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LGHL Ohio State hoping to flip in-state DL from Florida
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Ohio State hoping to flip in-state DL from Florida
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Ohio native remains committed to Florida, but hints at news coming on Friday.
With the recruiting dead period underway, Ohio State isn’t able to host prospects or be out on the road visiting what they hope will be future committed players. Seeing several targets come off the board the last week or so, it’s commitment season for the 2026 class, and the Buckeyes are looking to add to their current cycle in a major way.
Lots of talk has been surrounding this Ohio State class, and while it ranks in the top five nationally, you wouldn’t know it by gauging a large part of the fanbase on social media. Definite causes for concern when it comes to the defensive line — and specifically edge rusher — the Buckeyes have some work to do, and it’s looked as if NIL is the culprit for why they are being beat out.
Avoiding that debate, the Buckeyes simply need to take care of business. Opportunities are getting more slim, but you have to trust this staff has a plan as one of the best programs in college football not only on the field as defending national champions, but on the recruiting front as well.
If there’s one high school Ohio State can’t lose recruiting battles with, it’s in-state prep program Cleveland Glenville. Arguably the program that has given Ohio State the most in-state players over the years, Glenville continues to churn out top prospects and the Buckeyes seem to bring them in more often than not.
In this 2026 class, defensive line prospect Jamir Perez has had a different storyline to his recruitment. Not receiving an Ohio State offer until this past April, the three-star defensive lineman chose Florida as his destination in May. Since then, Ohio State and Larry Johnson have ramped up their efforts to keep the Ohio native home, and the momentum has trending in favor of the Buckeyes doing just that.
The No. 677 player nationally and 73rd best defensive lineman, Perez may not have the four or five-star grade Ohio State fans have grown used to expecting, but offers from the likes of Alabama, Cincinnati, Florida, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and 20 others should give enough reason to believe that the ranking isn’t the most important feature to this recruitment.
A 6-foot-4, 360 pound athlete, Perez is the ideal body type to play nose at the next level. Being able to rush the passer is an added bonus, but with his size and frame, Perez is the perfect candidate to plug the gaps in the run game freeing up linebackers while being able to shed blocks from the interior of the offensive line.
The most positive development, Perez took to his social media earlier this week to share he has a big announcement coming this Friday. With several crystal ball predictions in Ohio State’s favor this week, it’s looking more and more likely that the Buckeyes get him to flip from his Florida pledge.
What would make the third interior defensive lineman in class if he does in fact flip to Ohio State, the Buckeyes are going all in on this one late into the process, and are hoping they've done enough to keep yet another Glenville product at home for the next three to four years.
Continue reading...
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Ohio native remains committed to Florida, but hints at news coming on Friday.
With the recruiting dead period underway, Ohio State isn’t able to host prospects or be out on the road visiting what they hope will be future committed players. Seeing several targets come off the board the last week or so, it’s commitment season for the 2026 class, and the Buckeyes are looking to add to their current cycle in a major way.
Lots of talk has been surrounding this Ohio State class, and while it ranks in the top five nationally, you wouldn’t know it by gauging a large part of the fanbase on social media. Definite causes for concern when it comes to the defensive line — and specifically edge rusher — the Buckeyes have some work to do, and it’s looked as if NIL is the culprit for why they are being beat out.
Avoiding that debate, the Buckeyes simply need to take care of business. Opportunities are getting more slim, but you have to trust this staff has a plan as one of the best programs in college football not only on the field as defending national champions, but on the recruiting front as well.
Looking good for a flip on in-state target
If there’s one high school Ohio State can’t lose recruiting battles with, it’s in-state prep program Cleveland Glenville. Arguably the program that has given Ohio State the most in-state players over the years, Glenville continues to churn out top prospects and the Buckeyes seem to bring them in more often than not.
In this 2026 class, defensive line prospect Jamir Perez has had a different storyline to his recruitment. Not receiving an Ohio State offer until this past April, the three-star defensive lineman chose Florida as his destination in May. Since then, Ohio State and Larry Johnson have ramped up their efforts to keep the Ohio native home, and the momentum has trending in favor of the Buckeyes doing just that.
The No. 677 player nationally and 73rd best defensive lineman, Perez may not have the four or five-star grade Ohio State fans have grown used to expecting, but offers from the likes of Alabama, Cincinnati, Florida, Kentucky, Wisconsin, and 20 others should give enough reason to believe that the ranking isn’t the most important feature to this recruitment.
A 6-foot-4, 360 pound athlete, Perez is the ideal body type to play nose at the next level. Being able to rush the passer is an added bonus, but with his size and frame, Perez is the perfect candidate to plug the gaps in the run game freeing up linebackers while being able to shed blocks from the interior of the offensive line.
The most positive development, Perez took to his social media earlier this week to share he has a big announcement coming this Friday. With several crystal ball predictions in Ohio State’s favor this week, it’s looking more and more likely that the Buckeyes get him to flip from his Florida pledge.
What would make the third interior defensive lineman in class if he does in fact flip to Ohio State, the Buckeyes are going all in on this one late into the process, and are hoping they've done enough to keep yet another Glenville product at home for the next three to four years.
️ (@DabigRootJJ) Continue reading...
LGHL Overanalyzing Ross Bjork’s recent comments about the Ohio State men’s basketball program
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Overanalyzing Ross Bjork’s recent comments about the Ohio State men’s basketball program
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Bjork’s comments last week were the most concrete analysis of what he expects from the men’s basketball program.
Early last week, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork spoke to the Columbus Dispatch about the men’s basketball program. At a time when football is far more popular — and let’s face it, more successful — it can be tough to get Bjork to talk about basketball for more than a few seconds. The Dispatch was able to sit down with him for awhile, and both asked him about this year’s team and his general expectations for the program.
The tangent that follows will mostly focus on Bjork’s expectations for the program, based off of his comments last week. But the Ohio State AD also said that he felt Jake Diebler and his staff did a good enough job in the transfer portal to make the team “stable” and said that the team has “the right pieces” to win this season.
Bjork also commented that having continuity in the program is important, and that he thinks this year’s team will have that after bringing back Bruce Thornton (17.7 PPG), Devin Royal (13.7 PPG), and John Mobley Jr. (13 PPG). In fact, only Purdue and UCLA will rival Ohio State’s returning production in the Big Ten this upcoming season.
Here’s what Bjork said are his expectations for the program, broken down bit by bit. Now that we’ve got this on record, we know exactly where the bar is that the second-year AD expects the second-year head coach to clear.
“To me, you want to finish in the upper quadrant of the Big Ten,” Bjork said. “That means you’re competing for a championship.”
By definition, a “quadrant” is one of four spaces on a grid when the x and y axes dissect a grid. Finishing in the “upper quadrant” probably means finishing in the “upper fourth” based on the mathematical definition of the term.
With 18 teams in the Big Ten, that means finishing in the top four or five of the Big Ten every season. It’s been four years since Ohio State finished in the top five of the Big Ten. A top-four finish means getting a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, so Bjork thinks the Buckeyes should be fighting for that double-bye every season, based on his comments.
“You want to be in the conversation all year long as an NCAA Tournament team.”
The unspoken part there is to be in the conversation for a Big Ten title all year long as an NCAA Tournament team, but the part I think is most important is the NCAA Tournament part. Bjork expects Ohio State to be playing in the NCAA Tournament every year going forward. Not making the big dance means the season was a failure — end of story.
The Buckeyes have missed the NCAA Tournament each of the past three seasons, although they came close this past season, finishing as the third team left out of the tournament this past season. Of the four teams who were left just on the outside (Ohio State, West Virginia, Indiana, Boise State), the Buckeyes had the highest NET ranking of the group.
Bjork thinks the Buckeyes were close, too, saying, “Did we want to win last year? Yeah, we did. We were maybe one game away from making the NCAA Tournament and being a good seed.”
“And then you want to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.”
Diebler won’t be fired if he fails to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament next season — although failing to make the tournament at all might be a different story. Bjork is basically saying here that once every couple years, simply making the NCAA Tournament isn’t going to be enough at Ohio State.
Making it to the NCAA Tournament will be a given, but every once in awhile Bjork expects Ohio State to string some wins together in the tournament, too, resulting in a Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, or better. The last time Ohio State won more than one game in the NCAA Tournament was 2013.
The last three seasons, Ohio State has gone 0-for-3 in the above goals. Now that Diebler’s boss has clearly stated what he expects, we know exactly what the Buckeyes have to shoot for this season. The Buckeyes finished 10th in the Big Ten last season, tied for ninth the year before that, and 13th the year before that.
If Bjork is serious about those parameters he laid out, the lack of winning over the last three years just won’t cut it moving forward. We’ll see if Diebler and his staff are able to help elevate Ohio State’s play this season to a level that will satisfy the big boss.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Bjork’s comments last week were the most concrete analysis of what he expects from the men’s basketball program.
Early last week, Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork spoke to the Columbus Dispatch about the men’s basketball program. At a time when football is far more popular — and let’s face it, more successful — it can be tough to get Bjork to talk about basketball for more than a few seconds. The Dispatch was able to sit down with him for awhile, and both asked him about this year’s team and his general expectations for the program.
The tangent that follows will mostly focus on Bjork’s expectations for the program, based off of his comments last week. But the Ohio State AD also said that he felt Jake Diebler and his staff did a good enough job in the transfer portal to make the team “stable” and said that the team has “the right pieces” to win this season.
Bjork also commented that having continuity in the program is important, and that he thinks this year’s team will have that after bringing back Bruce Thornton (17.7 PPG), Devin Royal (13.7 PPG), and John Mobley Jr. (13 PPG). In fact, only Purdue and UCLA will rival Ohio State’s returning production in the Big Ten this upcoming season.
Here’s what Bjork said are his expectations for the program, broken down bit by bit. Now that we’ve got this on record, we know exactly where the bar is that the second-year AD expects the second-year head coach to clear.
“Finish in the upper quadrant of the Big Ten”
“To me, you want to finish in the upper quadrant of the Big Ten,” Bjork said. “That means you’re competing for a championship.”
By definition, a “quadrant” is one of four spaces on a grid when the x and y axes dissect a grid. Finishing in the “upper quadrant” probably means finishing in the “upper fourth” based on the mathematical definition of the term.
With 18 teams in the Big Ten, that means finishing in the top four or five of the Big Ten every season. It’s been four years since Ohio State finished in the top five of the Big Ten. A top-four finish means getting a double-bye in the Big Ten Tournament, so Bjork thinks the Buckeyes should be fighting for that double-bye every season, based on his comments.
Be an NCAA Tournament team
“You want to be in the conversation all year long as an NCAA Tournament team.”
The unspoken part there is to be in the conversation for a Big Ten title all year long as an NCAA Tournament team, but the part I think is most important is the NCAA Tournament part. Bjork expects Ohio State to be playing in the NCAA Tournament every year going forward. Not making the big dance means the season was a failure — end of story.
The Buckeyes have missed the NCAA Tournament each of the past three seasons, although they came close this past season, finishing as the third team left out of the tournament this past season. Of the four teams who were left just on the outside (Ohio State, West Virginia, Indiana, Boise State), the Buckeyes had the highest NET ranking of the group.
Bjork thinks the Buckeyes were close, too, saying, “Did we want to win last year? Yeah, we did. We were maybe one game away from making the NCAA Tournament and being a good seed.”
“Make a run in the NCAA Tournament”
“And then you want to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.”
Diebler won’t be fired if he fails to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament next season — although failing to make the tournament at all might be a different story. Bjork is basically saying here that once every couple years, simply making the NCAA Tournament isn’t going to be enough at Ohio State.
Making it to the NCAA Tournament will be a given, but every once in awhile Bjork expects Ohio State to string some wins together in the tournament, too, resulting in a Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, or better. The last time Ohio State won more than one game in the NCAA Tournament was 2013.
The last three seasons, Ohio State has gone 0-for-3 in the above goals. Now that Diebler’s boss has clearly stated what he expects, we know exactly what the Buckeyes have to shoot for this season. The Buckeyes finished 10th in the Big Ten last season, tied for ninth the year before that, and 13th the year before that.
If Bjork is serious about those parameters he laid out, the lack of winning over the last three years just won’t cut it moving forward. We’ll see if Diebler and his staff are able to help elevate Ohio State’s play this season to a level that will satisfy the big boss.
Continue reading...
