• New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.

Hot

Forum list

Hot

 Threads Latest activity Posts Social Questions

LGHL I-80 Football Show: Rap beef? + the WNBA may be forced to grow

I-80 Football Show: Rap beef? + the WNBA may be forced to grow
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament - National Championship

Photo by Thien-An Truong/ISI Photos/Getty Images

J. Cole apologizes to Kendrick; Should Diana Taurasi apologize for hating on Caitlin Clark?

Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Podcast Network’s I-80 Football Show. On this show, we travel down I-80 to talk all things Big Ten Football. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to for the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.

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


Without much football news, the guys get into the most recent “rap beef” between J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar. Was it lame that J. Cole apologized for dissing Kendrick, or was it being mature? Are fans who were hating on Kendrick before the apology allowed to change their tune and say that J. Cole had better things to do and it’s a positive that he apologized?

Speaking of apologies, Diana Taurasi made the news by hating on Caitlin Clark and her ability to succeed in the WNBA as a rookie. Dante and Jordan discuss what is accurate about Diana’s comments, and what hate is. How much of Caitlin’s success depends on the WNBA being willing to change to a more open style of play? Is Caitlin’s defense going to be tested in the league?

In their weekly pitstops, Jordan vents his frustration against people who always argue, “the letter of the rule” when refs make controversial calls at the end of games. Those people never show up when they miss calls, but always justify allowing refs to end games. Dante celebrates WWE being back after a successful Wrestlemania that saw Cody Rhodes complete his story and win the title from Roman Reigns.


Sign up with MyBookie using our link to receive your welcome bonus: https://mybookie.website/Grant23

Follow the show on YouTube: @JordanW330

Follow the podcast on Instagram: @I80FootballShow

Connect with us on Twitter: Jordan: @JordanW330 and Dante: @DanteM10216

Continue reading...
Click to expand...

LGHL You’re Nuts: Which Ohio State men’s basketball player do you expect to take the biggest jump next year?

You’re Nuts: Which Ohio State men’s basketball player do you expect to take the biggest jump next year?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

Ohio State v Iowa

Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images

The Buckeyes bring back six players who were underclassmen last season.

Despite the hope that hiring Jake Diebler would mean all of Ohio State’s best players would stay put, the Buckeyes didn’t escape the first two weeks of the transfer portal window unscathed.

Roddy Gayle Jr., a rising junior who was third on the team with 13.5 points per game, is gone, and is reportedly considering transferring to Michigan, among other places. Scotty Middleton, a rising sophomore who had an uneven freshman year but shot 45.2% from three, is also gone. Zed Key transferred after four years as well, as did rising junior guard Bowen Hardman.

Last week, Connor and Justin debated which transfer portal players the Buckeyes should go after. Ironically enough, there’s been zero suggestion that Ohio State has actually contacted either of the players we picked. 61% of the readers sided with Connor and his choice of Trey Townsend. The other 39% agreed with Justin, who thinks Jake Diebler should bring in Jordan Pope.

After 147 weeks:​

Connor- 73
Justin- 55
Other- 15​

(There have been four ties)​


Despite losing four guys to the portal, Ohio State still brings back six players who were either freshmen or sophomores last year — Bruce Thornton, Evan Mahaffey, Felix Okpara, Taison Chatman, Austin Parks, and Devin Royal. There are also two freshmen coming in, which means the bones of this team will still be young players.

Of the players already on the roster, who do you think will really take a big leap forward next season? Here are out picks:

This week’s question: Which OSU men’s basketball player do you expect to take the biggest jump next year?​

Connor: Devin Royal​

NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Second Round-Ohio State vs Iowa
Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

The “We think Devin could progress on the same track as E.J. (Liddell) did,” narrative that Chris Holtmann tried to push early in the season became tiring really fast.

Royal averaged 3.2 points per game over his first 24 games of the year, and played 10 or more minutes in only 10 of those first 24 games. He showed some flashes, but wasn’t given the opportunity to step in and make a difference, even while Evan Mahaffey struggled to put the ball in the basket as a starter.

But the switch flipped on that special day in East Lansing. On the day that Dale Bonner stunned the green and white-clad crowd into silence, it was actually Royal who led Ohio State in scoring. The freshman scored a career-high 14 points in just 18 minutes on 6-of-6 shooting.

“All the stuff we’ve been through this year, that’s what really motivated me.” Royal said. “It feels great. We put a lot of work in. We wanted to get a dub on the road.”

From that point on, Royal averaged 8.4 points and 3.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 52% from the field. He became nearly unguardable between the basket and the free throw line, perfecting a little turnaround jump shot that he’d take after creating space below the basket. Royal never really found his three-point shot, and when you remove those, he shot 60.1% from two-point range over the final nine games.

Royal didn’t put up other-worldly rebounding numbers, partially because he didn’t play enough minutes to. Even down the stretch when he was playing well, the freshman from Pickerington still only topped 20 minutes one time. A big part of that was foul trouble, as Royal picked up three or more fouls in 11 of the final 15 games of the season.

In order for Royal to stay on the floor and play enough minutes for his raw ability to project on the stat sheet, he needs to avoid picking up dumb fouls. Too many of the fouls Royal picked up were far from the basket or on made baskets that were clearly going to be baskets with or without him getting involved. And with time and experience, he’s going to figure that out.

Royal had stretches where he was the most energetic player on the floor. He also had stretches — like the Michigan State game — where he looked unstopped on the offensive end. He also had games — in the Big Ten, no less — where he was able to climb the ladder and sky for rebounds above players much bigger than him. If Devin can show off those skills at even 75% of his capability next season, paired with more playing time, I think he will have a breakout season.

Justin: Taison Chatman ​

Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

There are a couple of guys that you could take in this regard. Devin Royal is a good pick, Evan Mahaffey could take a jump offensively, or even Bruce Thornton and Felix Okpara.

But I am going with a guy who some people thought was a guaranteed transfer: guard Taison Chatman.

Chatman announced he is returning to Columbus for his sophomore season after not seeing the floor much in his freshman season. It is worth noting that he played more under Jake Diebler than he did under Chris Holtmann.

It is also worth noting that Chatman missed significant time twice this past season with injuries: once in the offseason before the season started, and once in the middle of the season. If an incoming freshman misses part of the offseason, he is missing valuable time to get acquainted with the team and create chemistry in practice, and that has severely hindered and limited Chatman this season.

As long as Chatman stays healthy, he will be able to have a full offseason to help his development. Also, with the departures of Dale Bonner and Roddy Gayle, the Buckeyes will need Chatman to step into a larger role, along with incoming freshman Juni Mobley. Chatman will have the added benefit of experience over Mobley.

Chatman was one of the top-ranked recruits in the Big Ten last season, and unfortunately, injuries derailed his freshman season. If he stays healthy, he could be a candidate to take one of the biggest leaps in the conference.


Continue reading...
Click to expand...

LGHL McGuff discusses Ohio State women’s basketball transfer needs

McGuff discusses Ohio State women’s basketball transfer needs
ThomasCostello 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

Thursday, the Buckeyes’ head coach shared the two areas where the Scarlet and Gray could be active in the transfer portal.

There are currently over 1,000 players in the NCAA women’s basketball transfer portal. For Ohio State women’s basketball, there are realistically four open spots on the 2024-25 roster, and pursuing additions via the portal isn’t as easy as just picking names from a list. As head coach Kevin McGuff details, it’s daunting.

“Every five minutes. somebody on my staff’s walking in and talking about a new player,” McGuff said laughing. “I’m having a hard time keeping up.”

On the court, there were two areas last season where the Buckeyes had a hard time keeping up, and both are on the portal radar.

The first, which was an obvious gap not only in the 2024 postseason but really over the past three seasons, is rebounding. In the Buckeyes’ early NCAA Tournament exit against the Duke Blue Devils, there was a 38-20 rebounding margin in the ACC side’s favor. In the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, it was a staggering -24 rebounding margin for the Scarlet and Gray against the Maryland Terrapins in an 82-61 loss.

In the portal is a player who visited Columbus during her recruiting but committed to the Baylor Bears. The 6-foot-7 rising junior Lety Vasconcelos entered the portal with three years of eligibility after averaging 2.1 rebounds in 5.8 minutes played per game. the Brazlian is a name to watch, but there are hundreds of others the Buckeyes could pursue.

Many of the names grabbing the most attention since the end of the season are from the Pacific Northwest. Native Ohioan and former Oregon Duck Grace VanSlooten and Colorado native, and Oregon State Beaver, Raegan Beers are additions who would make any coach ecstatic; both are program-changing talents.

Could they be on McGuff’s radar? He’s not revealing any of that information, but adding someone in the post is a focus with both the portal and the incoming group of freshmen.

Ohio State adds three forwards in the upcoming class, with two looking like strong contenders for a starting position in the paint. Out of North Carolina, four-star recruit Ella Hobbs is a physical big standing 6-foot-4; she brings the kind of inside presence the Buckeyes lacked over the past three seasons. There’s also Finnish forward Elsa Lemmila, who McGuff sees coming in and picking up the slack.

“She’s a really good athlete and she’s 6-foot-5 and she’s long,” said McGuff. “Rebounding can be discipline and blocking out effort and going to get the ball, but sometimes it’s personnel too. That’s part of what’s on my mind is just to kind of improve our personnel in terms of people who can rebound better.”

Those two, plus another year for freshman center Faith Carson, means that the post group will be young, but high potential.

There’s also the potential return of forward Eboni Walker. Although the forward missed the end of the regular season, and lone Big Ten Tournament game, for undisclosed reasons, she returned for the NCAA Tournament. McGuff and the Buckeyes’ work on getting Walker a redshirt season for her injury-plagued year with the Syracuse Orange in 2021-22 is still ongoing, with McGuff sharing that he has calls scheduled with decisionmakers this week on the subject.

Walker’s played the five-position in the last two years with Ohio State and provides a burst of energy anytime she’s on the court. Walker’s return won’t completely fix the rebounding issue for the Buckeyes, but it will bring more veteran leadership to a position that’s full of youth.

Alongside Walker is returning forward Taylor Thierry, who McGuff anticipates will make another leap in her senior season. Plus soon-to-be junior forward Cotie McMahon will enter next season as one of the team’s elder players.

Thierry, McMahon, and incoming freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge could be a strong enough reason for transfers to not look past the Buckeyes.

Another area needing reinforcement is perimeter shooting. In the two seasons where Ohio State made it to at least the Sweet Sixteen, it was in due part to the shooting of former Buckeye guard Taylor Mikesell. This season, that shooting wasn’t the same.

Although the number of threes averaged per game was relatively the same, 7.4 for the 2022-23 Buckeyes compared to 7.2 this season, the efficiency was lower. Also, without a strong shooter taking up a defender, scoring in general dropped and it made Ohio State less impactful in the paint.

While there isn’t a clear like-for-like in terms of the shooting ability of a Mikesell in the portal, with over 1,000 players available, there are options to choose from. The name that grabbed the most attention was former Louisville Cardinal and LSU Tiger Hailey Van Lith. The point guard has a season remaining, but positionally isn’t the best fit for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State returns Madison Greene, after multiple season-ending injuries. McGuff is hoping that her rehabilitation will allow her to provide a larger impact in her final season. Then there’s the No. 2 overall 2024 recruit, according to ESPN, in Jaloni Cambridge. Coming off of a second consecutive national championship with Montverde Academy in Florida, the point guard is a clear choice to start for the Buckeyes on Day 1, even with Greene available.

Adding a Van Lith would be a blockbuster move, but it's not likely that an established offensive point guard like Van Lith would slide over to a shooting guard role.

Regardless, the portal window ends on May 1 giving the Buckeye coaching staff — and players they are pursuing — just under three weeks to make major decisions.

Even with seven months left until the start of the 2024-25 college basketball offseason, McGuff is confident in what those outside of the program will see in the fall.

“I think you’ll be able to look at our team on day one and say that’s a talented group that’s got a chance to be really special,” he said.

Continue reading...
Click to expand...

LGHL Five-star receiver Dakorien Moore’s visit plans, new visits and offers being shared by the Buckeyes

Five-star receiver Dakorien Moore’s visit plans, new visits and offers being shared by the Buckeyes
Caleb Houser 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

There’s been a change to the visit plans for the top receiver in the 2025 class.

On Wednesday, five-star receiver target Dakorien Moore was a major topic of discussion. Moore had made plans to be at Ohio State this weekend for the annual spring game, surprising many. A current LSU commit, getting Moore on campus with Brian Hartline really boosts the chances the Buckeyes have at swaying him from pledge and potentially towards Ohio State.

Thursday, however, brought some unfortunate news that due to his high school athletics schedule changing, he no longer can make the trek to see the Buckeyes for their spring finale. Ohio State still has a laundry list of visitors that is more than enough to be excited about, but the absence of Moore is a blow nonetheless.

Fortunately, Moore and his mother did make it known that while this weekend is no longer in the cards, they still will get to Ohio State, and intend to do so later this month. Focusing on the positive, yes it’s a huge recruiting weekend that will bring quite the impressive atmosphere that Moore could have seen, but coming with spring ball in the rearview mirror does make it where the staff can spend more quality time with him and his family, further making him the priority.

The No. 2 player nationally and top receiver in the 2025 class per the 247Sports Composite, Ohio State is going all in on trying to flip Moore away from LSU. They’ll still get their shot, even if they have to wait and couple of more weeks to do so.

Official visit locked in for Florida running back​


Visiting this week, 2025 running back target Byron Louis made it clear that he enjoyed his time in Columbus and with Ohio State’s staff. The No. 203 player nationally and 15th best running back in the class per the 247Sports Composite, Louis was able to spend ample time with Ryan Day and newly named position coach Carlos Locklyn while on his unofficial visit to see the Buckeyes.

Louis didn’t take much time at all to plan a return trip to Ohio State after heading home. He shared that he has already locked in his official visit with the Buckeyes, which will take place this coming summer in mid-June. A second visit in just as many months, it looks like the Buckeyes are really climbing up the leaderboard for Louis, and at this pace you wonder if Ohio State feels the same.

For a while, it’s been Jordon Davison and one of either Bo Jackson and Marquise Davis that have most closely linked to Ohio State’s 2025 class as top targets. But again, this staff isn’t going to turn away the attention of top running backs knowing recruitments change in a hurry.

For now, Ohio State has to take at least two in this current cycle, and whether it becomes a race to see who commits and takes their place first or not, this staff at least has multiple elite options — Louis being one of them.

️fficial Visit #GoBuckeyes pic.twitter.com/ZU4fmdMAsR

— Byron Louis (@byronlouis_) April 11, 2024
Click to expand...

Buckeyes offer 2026 Georgia safety prospect​


Most of the news this week has surrounded Ohio State’s recruiting guest list this coming Saturday — and rightfully so — but Thursday also saw the latest offer go out in the 2026 class.

Taking to Twitter to share the latest news, Enarri White was on the receiving end of Ohio State’s latest offer. A 6-foot-1, 190 pound safety, White is a player that would be considered under the radar, as he is not currently ranked via 247Sports or any platform other than On3.

Schools such as Cincinnati, North Carolina, and Oklahoma have also offered, but Ohio State in the fold should really start to help him gain more attention in the 2026 class. Doing well in the state of Georgia, the Buckeyes will continue to monitor this new offer to White. Though they’ll have several top guys to be after, offering him this early on into the process will help keep Ohio State in his mind for the long haul as he gets deeper into his recruitment.

Blessed to receive an offer from Ohio State University! @OhioStateFB @JLaurinaitis55 @ryandaytime @247Sports @On3Elite @RivalsFriedman @adamgorney @Rivals @On3Recruits @247Sports pic.twitter.com/87yFNWjzkx

— En 3⭐️WR/S (@EnarriWhite1) April 11, 2024
Click to expand...

Quick Hits​

  • Though he’s already committed, maybe one of the bigger and more important visitors this weekend is five-star cornerback Devin Sanchez. Coming to town with his parents, it’s been Sanchez’s mom and dad that have been some of the best Ohio State recruiters in this 2025 class. Taking time to share their pro-Buckeyes stances on social media daily it seems, the Sanchez family is locked in and doing their best to further recruit the nation’s best guys to join their son.

What will be another major opportunity for Ohio State to continue building their relationship with Devin and his family, it’s also a chance for the three of them to continue their peer recruiting efforts of their own, and doing so as one of the more established members of this current class.

Odds are Devin and his parents will be in the ears of several elite players this weekend making sure they know why Ohio State is the place to be.

Back in Columbus this weekend!!!

BIA!!!! pic.twitter.com/BoMl374Vjp

— Devin Sanchez (@Devin2416) April 11, 2024
Click to expand...

Continue reading...
Click to expand...

2024 NFL Draft April 25 - 27

BuckeyeNation27
ScriptOhio said:
Login to view embedded media
Click to expand...
Interesting that the super rising potentially #2 pick in the draft.......a kid who by all accounts LOVES the spotlight......won't be in attendance, while the draft is in the state where his shitty cheating college exists. It's almost like this whole "JJ McCarthy is a top pick" is all narrative, and he's afraid of looking like the twat that he is all alone in the green room.
Click to expand...

Google Three Ohio State Buckeyes position battles to watch in the spring game that will greatly impact 2024 season - AtoZ Sports

Three Ohio State Buckeyes position battles to watch in the spring game that will greatly impact 2024 season - AtoZ Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".

Three Ohio State Buckeyes position battles to watch in the spring game that will greatly impact 2024 season AtoZ Sports

Continue reading...
Click to expand...
Load more

Filter

Latest winning wagers

Back
Top