Category: BuckeyeWIre

BOOM! Ohio State football lands 4-star 2023 defensive lineman

Another big one for Ohio State football! #GoBucks

The Ohio State football program continues to be on a roll with commitments. After a flurry of good news over the past few weeks, that continued on Sunday with the verbal commitment of 4-star 2023 defensive lineman Jason Moore.

Out of the same high school as Chase Young, DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland, Moore is ranked as the No. 5 defensive line prospect and 53rd overall recruit in the recruiting cycle according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

Moore chose OSU over Notre Dame, which seemed to have the inside track to landing the 6-foot, 6-inch, 255-pounder until Moore made an official visit to OSU between June 24 and 26. It had to be a case of Larry Johnson working his magic again. You can never count out the abilities and track record of the best defensive line coach in America.

Moore’s commitment makes the 18th in the 2023 class and moves Ohio State back to the No. 1 spot over Notre Dame in the 247Sports Team Recruiting Rankings.

 

Ohio State softball team finishes regular season with doubleheader sweep of Maryland

The Ohio State softball team is headed to the Big Ten Tournament after polishing off a doubleheader sweep of Maryland on Sunday. #GoBucks

The Ohio State softball team finished up its regular season on Sunday with a doubleheader sweep of the Maryland Terrapins in College Park, Maryland. The Buckeyes took game one 6-0 behind the pitching of Lexi Handley once again. She tied her season-high with thirteen strikeouts en route to her fifth complete-game shutout of the season. Niki Carver led the way on offense with two doubles and three RBIs.

The second game ended with a closer score.

Maryland took the first lead of the day in the bottom of the third inning on a ground out that made it 1-0, but it was short-lived. The Buckeyes came right back and put three runs on the board in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead it never relinquished. They hung five more runs on the Terps in the seventh inning and held on for the 8-5 win. Emily Ruck and Allison Smith combined for the win.

With the two wins, Ohio State finishes the regular season with a 33-14 overall record and a 13-9 Big Ten finish. The Buckeyes sit in good position to make the NCAA Tournament, but first head to East Lansing, Michigan to face Purdue in a first-round game of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday.

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Todd McShay has a trio of Ohio State players in his early 2023 NFL mock draft

Todd McShay likes him some Ohio State players in his way-too-early look at the first round of the 2023 NFL draft. #GoBucks

The NFL draft is big business and one that goes year-round now. Don’t believe us? Consider that we saw several mock drafts come out less than 24 hours after our television and streaming devices were silenced after this year’s annual spectacle.

One of the most followed NFL draft gurus is ESPN’s Todd McShay, and he has already released his very, very early NFL first-round mock draft for next season. And while Ohio State had two players go in the first round this year, he’s even more bullish on Buckeye players for next season on the first day.

But how many does he think might be selected in the first round and where might they go? Yeah, it’s early and it could all change, but here’s what McShay thinks about Ohio State players that will be eligible in April of next season out in Kansas City.

Former Ohio State basketball player Ron Lewis named head coach at Worthington Kilbourne

A former Buckeye can now be seen on the sidelines guiding a Central Ohio high school basketball program. #GoBucks

Former Ohio State basketball player Ron Lewis has entered the fray as a head coach at the high school basketball level.

According to a report from the Columbus Dispatch (subscription may be required), Lewis was elevated to head coach of Worthington Kilbourne after serving as an assistant this past season.

Lewis, a Columbus native and graduate of Brookhaven high school, originally committed for and played at Bowling Green before transferring to Ohio State for the 2004-2005 season. He quickly displayed a burst and athleticism that made him an integral part of that team, and the one that made a run to the NCAA championship game in 2007.

He may be most remembered for his last-second three-pointer that sent an NCAA regional game against Xavier into overtime in 2007 that OSU eventually won en route to the Final Four.

Lewis averaged 12.7 points per contest during his senior season and started all but one of the 39 games his senior season in which OSU also won the Big Ten title.

It never gets old watching that highlight and thinking back on one of the greatest teams to ever play in Columbus. We’ll continue to follow Lewis’ coaching career as he gets things started at Kilbourne.

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Projecting where seven former Big Ten running backs might go in the 2022 NFL draft

We take a deep dive into Big Ten running backs that could get selected in the upcoming NFL draft. #GoBucks #BigTen #NFLDraft

Welcome to April. It’s officially NFL draft month and with every passing day, we get closer and closer to seeing some former college football stars get paid and possibly become stars. I wanted to take a deep dive into the majority of the familiar names from the Big Ten in the upcoming draft class.

Today I wanted to take a look at the former Big Ten running backs that could hear their names called during the 2022 NFL draft and try and project which round they may get taken in. This year there are a few former Big Ten running backs in the class that have the skill and goods to make it at the next level.

So, let’s get to all the fun.

Players in the transfer portal linked to Ohio State basketball … so far

Here’s a look at every player we know about in the transfer portal that has been linked in some way to the Ohio State basketball program.

It’s the new norm of college basketball, and it seems most especially Ohio State over the last few seasons. The transfer portal — the gift that keeps on, um — giving I guess.

It used to be, that roster construction consisted of recruiting guys and then either keeping them for a few years or having them be a one-and-done prospect. Sure, you could add a guy every once in a while as a grad transfer, but that was few and far between.

Now, with the brave, new world of players falling into the transfer portal left and right, you need a flow, chart, protractor, and a little pixie dust to pull off some secondary recruiting to either keep a guy or go get one spit out of the portal towards your program.

That looks to be the same case for OSU hoops this offseason as well. The Buckeyes have already tapped former Wright State guard Tanner Holden to come join the scarlet and gray, and it has been linked to several others. We’re quite sure there are some names out there that we just don’t know about, but thanks to the Columbus Dispatch, here is everyone that we have heard about so far.

We go on this journey in alphabetical order.

Ohio State falls to Villanova, fails to make Sweet 16

Ohio State falls to Villanova, fails to make Sweet 16. #GoBucks

The Ohio State Buckeyes lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to the No. 2 seed, Villanova Wildcats, 71-61. It was a valiant effort by Ohio State as they trimmed a 15-point Villanova lead down to two points before the Wildcats took the game back over and finished strong down the stretch.

The Wildcats are moving onto the Sweet 16 and will see another Big Ten opponent in the No. 11 seed, Michigan Wolverines. That contest will tip-off on Thursday.

Malaki Branham was the star of the show for the Buckeyes, as he scored 23 points with 15 occurred in the second half. E.J. Lidell was the second leading Ohio State scorer with 17 points in his last game in a scarlet and gray uniform.

Despite the loss, it was an effort that showed heart, grit, and determination against a team that has enough of the same traits to make a deep run to the Final Four. Villanova’s Collin Gillespie went on a tear in the first half to lead the Wildcats to an eleven-point lead in the first half and into the locker room they never relinquished.

Ohio State was outdueled in the paint with physicality and one-on-one-isolation it could never quite figure out. Despite it all, the Buckeyes made a serious run at an upset bid in the second half when it began to get stops and slowly work its way back into the game, eventually getting as close as 60-58 with under five minutes to play.

But it was all too much to overcome as Villanova found itself at the end of the game and went on a mini-run to take control and fend off an OSU team that never quite found itself this season. Now, it’ll be time to figure out what this offseason holds with several key question marks heading into next season.

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Four-star offensive tackle visits Ohio State

Four-star offensive tackle visits Ohio State #GoBucks

Olaus Alinen is a four-star offensive tackle from The Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut, and although 247 Sports predicts him to go to Alabama, Alinene did make a visit to Ohio State last week and apparently liked it enough to announce another visit upcoming this summer.

Alinen is ranked as a top 15 offensive tackle by almost every recruiting site and stands at 6-foot, 6-inches, and 315-pounds. His father, Klaus Alinen, was actually the first Finnish-born player to sign with an NFL team when he signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 2006.

Ohio State will be competing with many other schools for his services including Alabama and Florida, but we will see what this staff can do.

Ohio State is always working on its recruiting game, so we’ll continue to keep an eye on who is making news in and around OSU this recruiting cycle.

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Four-star 2022 defensive tackle signs with Georgia over Ohio State

Not unexpected here.

It wasn’t a surprise, but four-star 2022 defensive tackle Christen Miller signed with the Georgia Bulldogs over Ohio State on Wednesday.

There was still some mild hope that Miller would leave his home state to sign with defensive line coach Larry Johnson and OSU, but all the signs were pointing to him leaning very, very heavily towards the Bulldogs as national signing day approached.

Sure enough, the No. 14 defensive lineman and 102nd overall prospect in the 2022 recruiting cycle according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings chose Georgia on a nationally televised announcement earlier Tuesday. With the news going that way, and with the official signings of Omari Abor and Carson Hinzman, OSU should be all set with a 21-member class for 2022.

It looks like another top-five class for Ohio State, one that will be tops in the Big Ten once again, and one that should continue to keep the Buckeyes among the contenders for some really special things down the line.

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Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on Twitter.

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Every former Ohio State football player that’s ever appeared in a Super Bowl

Every Ohio State football player that’s ever appeared in the Super Bowl. Hint: There’s a lot. #GoBucks

Ohio State has an illustrious history of players that have made a name for themselves in the NFL. You won’t find too many programs that act as a pipeline to the game’s highest level than the one sitting on the banks of the Olentangy in Columbus, Ohio.

Of course, with so many players going to the NFL, that also means plenty have made it to the biggest game in the sport, the Super Bowl. This year’s game in Los Angeles, California, will be the 56th spectacle in the history of the sport, and Buckeyes have been well-represented from the first game in 1967 all the way through. Amazingly, there were no former Buckeyes in Super Bowl LV last season, but that’s the exception rather than the norm. In fact, there are six more coming your way in one way or another for Super Bowl LVI.

Here is every former Ohio State football player to ever appear in the grandest stage in American football, the Super Bowl.