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LGHL Braxton Miller announces he is entering the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame
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Braxton Miller announces he is entering the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The legendary Ohio State QB/WR is the first member of the 2024 class.
Late on Thursday night, former Buckeye quarterback and wide receiver Braxton Miller posted on X that he would be an inductee of the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame’s 2024 class. Miller is the first known inductee of the class, with the rest of the new members being announced in July. The Springfield native was one of the most electric players to ever don the scarlet and gray.
Prior to committing to Ohio State as a five-star recruit, Miller was a four-year starter at quarterback for Wayne High School in Huber Heights. Miller was not only a finalist for Ohio’s Mr. Football Award. he was chosen to participate in the Under Armour All-America Game. Despite the resignation of head coach Jim Tressel, who recruited Miller, just a few months prior to the 2011 season, Miller stuck with his commitment to Ohio State.
Once on campus, it was only a matter of time before Miller was given the keys to the Buckeye offense. The freshman was a backup to Joe Bauserman for the first three games of the 2011 season before he was named the starting quarterback against Colorado. Despite dealing with some inconsistent play, as well as some injuries, it became obvious during the season that Miller was the future of the Ohio State offense with his dual-threat ability. The highlight of the season for Miller was leading the Buckeyes to an upset 33-29 win over Russell Wilson and Wisconsin. Miller became the seventh Ohio State player to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Not only was there excitement surrounding Miller’s future at Ohio State, just a few days following the loss to Michigan in the regular season finale, the Buckeyes named Urban Meyer as their next head coach. Ohio State would go on to finish the regular season 12-0, but were ineligible to play in a bowl game after self-imposing a bowl ban as punishment for the “Tatgate” scandal. Miller amassed over 3,000 yards from scrimmage and 28 touchdowns on his way to being named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
Ohio State entered the 2013 season as one of the favorites to make the BCS National Championship Game. The season for Miller hit a bit of a snag in non-conference play when he was injured against San Diego State, which resulted in the junior sitting out a few games before returning for the 31-24 win over Wisconsin. The Buckeyes would again finish the regular season undefeated, but they suffered their first loss under Urban Meyer in the Big Ten Championship Game against Michigan State. Ohio State would also lose in the Orange Bowl to Clemson in a game where Miller was battered by the pass rush of the Tigers. Despite missing a few games due to injury, Miller was again named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
Following the conclusion of the 2013 season, Miller underwent shoulder surgery in February, with the expectation he would be ready for his senior season. Buckeye Nation was rocked when it was announced Miller had tore his labrum in the same shoulder in preseason practice, leading to the quarterback being ruled out for the season and using his medical redshirt. With Miller on the sidelines, redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett put Ohio State in position to make the first College Football Playoff. Barrett was injured against Michigan, resulting in third-string quarterback Cardale Jones to start the final three games of the season, which ended with the Buckeyes winning the national championship.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25474050/487251848.jpg "Ohio State v Virginia Tech")
Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images
Not only was Miller returning to Columbus for the 2015 season, Cardale Jones announced he would also be back for the Buckeyes, joining Barrett in a crowded quarterback room. After months of debate on who would start for the Buckeyes, Miller removed himself from the competition when he announced he would be moving to H-back. Miller made an immediate impact in the season opener at Virginia Tech when he used an iconic spin move to find the end zone in the 42-24 win over the Hokies. In his final season at Ohio State, Miller finished with 26 catches for 341 yards and three touchdowns.
Despite missing a season due to injury and switching to wide receiver for his senior season, Miller put up some amazing statistics at Ohio State. Miller would finish with 5,295 yards passing, 3,314 yards rushing, 52 passing touchdowns, 33 rushing touchdowns, and three receiving touchdowns. The 88 total touchdowns are a school record, and Miller ranks second in school history in total yards.
In the 2016 NFL Draft, Miller was selected by the Houston Texans in the third round. In two years with the Texans, Miller caught 34 passes for 261 yards and three scores across 21 games. After being waived by Houston prior to the 2018 season, Miller agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, and Carolina Panthers over the next two seasons but wouldn’t appear in another NFL game.
While no date for the induction ceremony for the 2024 class has been announced, last year’s ceremony took place in early October at the Covelli Center. 14 Ohio State greats were inducted, including football greats Malcolm Jenkins, Nick Mangold, and Rick Middleton. The criteria to be eligible to be inducted to the hall are an athlete has to be at least five years past graduation and earned at least one varsity “O” during their time at Ohio State. LGHL will keep you updated as more inductees are added to this year’s class.
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Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The legendary Ohio State QB/WR is the first member of the 2024 class.
Late on Thursday night, former Buckeye quarterback and wide receiver Braxton Miller posted on X that he would be an inductee of the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame’s 2024 class. Miller is the first known inductee of the class, with the rest of the new members being announced in July. The Springfield native was one of the most electric players to ever don the scarlet and gray.
Prior to committing to Ohio State as a five-star recruit, Miller was a four-year starter at quarterback for Wayne High School in Huber Heights. Miller was not only a finalist for Ohio’s Mr. Football Award. he was chosen to participate in the Under Armour All-America Game. Despite the resignation of head coach Jim Tressel, who recruited Miller, just a few months prior to the 2011 season, Miller stuck with his commitment to Ohio State.
Once on campus, it was only a matter of time before Miller was given the keys to the Buckeye offense. The freshman was a backup to Joe Bauserman for the first three games of the 2011 season before he was named the starting quarterback against Colorado. Despite dealing with some inconsistent play, as well as some injuries, it became obvious during the season that Miller was the future of the Ohio State offense with his dual-threat ability. The highlight of the season for Miller was leading the Buckeyes to an upset 33-29 win over Russell Wilson and Wisconsin. Miller became the seventh Ohio State player to be named Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Not only was there excitement surrounding Miller’s future at Ohio State, just a few days following the loss to Michigan in the regular season finale, the Buckeyes named Urban Meyer as their next head coach. Ohio State would go on to finish the regular season 12-0, but were ineligible to play in a bowl game after self-imposing a bowl ban as punishment for the “Tatgate” scandal. Miller amassed over 3,000 yards from scrimmage and 28 touchdowns on his way to being named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
Ohio State entered the 2013 season as one of the favorites to make the BCS National Championship Game. The season for Miller hit a bit of a snag in non-conference play when he was injured against San Diego State, which resulted in the junior sitting out a few games before returning for the 31-24 win over Wisconsin. The Buckeyes would again finish the regular season undefeated, but they suffered their first loss under Urban Meyer in the Big Ten Championship Game against Michigan State. Ohio State would also lose in the Orange Bowl to Clemson in a game where Miller was battered by the pass rush of the Tigers. Despite missing a few games due to injury, Miller was again named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
Following the conclusion of the 2013 season, Miller underwent shoulder surgery in February, with the expectation he would be ready for his senior season. Buckeye Nation was rocked when it was announced Miller had tore his labrum in the same shoulder in preseason practice, leading to the quarterback being ruled out for the season and using his medical redshirt. With Miller on the sidelines, redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett put Ohio State in position to make the first College Football Playoff. Barrett was injured against Michigan, resulting in third-string quarterback Cardale Jones to start the final three games of the season, which ended with the Buckeyes winning the national championship.
Not only was Miller returning to Columbus for the 2015 season, Cardale Jones announced he would also be back for the Buckeyes, joining Barrett in a crowded quarterback room. After months of debate on who would start for the Buckeyes, Miller removed himself from the competition when he announced he would be moving to H-back. Miller made an immediate impact in the season opener at Virginia Tech when he used an iconic spin move to find the end zone in the 42-24 win over the Hokies. In his final season at Ohio State, Miller finished with 26 catches for 341 yards and three touchdowns.
Despite missing a season due to injury and switching to wide receiver for his senior season, Miller put up some amazing statistics at Ohio State. Miller would finish with 5,295 yards passing, 3,314 yards rushing, 52 passing touchdowns, 33 rushing touchdowns, and three receiving touchdowns. The 88 total touchdowns are a school record, and Miller ranks second in school history in total yards.
In the 2016 NFL Draft, Miller was selected by the Houston Texans in the third round. In two years with the Texans, Miller caught 34 passes for 261 yards and three scores across 21 games. After being waived by Houston prior to the 2018 season, Miller agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, Cleveland Browns, and Carolina Panthers over the next two seasons but wouldn’t appear in another NFL game.
While no date for the induction ceremony for the 2024 class has been announced, last year’s ceremony took place in early October at the Covelli Center. 14 Ohio State greats were inducted, including football greats Malcolm Jenkins, Nick Mangold, and Rick Middleton. The criteria to be eligible to be inducted to the hall are an athlete has to be at least five years past graduation and earned at least one varsity “O” during their time at Ohio State. LGHL will keep you updated as more inductees are added to this year’s class.
Continue reading...
LGHL Unpopular Opinion: The Schottenstein Center is great for women’s basketball, if fans show up
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- 0 Replies
Unpopular Opinion: The Schottenstein Center is great for women’s basketball, if fans show up
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
It’s time to accept the Schott and appreciate it
I can admit when I’ve made a mistake. In August of 2022, I wrote an article about how the Covelli Center would be a great home for Ohio State women’s basketball. The 2023-24 season showed that the Schottenstein Center provides a fantastic atmosphere for a basketball game. However, the big problem with the venue is that fans don’t show up nearly often enough.
On Jan. 21, 2024, Ohio State won what ended up being its most impressive victory of the season. Down 12 points, the Buckeyes rallied. After guard Celeste Taylor hit a shot to put Ohio State back into the game with seconds remaining, the Scarlet & Gray dominated in overtime to pick up a victory that ultimately led to winning an outright Big Ten Regular Season title.
In four seasons covering Ohio State, I’ve heard the yelling and complaining of opposing fans as the Buckeyes mounted comebacks in away arenas, saw the shock of UConn fans in the 2023 Sweet Sixteen, and stood within a few feet of players cutting down the nets after beating rivals from up north.
The win over Iowa was different. It was an experience that tops the list of games covered live. At the end of regulation, something happened that I hadn’t felt before at a game, and likely won’t be repeated. As I took a second to breathe, my arms were shaking. A feeling felt by peers next to me.
It wasn’t only because of an exciting game featuring the biggest name in the sport, a gift for someone writing about sports. No, it was mostly because of the sound that reverberated throughout the Schottenstein Center.
Ohio State’s win wasn’t its largest comeback in the arena. It wasn’t a game that featured the most exciting plays in the past four seasons. However, having a program record 18,860 people in attendance — 1,300 more than the previous mark — put the experience of that matchup into another stratosphere.
An arena that’s often ridiculed, mainly by St. John’s Arena loyalists (it’s not hosting games anymore, I’m sorry), was loud. It sounded more like the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Golden State Warriors in an NBA Finals game seven than a regular season Big Ten college basketball game. Why can’t that happen more often?
A logical argument is that not every game features superstar guard Caitlin Clark. I have a counterpoint:
Scarlet and gray heavily outnumbered Iowa’s black and gold in the crowd.
As much as Hawkeye fans cheered when Clark hit one of her token deep three-pointers, and the few Clark-curious Buckeye supporters, the game was the loudest when Ohio State made a fourth-quarter run.
Ohio State fans are out there. They’re the same people who pack nearly 100,000 people into Ohio Stadium. Their names are scrolled on degrees just like their football peers. Even the football players themselves come out to women’s basketball games, so why can’t the uninitiated?
Following that win, the Buckeyes did get a bump in attendance. After keeping the upper bowl closed for years, certain games gave fans the opportunity to pack the lower bowl and open up parts of the upper deck. The final two regular season home games each eclipsed 10,000 in attendance, with wins over the Maryland Terrapins and Michigan Wolverines.
The bump in attendance falls in line with the overall increase in excitement for women’s basketball. Across college and the pros, records in attendance, sell-outs, and television ratings are common. Each week, a new record seems to be broken.
It’s the perfect time to make the Schottenstein Center what it can be. It’s got the potential to be a fortress for Ohio State on the women’s side. While fan favorites like guards Jacy Sheldon and the aforementioned Taylor are gone, there’s more than enough to make up for it in new roster additions.
Head coach Kevin McGuff added the No. 2 overall recruit in the country, the highest-rated recruit landing at Ohio State in his tenure. Guard Jaloni Cambridge enters the team with high expectations. Something the incoming freshman embraces and easily clears with a highlight reel of moments leading to another National Championship as a senior with Montverde Academy.
Plus, Chance Gray, a dynamic shooting guard out of Cincinnati, went to the University of Oregon for two seasons before coming back to her home state. There’s also Ajae Petty, a double-double averaging forward who joins the Buckeyes after her best collegiate season with the Kentucky Wildcats.
Those are only the new players. Coach McGuff returns senior experience and dynamic playmakers. Guard Madison Greene played her first nearly full season in three years this past season, following two ACL tears keeping her out most of the 21-22 and 22-23 seasons. Greene stands alongside guard/forward Taylor Thierry whose ceiling might be higher than any in the conference with sheer athleticism and knowledge of the game.
Last, but not least in the slightest, is forward Cotie McMahon. Debuting as a freshman two seasons ago, McMahon showed her future as a staple of the conference. In that win over Iowa, the sophomore scored 33 points and added 12 rebounds, with two blocks. Putting McMahon alongside Cambridge creates a duo that Ohio State fans will need to see to believe.
This isn’t a knock to the loyal fans of Buckeyes women’s basketball. There’s a dedicated group, even some who travel to see the team consistently away from Columbus, who are loud, excited, and show support for Ohio State. However, now that the arena’s potential is realized, it’s time for more.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
It’s time to accept the Schott and appreciate it
I can admit when I’ve made a mistake. In August of 2022, I wrote an article about how the Covelli Center would be a great home for Ohio State women’s basketball. The 2023-24 season showed that the Schottenstein Center provides a fantastic atmosphere for a basketball game. However, the big problem with the venue is that fans don’t show up nearly often enough.
On Jan. 21, 2024, Ohio State won what ended up being its most impressive victory of the season. Down 12 points, the Buckeyes rallied. After guard Celeste Taylor hit a shot to put Ohio State back into the game with seconds remaining, the Scarlet & Gray dominated in overtime to pick up a victory that ultimately led to winning an outright Big Ten Regular Season title.
In four seasons covering Ohio State, I’ve heard the yelling and complaining of opposing fans as the Buckeyes mounted comebacks in away arenas, saw the shock of UConn fans in the 2023 Sweet Sixteen, and stood within a few feet of players cutting down the nets after beating rivals from up north.
The win over Iowa was different. It was an experience that tops the list of games covered live. At the end of regulation, something happened that I hadn’t felt before at a game, and likely won’t be repeated. As I took a second to breathe, my arms were shaking. A feeling felt by peers next to me.
It wasn’t only because of an exciting game featuring the biggest name in the sport, a gift for someone writing about sports. No, it was mostly because of the sound that reverberated throughout the Schottenstein Center.
Ohio State’s win wasn’t its largest comeback in the arena. It wasn’t a game that featured the most exciting plays in the past four seasons. However, having a program record 18,860 people in attendance — 1,300 more than the previous mark — put the experience of that matchup into another stratosphere.
An arena that’s often ridiculed, mainly by St. John’s Arena loyalists (it’s not hosting games anymore, I’m sorry), was loud. It sounded more like the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the Golden State Warriors in an NBA Finals game seven than a regular season Big Ten college basketball game. Why can’t that happen more often?
A logical argument is that not every game features superstar guard Caitlin Clark. I have a counterpoint:
Scarlet and gray heavily outnumbered Iowa’s black and gold in the crowd.
As much as Hawkeye fans cheered when Clark hit one of her token deep three-pointers, and the few Clark-curious Buckeye supporters, the game was the loudest when Ohio State made a fourth-quarter run.
Ohio State fans are out there. They’re the same people who pack nearly 100,000 people into Ohio Stadium. Their names are scrolled on degrees just like their football peers. Even the football players themselves come out to women’s basketball games, so why can’t the uninitiated?
Following that win, the Buckeyes did get a bump in attendance. After keeping the upper bowl closed for years, certain games gave fans the opportunity to pack the lower bowl and open up parts of the upper deck. The final two regular season home games each eclipsed 10,000 in attendance, with wins over the Maryland Terrapins and Michigan Wolverines.
The bump in attendance falls in line with the overall increase in excitement for women’s basketball. Across college and the pros, records in attendance, sell-outs, and television ratings are common. Each week, a new record seems to be broken.
It’s the perfect time to make the Schottenstein Center what it can be. It’s got the potential to be a fortress for Ohio State on the women’s side. While fan favorites like guards Jacy Sheldon and the aforementioned Taylor are gone, there’s more than enough to make up for it in new roster additions.
Head coach Kevin McGuff added the No. 2 overall recruit in the country, the highest-rated recruit landing at Ohio State in his tenure. Guard Jaloni Cambridge enters the team with high expectations. Something the incoming freshman embraces and easily clears with a highlight reel of moments leading to another National Championship as a senior with Montverde Academy.
Plus, Chance Gray, a dynamic shooting guard out of Cincinnati, went to the University of Oregon for two seasons before coming back to her home state. There’s also Ajae Petty, a double-double averaging forward who joins the Buckeyes after her best collegiate season with the Kentucky Wildcats.
Those are only the new players. Coach McGuff returns senior experience and dynamic playmakers. Guard Madison Greene played her first nearly full season in three years this past season, following two ACL tears keeping her out most of the 21-22 and 22-23 seasons. Greene stands alongside guard/forward Taylor Thierry whose ceiling might be higher than any in the conference with sheer athleticism and knowledge of the game.
Last, but not least in the slightest, is forward Cotie McMahon. Debuting as a freshman two seasons ago, McMahon showed her future as a staple of the conference. In that win over Iowa, the sophomore scored 33 points and added 12 rebounds, with two blocks. Putting McMahon alongside Cambridge creates a duo that Ohio State fans will need to see to believe.
This isn’t a knock to the loyal fans of Buckeyes women’s basketball. There’s a dedicated group, even some who travel to see the team consistently away from Columbus, who are loud, excited, and show support for Ohio State. However, now that the arena’s potential is realized, it’s time for more.
Continue reading...
