticizes William Buford in a recent column for failing to ignite Ohio State against its better opponents. He writes: "As Buford has struggled to make shots against the better Big Ten teams — against the top four in the conference, he is 22 of 71 (.310) overall and 4 of 21 (.190) from beyond the three-point line, with 13 assists to 20 turnovers — sophomore center Jared Sullinger has found the sledding to be increasingly difficult. If Buford can’t open the floor with his scoring — he is averaging 8.8 points against the top four Big Ten teams, 18.4 against the bottom seven — there is little reason to believe the Buckeyes will advance beyond the Elite Eight, and probably not past the Sweet 16."
Thad Matta stressed toughness to the team following the Michigan loss, according to Deshaun Thomas. When asked about the team's toughness in the postgame press conference, Matta was direct. "The toughness comes when you’ve got to keep playing. Obviously, we didn’t do that as well as we needed to tonight," Matta said. "We could never draw the line to where we needed it to get the stops to get the momentum back on our side to go ahead."
Michigan freshman guard Trey Burke was honored by the Big Ten with a Freshman of the Week award. Burke scored 17 points, added five assists, and gathered two rebounds in leading the upset win over Ohio State.

Gordon Gee Claims Bowl Ban Was Coming "No Matter What"

2012-02-20T19:47:36Z

In a recent interview with The Lantern, Ohio State's local student-run newspaper, Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee made some unusual claims regarding the NCAA's decision to deny a bowl game to the Buckeye program following the 2012 season. According to Gee, the one-year bowl ban and nine-scholarship reduction applied by the NCAA were due to Ohio State's position in the college sports world.

"First of all, the NCAA — if we would have given up five bowl games, they would have imposed the sixth on us because they were going to impose a bowl ban," Gee stated. "This was Ohio State. This was (the NCAA's) moment in time, and they were going to impose a bowl ban no matter what we did."

Gee continued his diatribe and went on to complain that the NCAA ignored past rulings with their decision. "I'm a lawyer," Gee said. "I take a look at precedent. There's no precedent for a bowl ban for us."

And so the posturing continues. Gee's victim position may have slight validity, yet it still rings hollow given the blunder he and Athletic Director Gene Smith committed by refusing to abstain from a bowl game following the 2011 season. If the NCAA were looking to specially punish Ohio State, Gee and Smith could have at least forced the organizing body's hand by foregoing a measly Gator Bowl bid for a 6-6 team. Then, if the NCAA were truly dedicated to stripping a 2012-13 bowl bid from Ohio State, the committee would have needed to justify a two-year bowl ban, the same length that USC received for a more egregious collection of violations.

In any case, I fail to see what Ohio State gains from E. Gordon Gee's constant media whining and sniping. Gee is a respected college president, at least in the venue of donation-gathering, who leads a premier public institution. Over the course of one year, he has managed to ruin one press conference, insult a rival coach with a juvenile quip, and upset an entire ethnic group, all while drawing the highest salary of any public university president.

The issue is dead. There will be no bowl this season. The president of Ohio State should respect his office and behave with some modicum of nobility, even if every fiber of his being itches for one more witty quip.

Ohio State Buckeyes @ Michigan Wolverines Preview and Gamethread

2012-02-18T15:00:29Z

What: Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

When: Saturday, February 18th; 9:00 p.m.

Where: Crisler Arena; Ann Arbor, Michigan

Television: ESPN

Gopher Record: 19-7 (9-4 in-conference)

Opposing Coverage: Maize N Brew

Following a disappointing loss at home to Michigan State, the Ohio State men's basketball team responded with a comfortable victory against Minnesota four days later. Now, the Buckeyes travel to Ann Arbor to complete their season series against the Michigan Wolverines, an always enjoyable pair of games that have usually ended favorably for the Buckeyes since Thad Matta's hiring seven seasons ago.

The first Buckeye-Wolverine tussle this season culminated in a 15-point victory for Ohio State. Ohio State held a slight lead over Michigan at halftime, but pulled away after outscoring the Wolverines by twelve points in the second half. Lenzelle Smith Jr. led the victory train with 17 points and 12 rebounds, elevating his game for the occasion. Jared Sullinger chipped in with 13 points and 5 rebounds. Michigan head coach John Beilein's unique offense was held to an ineffective 35.8% shooting percentage, while Beilein's defense, which kept Ohio State below 35% shooting in the first half, crumbled in the second, allowing the Buckeye shooters to sink half of their attempted shots.

The largest difference between the first game and the one later today will be the location. Vegas had Ohio State as 14-point favorites at home for the first contest, but the line has been reduced to five, albeit still in Ohio State's favor, now that the team bus must travel to Michigan instead of Value City Arena. Proving the long-held belief possible, recent statistical evidence has emerged indicating that some teams do shoot demonstrably better at home than on the road. Michigan, as a team that relies upon shooting efficiency over the more stable alternative, offensive rebounding, becomes doubly dangerous when playing in their home arena.

Michigan's 3-point shooting, which has hovered around 35% this season, was well defended by the Buckeyes the first game and remains a key figure this go-round. Perimeter defense, especially on guards Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway, who combined for five 3-pointers in Columbus, will be left to Aaron Craft, William Buford, and Lenzelle Smith Jr., who must stem any possible tide before it begins. The worst case scenario for Ohio State would be a deluge of Maize and Blue 3-pointers built upon home momentum.

With only five games left in the regular season, a Buckeye win today would almost statistically end the Wolverines' chances of winning the Big Ten conference and would definitively separate Ohio State and Michigan State from the remaining contenders.

College Basketball

Freshman LaQuinton Ross expressed his disappointment at not playing in Ohio State's victory over Minnesota on Tuesday by tweeting "Don't know how much longer I can take this BULL----!!!!!." Thad Matta said he was "shocked" by the tweet, although he did note that Ross apologized to him immediately following the postgame press conference. Jared Sullinger offered some words of advice to Ross the next day. "I pretty much told him it’s going to be all right," sophomore Jared Sullinger said. "Most talented players have been through something like this. But to put it out there in the public eye was wrong. He understood that he was wrong."
Michigan State beat Wisconsin, 69-55, Thursday night, tieing Ohio State for the Big Ten conference lead. It seems likely that the final game between the Spartans and Buckeyes will determine a conference champion on March 4th.
Todd Jones, writing in the Columbus Dispatch, analyzes the altered selection process for the NCAA Tournament and measures the tournament has undertaken to become more fan-friendly. New selection committee chairman Jeff Hathaway opined about the inherent difficulty in ordering 68 teams and excluding others. "There are more better teams this year than ever before," said Hathaway, a consultant for the Big East. "That doesn’t mean there are more great teams, and it doesn’t mean there is more parity. Frankly, there’s just a lot of very good basketball teams out there playing very good basketball, and that adds to the challenge of the 10 members of the committee."

Secondary Coach Bill Sheridan Leaving For Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2012-02-17T20:27:34Z

For the second time in two months, Ohio State is losing one of its defensive backs coaches to another team. Bill Sheridan, who was hired to replace Taver Johnson as secondary coach, is leaving to join Greg Schiano's new staff at Tampa Bay as the defensive coordinator. Earlier this offseason, Johnson had left to join his close friend Paul Haynes, another former Buckeye defensive backs coach, on the Arkansas Razorback staff.

Sheridan, the father of former Michigan quarterback and Buckeye pincushion Nick Sheridan, was a former linebackers coach and defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, although he noticeably failed in that latter role and was fired after the Giants gave up 40 points in five different games during the 2010 season. He spent last season on Tony Sparano's staff in Miami, coaching the inside linebackers.

Losing Sheridan is far from crippling for Urban Meyer, but it does come at an inconvenient time in the coaching cycle. Following Signing Day, most coaches are entrenched in new jobs and hesitant to uproot their family yet again. One of the reasons Ohio State had initially hired Sheridan was his availability following Sparano's termination.

With Ohio State's budget, it will not be hard for Meyer to find a replacement, but it may be difficult for the demanding coach to find the one he wants. Some names that have been thrown about as possible replacements are Tim Walton, former Buckeye and current defensive backs coach for the Detroit Lions, and Troy Douglas, the former defensive backs coach at North Carolina who coached with Everett Withers, Ohio State's new assistant defensive coordinator.

Walton has indicated his desire to become an NFL defensive coordinator in the next few years, however, and Douglas has just joined the Iowa State coaching staff in the same position.

Eli Woodard Commits to Ohio State

2012-02-16T21:33:59Z

Eli Woodard, a four-star cornerback, has officially committed to Ohio State over offers from Alabama, Miami (FL), Michigan, and Notre Dame. The New Jersey native is considered one of the best defensive back prospects in the country and could even attain that coveted fifth star before the recruiting services finalize their rankings next January.

Long seen as an Ohio State lean before Jim Tressel's resignation, Woodard affirmed his childhood love for the Buckeyes when he visited Ohio State with his parents and met with Urban Meyer last week. Soon after the visit, Woodard announced his intentions to make public his college choice, and the writing was on the wall for his other suitors.

The 6''1, 185 pound Woodard fills a gap on Ohio State's roster, the tall, physical corner who can play man coverage. Following their separate legal troubles, Meyer dismissed cornerbacks Derjuan Gambrell and Dominic Clarke, which reduced the defensive back depth chart significantly. In Spring and Fall camps, Clarke would have competed for a starting position, and at worst would have been the first cornerback off the bench, while Gambrell was only entering his second season in Columbus. Woodard is more highly regarded, and holds better offers, than either Clarke or Gambrell were during the recruiting process. This means little in direct comparison between the three players, but it serves as proof that Meyer is replacing talent with talent and not merely reaching for depth.

Woodard joins Cameron Burrows, Jalin Marshall, and Billy Price as the fourth commitment in Ohio State's 2013 class, a class that has picked up right where the 2012 group left off. Burrows, a five-star cornerback on Rivals.com, further solidifies the future defensive back roster for Meyer and his new coaching staff. The explosive athlete Jalin Marshall and the gritty defensive tackle Billy Price are each rated at four stars by Rivals.com and possess offers from national programs like Michigan, Nebraska, and Notre Dame.

Eli Woodard Announcing Decision This Afternoon

2012-02-16T16:56:19Z

In four hours time, at 4 p.m., four-star cornerback Eli Woodard will announce his college decision. The New Jersey native will choose between Ohio State, Alabama, Miami (FL), Michigan, and Notre Dame.

Woodard just completed an unofficial visit, accompanied by his parents, to Ohio State, and it is widely expected that he will commit to Urban Meyer and join the Buckeyes 2013 recruiting class. Woodard would be the fourth commitment for Ohio State, joining Cameron Burrows, Jalin Marshall, and Billy Price. Burrows, a five-star cornerback on Rivals.com, and Woodard would solidify Ohio State's future defensive backfield, a large need following the offseason dismissals of cornerbacks Derjuan Gambrell and Dominic Clarke.

New Sign at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center

2012-02-15T20:14:31Z

New Sign at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center