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LGHL Buckeyes to play in Wrigley Field, land transfer cornerback from the SEC

Buckeyes to play in Wrigley Field, land transfer cornerback from the SEC
Matt Tamanini
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


NCAA Football: Iowa at Northwestern

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

All the Buckeye news thats fit to re-print.

Look, we get it. Your days are busy and you don’t have time to read all of the stories and tweets from the three dozen websites dedicated to covering Ohio State athletics, or the 237 Buckeye beat writers churning out hot takes and #content on a daily basis. But that’s ok, that’s what your friends at Land-Grant Holy Land are here for.

Monday through Friday, we’ll be collecting all of the articles, tweets, features, interviews, videos, podcasts, memes, photos, and whatever else we stumble across on the interwebz and putting them in our daily “Why is this News?” article. That way, you’ll have a one-stop shop for all of the most important Buckeye news, jokes, and analysis.

You’re welcome!


For your Earholes...


Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio


On the Gridiron


Wrigley Field will be site of Ohio State’s game at Northwestern
Bill Rabinowitz, The Columbus Dispatch

Buckeyes land transfer commitment from former South Carolina DB Keenan Nelson Jr.
Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row


#BIApic.twitter.com/ScOnXbuHgF

— Keenan Nelson Jr (@KeenanNelsonJr1) May 17, 2024

Conference championship odds: Vegas reveals favorites for Power Four races
Grant Hughes, 247Sports

Emeka Egbuka Eager to Lead Ohio State’s Receiver Room, Play Both Outside and Inside in Final Season as Buckeye
Dan Hope, Eleven Warriors


On the Hardwood


Unreasonable Expectations: Ohio State wins the Big Ten in Jake Diebler’s first season
Justin Golba, Land-Grant Holy Land


Lowkey forgot he was in the draft. This is good https://t.co/2ce67Ceast

— Bucketheads (@BucketheadsLGPN) May 17, 2024

Ohio State women’s basketball repeating as Big Ten champs is an unreasonable expectation
Thomas Costello, Land-Grant Holy Land

Five areas of emphasis for Buckeyes this offseason (paywall)
Andy Backstrom, Lettermen Row


Outside the Shoe and Schott


OSU men’s tennis survives scare from Columbia in NCAA quarterfinals
Bill Rabinowitz, The Columbus Dispatch

Baseball: Graveline Homers in 10th Inning to Lift Buckeyes Over Rutgers
Ohio State Athletics

Men’s Swim & Dive: Axon Qualifies for 2024 Paris Olympics
Ohio State Athletics

Men’s Golf: Buckeyes Advance to NCAA Championship with Solid Final Round
Ohio State Athletics


And now for something completely different...


Absolutely wild...


Full details on Scottie Scheffler’s arrest, excellent reporting by @JeffDarlington.

pic.twitter.com/GnRFR9gEgS

— Kevin Negandhi (@KevinNegandhi) May 17, 2024

Continue reading...

LGHL You’re Nuts: Does Ohio State have enough three-point shooting?

You’re Nuts: Does Ohio State have enough three-point shooting?
Connor Lemons
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Buckeyes need to replace 81% of their three-point offense from last season.

The transfer portal has been open for seven weeks now, and Ohio State has just one scholarship remaining for the 2024-25 team. After adding Meechie Johnson, Aaron Bradshaw, Micah Parrish, and Sean Stewart (all of whom may start), the Buckeyes will likely use the final scholarship on a post player to play behind Bradshaw and add depth to their frontcourt.

The portal has slowed down, and thus Jake Diebler and his staff have eased off the gas pedal a little bit in filling the last spot. They could fill the spot soon, but it also could take another few weeks before Ohio State fills the final scholarship spot.

Last week’s debate followed Land-Grant Holy Land’s “Biggest Concerns” theme, as we analyzed our biggest concerns with the 2024-2025 men’s basketball roster. Justin won with concerns about meshing the new roster together, with six new players so far — 55% of the readers sided with Justin. 21% of the readers sided with Connor, who said that they may be relying too much on the two five-star freshmen Diebler added in the portal. The remaining 24% picked “other.”

After 152 weeks:

Connor- 75
Justin- 57
Other- 16

(There have been four ties)


It’s clear that Diebler has attacked the transfer portal much more aggressively than his predecessor, adding multiple McDonald’s All-Americans, an All-SEC guard, and another player who played in the national championship game two years ago. But the one area that none of these transfers excel in is three-point shooting.

After losing Jamison Battle, Bowen Hardman, Scotty Middleton, and others, the Buckeyes have a lot of shooting to make up. Will the existing group hit enough shots to have this team competing at the top of the Big Ten?

This week’s question: Does Ohio State have enough three-point shooting?


Connor: No

NCAA Basketball: Mississippi at South Carolina
Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

In terms of three-point makes, Ohio State was tied for eighth in the Big Ten last season with 7.1 per game. By percentage, it finished 10th with a 34.5% mark from downtown.

They then lost Jamison Battle, who was one of the best three-point shooters in the nation last year and contributed 39% of Ohio State’s three-point makes all by himself. Bowen Hardman transferred to Akron after hitting 43% of his threes, and Scotty Middleton transferred to Seton Hall after shooting better than 45% from three.

Four really good players have joined the program this summer in Johnson, Bradshaw, Stewart, and Parrish, but they combined to shoot 30.7% from three-point range last year. That’s not exactly replacing Battle, nor is it replacing the supplementary shooting Ohio State got from other players last year that have since left the program.

Johnson did lead South Carolina with 60 three-point makes last season, and that would’ve ranked him second on last year’s Ohio State team, behind only Battle. But he did so on 187 attempts, which equates out to just under six three-point tries per game. This shakes out to a 32.1% mark from deep, which would’ve been the fifth-best mark on Ohio State last year.

Translation = historically, Johnson has shown the ability to get hot and knock down shots from deep, but he’s never been able to do it consistently or reliably.

Bradshaw was touted as a big who could stretch the floor coming out of high school, and John Calipari thought that he might’ve been Kentucky’s best shooter heading into last season, per John Fanta (certainly, Cal would never speak in hyperbole!). He only took 14 three-pointers all year, hitting four of them. The potential is there and it is tantalizing to think that a seven-footer could knock down outside shots every now and then, but there is no evidence of him doing it in college yet.

Parrish is a high-effort wing who can guard multiple positions, but for his career shoots just 33.2% from three-point range, and shot a career-worst 29.2% from deep last season. He allegedly chose Ohio State so that he could showcase he’s much better than what he was able to show at SDSU last season.

And then there’s Sean Stewart, who has yet to attempt a three-pointer in college to this point. That could become part of his game this season, but if you’re looking for Ohio State to develop a few shooters to make up for what it lost, he’s probably not your best option.

There’s a chance that guys like Bruce Thornton, Johnson, and Parrish all shoot better this season than they did last year. You also have players like Taison Chatman — who didn’t shoot it well but has a clean shot and release — and Juni Mobley who could contribute in that department.

But at the end of the day, it’s really difficult to point at a stat sheet and say, “the reason this team is going to be fine shooting the ball is because these players will be better than what the stats say they are.” Improvement happens from a year-to-year basis as players gain experience, but how much improvement will this team need from beyond the arc?


Justin: Yes


I have been pretty vocal about this and will continue to do so. I could be wrong — I have been wrong before, and I will be wrong again — but I do believe this is a better shooting team than it is getting credit for.

Let’s be clear and get this out of the way now: There is no Jamison Battle on this team. He was a top-five shooter in the country, and the idea they had to “replace him” was basically impossible.

However, they did add more shooting than they lost. Outside of Battle, they lost Roddy Gayle, Scotty Middleton, Zed Key, Dale Bonner, and Felix Okpara. Okpara and Key are not threats from behind the line, so they are out. Gayle and Bonner both shot under 30 percent from three and while they had their moments (Dale Bonner, thank you for Michigan State), they were mostly liabilities from deep.

Scotty Middleton was one of the better shooters on the team by percentage, but that was due to an insane hot streak he went on to end the season. As we saw with Gayle to end the 2022-23 season, that short hot steak doesn’t always translate to the next season. He could be a great shooter, but the jury is still out.

They added Meechie Johnson, Micah Parrish, Aaron Bradshaw, Sean Stewart, Colin White and Juni Mobley. White and Stewart likely won’t take any threes, so they are out. But Johnson and Parrish are both career 33-35 percent shooters, which isn’t elite, but it is better than Gayle and Bonner.

Bradshaw can shoot the three-ball and space the floor, which Key and Okpara could not do, and Mobley won the award for the best shooter in the country in high school, so he should be able to contribute immediately in that regard. Taison Chatman and Devin Royal will get more opportunities to shoot the ball this season and expand their games and roles.

Losing Battle is not great, but I think the sum of all parts will be a better shooting team.



Continue reading...

S Keenan Nelson Jr.

FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA DEFENSIVE BACK KEENAN NELSON JR. COMMITS TO OHIO STATE​

147202_h.jpg


Ohio State has added much-needed depth to its safety room.

On Friday, former South Carolina defensive back Keenan Nelson Jr. committed to Ohio State, bolstering a safety room that will feature Lathan Ransom, Caleb Downs, Malik Hartford, Jayden Bonsu, Jaylen McClain and Leroy Roker in 2024. Nelson will have three years of eligibility to use with the Buckeyes.

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A four-star recruit in the 2022 class, Nelson hails from Philadelphia and St. Joseph's Prep — the alma mater of former Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. and quarterback Kyle McCord. According to the 247Sports composite, Nelson was the No. 17 safety and No. 221 overall prospect in his class. He received offers from 21 schools and committed to South Carolina over Penn State, Georgia, Ole Miss and Oregon.

THE NELSON FILE​

  • CLASS: 2022
  • SIZE: 6-1/195
  • POS: Safety
  • COLLEGE: South Carolina
  • STATS: `15 games, 13 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU, 1 BLK, 1 TD
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LGHL Unreasonable Expectations: Ohio State wins the Big Ten in Jake Diebler’s first season

Unreasonable Expectations: Ohio State wins the Big Ten in Jake Diebler’s first season
justingolba
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarterfinal-Ohio State vs Illinois

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

In the current age of college basketball, you can return to the mountaintop after one year. However, it might be unreasonable to expect that in year one of Diebler in Columbus.

This coming season for the Ohio State men’s basketball team will be the first full season of the Jake Diebler era in Columbus.

With the additions of Meechie Johnson, Aaron Bradshaw, Sean Stewart and Micah Parrish, as well as the departures of Roddy Gayle, Felix Okpara, Scotty Middleton, Zed Key and Bowen Hardman plus an entirely new coaching staff, things are going to look very different for the 2024-25 campaign.

With a new-look coaching staff and roster, expectations are bound to be high — and to be clear, they should be. Diebler brought in a great supporting cast of coaches and a transfer class that included two former McDonald’s All-Americans, an All-SEC second-team selection, and a starter on a team that won a national championship.

However, some of the expectations should be tempered a little, and one in particular that I have seen as unreasonable. It’s not impossible, but it’s unreasonable, in my opinion:

Ohio State men’s basketball will win the Big Ten in 2024-25.

It’s fair to expect them to make the NCAA Tournament and finish in the top third of the conference, since there are now 18 teams, but winning the conference in Jake Diebler’s first season is a lofty goal.

For one, he has a brand new roster that he has to mesh together. The main benefit is bringing back two-year starting point guard Bruce Thornton. Still, the other four starters will likely be Johnson, Parrish, Stewart and Bradshaw, all four transfers spending their first season in Columbus.

There is a ton of talent, but it could take some time to get the chemistry and the rotations figured out. This could lead to some early losses, especially with a non-conference schedule that involves Texas A&M, Kentucky, Texas, and an early-season feast week tournament.

Also, the Big Ten is in flux next season with who could win the conference. Purdue lost Zach Edey, Illinois lost Terrance Shannon and Marcus Domask, Northwestern lost Boo Buie, Wisconsin lost AJ Storr, Tyler Wahl, and Chucky Hepburn and four new teams were added to the mix.

I say this is an unreasonable expectation because with this roster and the question marks surrounding the Big Ten, it is not impossible that the Buckeyes will be competitive in year one of Diebler and stay in the conference championship mix.

The reason winning the B1G can be marked as an unreasonable expectation is the current age of college basketball. With the transfer portal, programs can be flipped immediately, and you can go from missing the tournament two years in a row and firing the head coach to being competitive in one year. The Buckeyes have brought in the talent to do just that.

The only reason I am tempering expectations is because of the schedule and meshing the roster together. The slate is tough from start to end, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the Buckeyes lose some games, especially early, as they figure out the rotation, the minutes, and who plays best in certain situations. Even integrating Juni Mobley and Colin White as a freshman and seeing what sophomore jumps Devin Royal and Taison Chatman take.

I think the Buckeyes will succeed under Jake Diebler, win a conference championship or two, and find themselves deep into the tournament on a yearly basis. But, I am not sure they will turn it all around and win it in year one.

Continue reading...

Scottie Scheffler

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