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LGHL You’re Nuts: Which Ohio State Buckeye are you most thankful for?
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You’re Nuts: Which Ohio State Buckeye are you most thankful for?
Brett Ludwiczak 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
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
It’s the best week of the year for a number of reasons. Not only will Ohio State and Michigan meet on the football field on Saturday in Columbus, it is also Thanksgiving week. One of the reasons The Game was moved to the Saturday after Thanksgiving is probably because it allows fans on both sides of the rivalry to have a huge meal on Thursday to help them absorb all of the alcohol that will be consumed on Saturday morning and afternoon.
Today we are going to focus more on the Thanksgiving holiday and less on The Game. Entering this week, the Buckeyes are 10-1 this season, with their only loss being by a point to Oregon last month in Eugene. Since then, Ohio State has beaten Penn State and Indiana, with both of those opponents being ranked in the Top 5 when they faced the Buckeyes. With a win on Saturday, Ohio State will secure a rematch with the Ducks in next week’s Big Ten Championship Game. Along with putting themselves in a position to win a conference title, the Buckeyes are also looking like a serious threat to win a national championship.
Aside from stuffing a ridiculous amount of food down our throats on Thanksgiving and laughing at how inept the Dallas Cowboys are as we fight off the effects of tryptophan, another tradition of the holiday is to declare what we give thanks for. This year we are going to put an Ohio State spin on this tradition and declare what Buckeye we are thankful for. This year there have been a number of transfers that have joined the program and made an immediate impact, as well as a fabulous freshman wide receiver. Or it could be a senior who has paid their dues over the years and is playing at a high level. At least if we can’t agree on what we are thankful for, we all can unite behind a common goal as we hope Ohio State snaps its three-game losing streak against the Wolverines on Saturday.
The difference from this time in 2023 to 2024 at quarterback for Ohio State is night and day. It’s not that Kyle McCord isn’t talented, just look at the numbers he has put up at Syracuse this year (aside from the game where he threw 43 interceptions that were returned for touchdowns against Pitt). The difference between McCord and Will Howard has a lot to do with leadership and toughness. Even though there were some Ohio State fans that were hoping to see Cam Ward or Riley Leonard in Columbus after McCord entered the transfer portal a few days after the Michigan game, Howard is the perfect fit for this year’s Buckeye offense.
One of the things that has impressed me the most about Howard is the accuracy of his passes. With his performance on Saturday, Howard now has six games this season where he has completed at least 80 percent of his passes, which is a school record for a Buckeye career. Even when there is a blip with one of his throws, he often doesn’t let it bleed over into his next attempt. Just look at the Penn State game where he came out a little amped up because when he was a kid he grew up rooting for the Nittany Lions and dreamt of playing at Beaver Stadium. After throwing a pick-six on his first pass attempt of the game, Howard settled down and made some big plays in the 20-13 victory earlier this month.
There also is Howard’s willingness to pull the football down and run if it is necessary. The toughness that Howard has displayed so far could end up being the difference in a playoff game. Even in the loss to Oregon, it almost won Ohio State the game had there been a couple more seconds on the clock, and Dan Lanning didn’t intentionally break the rules to waste time. Howard’s instincts were in the right place, the execution was just slightly off. Should a similar situation arise again this season, you know Howard is sliding a little earlier.
If all those weren’t enough reasons to be thankful Howard is a Buckeye this year, he’ll forever be a legend for the trolling of Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti late in Saturday’s game when he pretended to stomp out a cig on the sidelines. If there was anyone who could get away with doing that, it was Howard since he was nearly perfect against the Hoosiers.
Will Howard is an excellent choice by Brett and one that I am clearly very much in support of. But in this moment, this week, heading into this game, I am especially thankful for Carson Hinzman. After starting 12 games at center last year, only to be replaced with seemingly little logic for what turned out to be a shambolic bowl performance from the offensive line, it would have been easy for the junior lineman to become disenchanted in Columbus and look to find greener pastures elsewhere.
However, he did not do that, nor did he opt to leave when OSU brought in a two-year starting center from Alabama via the transfer portal. Instead, he continued to work and learn behind Seth McLaughlin until he was called upon to move a little to his left and fill in at guard following the injuries to Josh Simmons and Zen Michalski.
In his brief time at LG, he played very well, but once McLaughlin went down, he was thrust back into the exact same spot he was in last year. Against Indiana, Hinzman was back at the center of Ohio State’s offensive line which dominated a top-five opponent.
So, I am incredibly grateful that the team has his experience heading into the homestretch following McLaughlin’s Achilles injury, and I am even more grateful that Carson chose to remain a Buckeye. He is not a native Ohioan, I wouldn’t doubt that Luke Fickell likely would have welcomed the Wisconsin native with open arms had Hinzman entered the transfer portal.
But, he did not, and now he is arguably the most important non-quarterback on Ohio State’s roster as the team prepares to enter the postseason as the betting favorite to win the national championship. I shudder to think what could have been in store for the Buckeye offensive line had McLaughlin gone down and Hinzman wasn’t on the team. Yes, Joshua Padilla was the No. 11 interior offensive lineman in the 2023 recruiting cycle, but he has barely played at Ohio State, and that is not the type of guy you want to have to turn to when your season is on the line.
So, Carson Hinzman, I hope that whenever you sit down to your Thanksgiving meal — either on Thursday or after The Game — you have an extra helping of mashed potatoes and know that Buckeye Nation is grateful to have you on our side.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak 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
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
It’s the best week of the year for a number of reasons. Not only will Ohio State and Michigan meet on the football field on Saturday in Columbus, it is also Thanksgiving week. One of the reasons The Game was moved to the Saturday after Thanksgiving is probably because it allows fans on both sides of the rivalry to have a huge meal on Thursday to help them absorb all of the alcohol that will be consumed on Saturday morning and afternoon.
Today we are going to focus more on the Thanksgiving holiday and less on The Game. Entering this week, the Buckeyes are 10-1 this season, with their only loss being by a point to Oregon last month in Eugene. Since then, Ohio State has beaten Penn State and Indiana, with both of those opponents being ranked in the Top 5 when they faced the Buckeyes. With a win on Saturday, Ohio State will secure a rematch with the Ducks in next week’s Big Ten Championship Game. Along with putting themselves in a position to win a conference title, the Buckeyes are also looking like a serious threat to win a national championship.
Aside from stuffing a ridiculous amount of food down our throats on Thanksgiving and laughing at how inept the Dallas Cowboys are as we fight off the effects of tryptophan, another tradition of the holiday is to declare what we give thanks for. This year we are going to put an Ohio State spin on this tradition and declare what Buckeye we are thankful for. This year there have been a number of transfers that have joined the program and made an immediate impact, as well as a fabulous freshman wide receiver. Or it could be a senior who has paid their dues over the years and is playing at a high level. At least if we can’t agree on what we are thankful for, we all can unite behind a common goal as we hope Ohio State snaps its three-game losing streak against the Wolverines on Saturday.
Today’s question: Which Ohio State Buckeye are you thankful for?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Will Howard
The difference from this time in 2023 to 2024 at quarterback for Ohio State is night and day. It’s not that Kyle McCord isn’t talented, just look at the numbers he has put up at Syracuse this year (aside from the game where he threw 43 interceptions that were returned for touchdowns against Pitt). The difference between McCord and Will Howard has a lot to do with leadership and toughness. Even though there were some Ohio State fans that were hoping to see Cam Ward or Riley Leonard in Columbus after McCord entered the transfer portal a few days after the Michigan game, Howard is the perfect fit for this year’s Buckeye offense.
One of the things that has impressed me the most about Howard is the accuracy of his passes. With his performance on Saturday, Howard now has six games this season where he has completed at least 80 percent of his passes, which is a school record for a Buckeye career. Even when there is a blip with one of his throws, he often doesn’t let it bleed over into his next attempt. Just look at the Penn State game where he came out a little amped up because when he was a kid he grew up rooting for the Nittany Lions and dreamt of playing at Beaver Stadium. After throwing a pick-six on his first pass attempt of the game, Howard settled down and made some big plays in the 20-13 victory earlier this month.
There also is Howard’s willingness to pull the football down and run if it is necessary. The toughness that Howard has displayed so far could end up being the difference in a playoff game. Even in the loss to Oregon, it almost won Ohio State the game had there been a couple more seconds on the clock, and Dan Lanning didn’t intentionally break the rules to waste time. Howard’s instincts were in the right place, the execution was just slightly off. Should a similar situation arise again this season, you know Howard is sliding a little earlier.
If all those weren’t enough reasons to be thankful Howard is a Buckeye this year, he’ll forever be a legend for the trolling of Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti late in Saturday’s game when he pretended to stomp out a cig on the sidelines. If there was anyone who could get away with doing that, it was Howard since he was nearly perfect against the Hoosiers.
Matt’s answer: Carson Hinzman
Will Howard is an excellent choice by Brett and one that I am clearly very much in support of. But in this moment, this week, heading into this game, I am especially thankful for Carson Hinzman. After starting 12 games at center last year, only to be replaced with seemingly little logic for what turned out to be a shambolic bowl performance from the offensive line, it would have been easy for the junior lineman to become disenchanted in Columbus and look to find greener pastures elsewhere.
However, he did not do that, nor did he opt to leave when OSU brought in a two-year starting center from Alabama via the transfer portal. Instead, he continued to work and learn behind Seth McLaughlin until he was called upon to move a little to his left and fill in at guard following the injuries to Josh Simmons and Zen Michalski.
In his brief time at LG, he played very well, but once McLaughlin went down, he was thrust back into the exact same spot he was in last year. Against Indiana, Hinzman was back at the center of Ohio State’s offensive line which dominated a top-five opponent.
So, I am incredibly grateful that the team has his experience heading into the homestretch following McLaughlin’s Achilles injury, and I am even more grateful that Carson chose to remain a Buckeye. He is not a native Ohioan, I wouldn’t doubt that Luke Fickell likely would have welcomed the Wisconsin native with open arms had Hinzman entered the transfer portal.
But, he did not, and now he is arguably the most important non-quarterback on Ohio State’s roster as the team prepares to enter the postseason as the betting favorite to win the national championship. I shudder to think what could have been in store for the Buckeye offensive line had McLaughlin gone down and Hinzman wasn’t on the team. Yes, Joshua Padilla was the No. 11 interior offensive lineman in the 2023 recruiting cycle, but he has barely played at Ohio State, and that is not the type of guy you want to have to turn to when your season is on the line.
So, Carson Hinzman, I hope that whenever you sit down to your Thanksgiving meal — either on Thursday or after The Game — you have an extra helping of mashed potatoes and know that Buckeye Nation is grateful to have you on our side.
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LGHL Uncut: Doug Gottlieb loves Bruce Thornton, and Bruce Thornton loves Subway cookies
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Uncut: Doug Gottlieb loves Bruce Thornton, and Bruce Thornton loves Subway cookies
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Ohio State’s point guard had the best game of his season Monday night and is already looking forward to Subway cookies on Friday.
Throughout the season, Land-Grant will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.
Ohio State scored 100 points for the second consecutive game Monday night, but Doug Gottlieb’s Green Bay team pushed the Buckeyes for 30 minutes until the dam eventually broke. Bruce Thornton scored a season-high 25 points, and he spoke to the media after the game.
Bruce talked about his preparation for every home game — he reads his Bible in the morning, gets Subway for lunch, takes a short nap, and wears his lucky socks and shoes. He said nothing was different on Monday. He just happened to come one assist shy of a 25-point, 10-assist double-double.
Sean Stewart also spoke to the media after an 11-point, eight-rebound performance over a season-high 22 minutes. He said he was glad to be able to play after missing the last game with a concussion, and took time to talk about how well he and Devin Royal work together on the floor.
Both head coaches — Jake Diebler and Doug Gottlieb — spent the majority of their time gushing about Thornton. Diebler said his point guard is the best in the country. Gottlieb said Thornton is his favorite Ohio State point guard since Scoonie Penn.
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
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
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Ohio State’s point guard had the best game of his season Monday night and is already looking forward to Subway cookies on Friday.
Throughout the season, Land-Grant will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
Ohio State scored 100 points for the second consecutive game Monday night, but Doug Gottlieb’s Green Bay team pushed the Buckeyes for 30 minutes until the dam eventually broke. Bruce Thornton scored a season-high 25 points, and he spoke to the media after the game.
Bruce talked about his preparation for every home game — he reads his Bible in the morning, gets Subway for lunch, takes a short nap, and wears his lucky socks and shoes. He said nothing was different on Monday. He just happened to come one assist shy of a 25-point, 10-assist double-double.
Sean Stewart also spoke to the media after an 11-point, eight-rebound performance over a season-high 22 minutes. He said he was glad to be able to play after missing the last game with a concussion, and took time to talk about how well he and Devin Royal work together on the floor.
Both head coaches — Jake Diebler and Doug Gottlieb — spent the majority of their time gushing about Thornton. Diebler said his point guard is the best in the country. Gottlieb said Thornton is his favorite Ohio State point guard since Scoonie Penn.
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
Theme music provided by www.bensound.com
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LGHL Around the world and back again; Elsa Lemmilä’s journey back to Columbus
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Around the world and back again; Elsa Lemmilä’s journey back to Columbus
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ohio State University Athletic Department
The Buckeye who turned down Stanford and UConn for Scarlet and Gray.
On Dec. 31, 2018, Ohio State women’s basketball faced the Nebraska Cornhuskers. After a back-and-forth three quarters, the Cornhuskers ran away in the fourth, outscoring the Buckeyes 27-16 on the way to a 78-69 loss. A forgetful night in a season of forgetful nights than resulted in the Scarlet and Gray missing the NCAA Tournament and ending with a sub-.500 record.
In the loss, freshman forward Dorka Juhász scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. The Hungarian was a bright spot that year, averaging nearly a double-double with 11.7 points and nine rebounds.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25753129/1076221530.jpg "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: DEC 31 Women’s Nebraska at Ohio State")
Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Sitting in the crowd was an Ohio State alum who brought her family to the game, one of many Buckeyes doing the same that New Year’s Eve. The key difference is most fans don’t travel 4,400 miles to get there.
“We actually ended up sitting, I don’t know how, because we didn’t know where to buy tickets, but we ended up with a bunch of the Nebraska parents, which was a bit strange. So we were kind of like, wait, cheering. And they were cheering something else.”
That’s Jocelyn Striker-Lemmilä, who sat alongside 13-year-old Elsa Lemmilä, taking in her first American sports event.
After college, Striker-Lemmilä took a different route than most people from Bucyrus, Ohio. It began with a stint in Columbus and Cleveland, working for an international tech company, where she met native Finn Jari Lemmilä. The two married and while living in Switzerland, the Lemmilä family grew by two with the births of Stella and Elsa.
From there, frequent flyer miles kept adding up. the Lemmilä’s moved to China for four years and back to Columbus for a year before returning to Switzerland. That’s when Elsa started playing basketball.
This isn’t the part of the story where Lemmilä picked up a basketball and the rest is history. Real life isn’t always that clean and tidy. Enrolled at an international school in Zurich, 12-year-old Elsa had an American sports experience. That means playing multiple sports like volleyball, track and basketball.
When it came to basketball, it didn’t take over Lemmilä’s life. There was one hour of practice a week, some games, and after two months the season was over and Lemmilä was on to the next activity. For her that means picking up a book and spending time with her family.
Following 12 years of globe hopping, the Lemmilä family settled down and moved home to Jari’s native Finland. With the move, athletic focus shifted. In the Nordic nation, kids typically choose one sport and stick with it. For Lemmilä, it was basketball, but adjusting to playing a new sport in Finland wasn’t easy.
Within the walls of the Lemmilä household, English is the primary language. Lemmilä knew it fluently, along with some German and French, but playing club sports in Finland took her away from her Americanized international school teammates. The language barrier was an issue right away.
Tapiolan Honka club became Lemmilä’s team. Structured more like youth soccer with teams comprised of kids within certain age groups, sometimes playing well enough to move up against older opponents, Lemmilä joined a team where she couldn’t verbally communicate with her peers.
“These girls were only 12, so they did learn English in school but they were too shy to speak English with her and she couldn’t speak Finnish to them,” said Striker-Lemmilä. “For the first year, she didn’t want to go to practice half the time because she was so uncomfortable with the language.”
While playing basketball is a language of its own, spoken by millions who play across the world, the 12-year-old had two things she had to fight through to get over that discomfort leading her to potentially step away from the sport for good. Being shy was one hurdle. After all, being a kid already comes with enough challenges, then add not knowing what those around you are saying to the list.
“One thing I forgot to say is she’s also a perfectionist,” said Striker-Lemmilä.
Helping Lemmilä was Anja Suomalainen (Bordt). A former Saint Mary’s women’s basketball guard, inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1997. Suomalainen became a translator for Lemmilä and became the first coach in the center’s development towards Lemmilä’s own collegiate career.
As comfort grew, the basketball ability shined through those early language-induced cracks. The perfectionist filled those cracks too, learning fluent Finnish.
“She’s dedicated to everything she does, school, sports,” said Striker-Lemmilä. “When she starts to love a topic, she dives into it.”
That topic was basketball. Within a year of moving to Finland, Lemmilä joined camps, had a growth spurt, and viewed as a potential high performer in Finland youth basketball. By the time the Lemmilä family came to visit family in Ohio in 2018, Elsa was 6-foot-2 at 13-years-old.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25751430/_Elsa_photo._001.jpeg)
Jocelyn Lemmilä
Elsa Lemmilä visiting Columbus in 2018
While sitting in the Schottenstein Center that night, looks came the family’s way. Likely wondering if Lemmilä was there as a recruit instead of the true story of a young basketball-obsessed player taking in her first basketball experience on the largest stage in her life to date.
Back in Finland, the Lemmilä family went to Honka games for their top level women’s side, but it wasn’t the same. There wasn’t an arena that can hold nearly 20,000 people and the lights and sounds that come along with it.
Even then, as the sport took over her life, Lemmilä didn’t see playing at Ohio State as a goal.
“I didn’t really know it was a possibility,” said Lemmilä. “I didn’t really think about it at all.”
However, after watching her first college game, Lemmilä immersed herself even more into the game. That included reading a book about Breanna Stewart, a WNBA Champion at the time, and someone Lemmilä would meet eight months later during a trip to Orlando, Florida.
That’s when Lemmilä took part in the 2019 jrNBA Global Championship. Playing in the same tournament as Jaloni Cambridge and JuJu Watkins and, although never playing against either of them, it gave Lemmilä the chance to test her skills against some of the best teenagers in the world.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25751529/1160677509.jpg "Jr. NBA Global Championships - Semifinals - Europe & Middle East Girls v Canada Girls")
Photo by Tony Firriolo/NBAE via Getty Images
Elsa Lemmilä competing in the 2019 jrNBA Global Championship
At one of the player events at the tournament, Lemmilä met Stewart, coming in off a WNBA title the year before, and there was no looking back.
Lemmilä’s journey continued. The center represented her country on the youth and senior national team levels, and from that came recruiting attention.
European recruiting is different from the United States where players excel in their school or club system to make it into AAU basketball. In Europe, independent scouts identify talent and get that information back to universities. If they’re interested, they reach out. If they aren’t, there’s still an abundance of players both stateside and abroad.
At this point, Lemmilä excelled with Honka but also played at both the Finnish youth and senior national team levels.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25751533/Screenshot_2024_11_23_at_3.51.19_PM.png)
Tapiolan Honka
Elsa Lemmilä playing for Tapiolan Honka
Yohanna Araya, now Yohanna Araya-Brooks, was one of those recruiters. As a former coach in Europe, Araya knew Finland National Team head coach Pekka Salminen, who spoke highly of Lemmilä. Araya told then Ohio State women’s basketball assistant coach Wesley Brooks about the center. Then a friend of Brooks also reached out to tell him about Lemmilä.
“We connected Pekka with Kevin [McGuff], and Kevin went to Finland a couple times and met with Pekka and got to see Elsa,” said now Utah State head coach Wes Brooks. “And he’s like ‘Wes, this kid’s really good. She’s really, really good.’”
In the summer of 2022, Brooks called the Lemmilä family to gauge interest.
“He had happened to contact me because he couldn’t talk to her yet and said ‘hey, we saw her play and we would be interested to talk to her, what do you think?’’ said Striker-Lemmilä. “And I said, well, ironically, we’re in Columbus, Ohio right now and we could do an unofficial visit.”
The next day, the Lemmilä’s sat in a golf cart that trekked through the Schottenstein Center on a quiet summer day on Ohio State’s campus, three years after they sat in the crowd watching the Buckeyes play for the first time.
Even with the alumni connection with Lemmilä’s mom and the Buckeyes asking about the center earlier in the recruiting process than others, the family kept their options open. Some big names came calling.
Stanford, UConn, UCLA, Louisville and more. When Lemmilä was old enough, her and her mom had phone calls with legendary coaches like Geno Auriemma and Tara VanDerveer, all hoping to add Lemmilä to their prestigious programs.
Through the process, it was never the Lemmilä family’s intention to push their youngest daughter towards Ohio State, even if the positives added up.
“We tried to be completely neutral and really didn’t wanna say anything,” said Lemmilä’s mom. “I didn’t wanna steer her any way. For example, when we got to talk to Geno Auriemma and Tara VanDerveer, I mean, I was just like oh my gosh, I was taking pictures on the side.”
Despite the stiff competition of a pair of NCAA coaches with 14 combined National Championships, Ohio State was persistent.
Brooks carved out time with Lemmilä every week, even if it was only checking in for a few minutes. It made a lasting impact as other schools didn’t put as much time or attention into their recruitment of Lemmilä.
Ohio State was one of many interested schools, eventually offering Lemmilä a scholarship. Then came an injury.
The day before leaving for the United States, a trip that included stops at Stanford, Ohio State and a potential pitstop at UCLA, Lemmilä practiced like usual. At the end of practice, in a lighter than normal session, Elsa tore her ACL.
“She was really at this like peak and that happened,” said Striker-Lemmilä. “It was just devastating.”
At this point, it makes sense that schools would move in other directions. The focus around Lemmilä didn’t leave and McGuff was one of the first people to reach out to the family after learning about the injury.
“He immediately said, we’re thinking about Elsa and our offer still stands.”
In the year off ACL tears need to recover, Lemmilä completed an intensive educational program where the injury gave her the time to complete it without basketball interfering, a minor silver lining on an otherwise difficult time of life.
While hurt, Lemmilä made the decision to wear Scarlet and Gray. Lemmilä’s mom texted the Buckeye coaches asking if they could talk when she broke the news.
“She didn’t ever, ever think that I would go to Ohio State, that either of her children would ever end up back in Ohio,” said Lemmilä about her mom. “She never, ever would have thought of that. So it was kind of shocking for her.”
Look past the family and the attentiveness and care of the coaching staff and Lemmilä also picked Ohio State for the sport of basketball.
Lemmilä joins a trend of McGuff bringing in European bigs. It was Juhász first, five years of Rebeka Mikulášiková and now the Swiss-born, Finland-raised, Lemmilä.
“I know it’s kind of the style of play that he chooses, you know, finding European bigs,” said Lemmilä. “It has a lot to do with playing five out and playing really fast with your bigs as well. So I really like that style of play.”
In a 64-point win over the Ohio Bobcats in Lemmilä’s fourth college game, her teammates on the bench loudly encouraging Lemmilä to take another shot. Make them and she’d become the leading scorer in the runaway Ohio State win.
Lemmilä hit the shot, scoring an early career high 21 points, with 14 rebounds and five blocks on a night where Lemmilä showed better patience under the rim, taking better shots and not rushing opportunities to score.
The improvement in two weeks of real games came from coaching advice that Lemmilä took and applied in-game. Following the win, McGuff gave the freshman the dub crown, the next iteration in the famous dub chain given to a player after each win over the past two seasons.
After the 6-foot-6 center bent down to allow McGuff to reach to the top of her head, Lemmilä’s teammates serenaded her with a version of “Let It Go” from the Disney classic Frozen, sung by arguably the most famous Elsa in pop culture today.
It was a moment almost two years in the making, shared with her new family.
“I acclimated a lot better than I thought I was going to, especially coming off not playing for a year and a half,” said Lemmilä. “It’s been a lot of fun. I really liked it here and a lot of that is also due to the players.”
Lemmilä didn’t initially make the connection between Juhász playing at Ohio State and eventually for UConn, both schools who pursued the center’s abilities on the court. The center from Finland has the chance to be the first Buckeye to average double digit rebounds per game since Juhász.
If the perfectionist has her way, Lemmilä could do that and 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
Ohio State University Athletic Department
The Buckeye who turned down Stanford and UConn for Scarlet and Gray.
On Dec. 31, 2018, Ohio State women’s basketball faced the Nebraska Cornhuskers. After a back-and-forth three quarters, the Cornhuskers ran away in the fourth, outscoring the Buckeyes 27-16 on the way to a 78-69 loss. A forgetful night in a season of forgetful nights than resulted in the Scarlet and Gray missing the NCAA Tournament and ending with a sub-.500 record.
In the loss, freshman forward Dorka Juhász scored 14 points and added seven rebounds. The Hungarian was a bright spot that year, averaging nearly a double-double with 11.7 points and nine rebounds.
Sitting in the crowd was an Ohio State alum who brought her family to the game, one of many Buckeyes doing the same that New Year’s Eve. The key difference is most fans don’t travel 4,400 miles to get there.
“We actually ended up sitting, I don’t know how, because we didn’t know where to buy tickets, but we ended up with a bunch of the Nebraska parents, which was a bit strange. So we were kind of like, wait, cheering. And they were cheering something else.”
That’s Jocelyn Striker-Lemmilä, who sat alongside 13-year-old Elsa Lemmilä, taking in her first American sports event.
From Bucyrus to Zurich
After college, Striker-Lemmilä took a different route than most people from Bucyrus, Ohio. It began with a stint in Columbus and Cleveland, working for an international tech company, where she met native Finn Jari Lemmilä. The two married and while living in Switzerland, the Lemmilä family grew by two with the births of Stella and Elsa.
From there, frequent flyer miles kept adding up. the Lemmilä’s moved to China for four years and back to Columbus for a year before returning to Switzerland. That’s when Elsa started playing basketball.
This isn’t the part of the story where Lemmilä picked up a basketball and the rest is history. Real life isn’t always that clean and tidy. Enrolled at an international school in Zurich, 12-year-old Elsa had an American sports experience. That means playing multiple sports like volleyball, track and basketball.
When it came to basketball, it didn’t take over Lemmilä’s life. There was one hour of practice a week, some games, and after two months the season was over and Lemmilä was on to the next activity. For her that means picking up a book and spending time with her family.
Following 12 years of globe hopping, the Lemmilä family settled down and moved home to Jari’s native Finland. With the move, athletic focus shifted. In the Nordic nation, kids typically choose one sport and stick with it. For Lemmilä, it was basketball, but adjusting to playing a new sport in Finland wasn’t easy.
Within the walls of the Lemmilä household, English is the primary language. Lemmilä knew it fluently, along with some German and French, but playing club sports in Finland took her away from her Americanized international school teammates. The language barrier was an issue right away.
A Perfectionist
Tapiolan Honka club became Lemmilä’s team. Structured more like youth soccer with teams comprised of kids within certain age groups, sometimes playing well enough to move up against older opponents, Lemmilä joined a team where she couldn’t verbally communicate with her peers.
“These girls were only 12, so they did learn English in school but they were too shy to speak English with her and she couldn’t speak Finnish to them,” said Striker-Lemmilä. “For the first year, she didn’t want to go to practice half the time because she was so uncomfortable with the language.”
While playing basketball is a language of its own, spoken by millions who play across the world, the 12-year-old had two things she had to fight through to get over that discomfort leading her to potentially step away from the sport for good. Being shy was one hurdle. After all, being a kid already comes with enough challenges, then add not knowing what those around you are saying to the list.
“One thing I forgot to say is she’s also a perfectionist,” said Striker-Lemmilä.
Helping Lemmilä was Anja Suomalainen (Bordt). A former Saint Mary’s women’s basketball guard, inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1997. Suomalainen became a translator for Lemmilä and became the first coach in the center’s development towards Lemmilä’s own collegiate career.
As comfort grew, the basketball ability shined through those early language-induced cracks. The perfectionist filled those cracks too, learning fluent Finnish.
“She’s dedicated to everything she does, school, sports,” said Striker-Lemmilä. “When she starts to love a topic, she dives into it.”
That topic was basketball. Within a year of moving to Finland, Lemmilä joined camps, had a growth spurt, and viewed as a potential high performer in Finland youth basketball. By the time the Lemmilä family came to visit family in Ohio in 2018, Elsa was 6-foot-2 at 13-years-old.
Elsa Lemmilä visiting Columbus in 2018
While sitting in the Schottenstein Center that night, looks came the family’s way. Likely wondering if Lemmilä was there as a recruit instead of the true story of a young basketball-obsessed player taking in her first basketball experience on the largest stage in her life to date.
Back in Finland, the Lemmilä family went to Honka games for their top level women’s side, but it wasn’t the same. There wasn’t an arena that can hold nearly 20,000 people and the lights and sounds that come along with it.
Even then, as the sport took over her life, Lemmilä didn’t see playing at Ohio State as a goal.
“I didn’t really know it was a possibility,” said Lemmilä. “I didn’t really think about it at all.”
However, after watching her first college game, Lemmilä immersed herself even more into the game. That included reading a book about Breanna Stewart, a WNBA Champion at the time, and someone Lemmilä would meet eight months later during a trip to Orlando, Florida.
That’s when Lemmilä took part in the 2019 jrNBA Global Championship. Playing in the same tournament as Jaloni Cambridge and JuJu Watkins and, although never playing against either of them, it gave Lemmilä the chance to test her skills against some of the best teenagers in the world.
Elsa Lemmilä competing in the 2019 jrNBA Global Championship
At one of the player events at the tournament, Lemmilä met Stewart, coming in off a WNBA title the year before, and there was no looking back.
European Recruiting
Lemmilä’s journey continued. The center represented her country on the youth and senior national team levels, and from that came recruiting attention.
European recruiting is different from the United States where players excel in their school or club system to make it into AAU basketball. In Europe, independent scouts identify talent and get that information back to universities. If they’re interested, they reach out. If they aren’t, there’s still an abundance of players both stateside and abroad.
At this point, Lemmilä excelled with Honka but also played at both the Finnish youth and senior national team levels.
Elsa Lemmilä playing for Tapiolan Honka
Yohanna Araya, now Yohanna Araya-Brooks, was one of those recruiters. As a former coach in Europe, Araya knew Finland National Team head coach Pekka Salminen, who spoke highly of Lemmilä. Araya told then Ohio State women’s basketball assistant coach Wesley Brooks about the center. Then a friend of Brooks also reached out to tell him about Lemmilä.
“We connected Pekka with Kevin [McGuff], and Kevin went to Finland a couple times and met with Pekka and got to see Elsa,” said now Utah State head coach Wes Brooks. “And he’s like ‘Wes, this kid’s really good. She’s really, really good.’”
In the summer of 2022, Brooks called the Lemmilä family to gauge interest.
“He had happened to contact me because he couldn’t talk to her yet and said ‘hey, we saw her play and we would be interested to talk to her, what do you think?’’ said Striker-Lemmilä. “And I said, well, ironically, we’re in Columbus, Ohio right now and we could do an unofficial visit.”
The next day, the Lemmilä’s sat in a golf cart that trekked through the Schottenstein Center on a quiet summer day on Ohio State’s campus, three years after they sat in the crowd watching the Buckeyes play for the first time.
Even with the alumni connection with Lemmilä’s mom and the Buckeyes asking about the center earlier in the recruiting process than others, the family kept their options open. Some big names came calling.
Stanford, UConn, UCLA, Louisville and more. When Lemmilä was old enough, her and her mom had phone calls with legendary coaches like Geno Auriemma and Tara VanDerveer, all hoping to add Lemmilä to their prestigious programs.
Through the process, it was never the Lemmilä family’s intention to push their youngest daughter towards Ohio State, even if the positives added up.
“We tried to be completely neutral and really didn’t wanna say anything,” said Lemmilä’s mom. “I didn’t wanna steer her any way. For example, when we got to talk to Geno Auriemma and Tara VanDerveer, I mean, I was just like oh my gosh, I was taking pictures on the side.”
Despite the stiff competition of a pair of NCAA coaches with 14 combined National Championships, Ohio State was persistent.
Brooks carved out time with Lemmilä every week, even if it was only checking in for a few minutes. It made a lasting impact as other schools didn’t put as much time or attention into their recruitment of Lemmilä.
Ohio State was one of many interested schools, eventually offering Lemmilä a scholarship. Then came an injury.
The day before leaving for the United States, a trip that included stops at Stanford, Ohio State and a potential pitstop at UCLA, Lemmilä practiced like usual. At the end of practice, in a lighter than normal session, Elsa tore her ACL.
“She was really at this like peak and that happened,” said Striker-Lemmilä. “It was just devastating.”
Choosing Ohio State
At this point, it makes sense that schools would move in other directions. The focus around Lemmilä didn’t leave and McGuff was one of the first people to reach out to the family after learning about the injury.
“He immediately said, we’re thinking about Elsa and our offer still stands.”
In the year off ACL tears need to recover, Lemmilä completed an intensive educational program where the injury gave her the time to complete it without basketball interfering, a minor silver lining on an otherwise difficult time of life.
While hurt, Lemmilä made the decision to wear Scarlet and Gray. Lemmilä’s mom texted the Buckeye coaches asking if they could talk when she broke the news.
“She didn’t ever, ever think that I would go to Ohio State, that either of her children would ever end up back in Ohio,” said Lemmilä about her mom. “She never, ever would have thought of that. So it was kind of shocking for her.”
Look past the family and the attentiveness and care of the coaching staff and Lemmilä also picked Ohio State for the sport of basketball.
Lemmilä joins a trend of McGuff bringing in European bigs. It was Juhász first, five years of Rebeka Mikulášiková and now the Swiss-born, Finland-raised, Lemmilä.
“I know it’s kind of the style of play that he chooses, you know, finding European bigs,” said Lemmilä. “It has a lot to do with playing five out and playing really fast with your bigs as well. So I really like that style of play.”
Acclimating Well
In a 64-point win over the Ohio Bobcats in Lemmilä’s fourth college game, her teammates on the bench loudly encouraging Lemmilä to take another shot. Make them and she’d become the leading scorer in the runaway Ohio State win.
Lemmilä hit the shot, scoring an early career high 21 points, with 14 rebounds and five blocks on a night where Lemmilä showed better patience under the rim, taking better shots and not rushing opportunities to score.
The improvement in two weeks of real games came from coaching advice that Lemmilä took and applied in-game. Following the win, McGuff gave the freshman the dub crown, the next iteration in the famous dub chain given to a player after each win over the past two seasons.
After the 6-foot-6 center bent down to allow McGuff to reach to the top of her head, Lemmilä’s teammates serenaded her with a version of “Let It Go” from the Disney classic Frozen, sung by arguably the most famous Elsa in pop culture today.
It was a moment almost two years in the making, shared with her new family.
“I acclimated a lot better than I thought I was going to, especially coming off not playing for a year and a half,” said Lemmilä. “It’s been a lot of fun. I really liked it here and a lot of that is also due to the players.”
Lemmilä didn’t initially make the connection between Juhász playing at Ohio State and eventually for UConn, both schools who pursued the center’s abilities on the court. The center from Finland has the chance to be the first Buckeye to average double digit rebounds per game since Juhász.
If the perfectionist has her way, Lemmilä could do that and more.
Continue reading...
LGHL Buckeye men blow out Gottlieb, Bradshaw investigated for ‘domestic incident’
- News
- 0 Replies
Buckeye men blow out Gottlieb, Bradshaw investigated for ‘domestic incident’
Matt Tamanini 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
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!
Subscribe to the Land-Grant Podcast Network for all of your Ohio State needs
Matt Tamanini, Land-Grant Holy Land
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio
Will Howard deserves to be in the Heisman Trophy conversation
Matt Tamanini, Land-Grant Holy Land
Ohio State’s Will Howard, Cody Simon named Big Ten Players of the Week
Patrick Murphy, Bucknuts
Buckeyes radio color commentator Jim Lachey to miss The Game
Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row
Ryan Day named 247Sports’ Week 13 Big Ten Head Coach of the Week
Matt Zenitz, 247Sports
Things are going to be spicy this weekend:
Big Ten Championship, playoff scenarios for Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana heading into rivalry week
Cody Nagel, 247Sports
You’re Nuts: Biggest matchups to watch in The Game
Gene Ross and Josh Dooley, Land-Grant Holy Land
Everything Michigan coach Sherrone Moore, Wolverines players said about Buckeyes
Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row
Three Questions with Buckeyes fully focused on ending skid in The Game
Austin Ward, Dotting The Eyes
Will Howard motivated to beat Michigan, ‘shut up the haters’ of Ryan Day, Ohio State in rivalry game
Carter Bahns, 247Sports
Good for Josh for owning this one:
What’s most important for you: beating TTUN, avenging the Oregon loss, winning B1G title?
Matt Tamanini, Land-Grant Holy Land
Ohio State Hosts Annual Band Practice to Kick Off Rivalry Week
Andy Anders, Eleven Warriors
Grumpy Old Buckeye: Nitpicking Ohio State’s 38-15 win over Indiana
Michael Citro, Land-Grant Holy Land
Gott ‘em: Bruce Thornton, Buckeyes overwhelm Doug Gottlieb’s Green Bay Phoenix, 102-69
Connor Lemons, Land-Grant Holy Land
Ohio State’s Aaron Bradshaw being investigated for domestic incident
Adam Jardy, The Columbus Dispatch
Who could Ohio State turn to down low without Aaron Bradshaw?
Adam Jardy, The Columbus Dispatch
Kennedy Cambridge’s moment almost two years in the making
Thomas Costello, Land-Grant Holy Land
Kroger loans Brutus statue after OSU gift shop’s damaged by vandals
Shahid Meighan, The Columbus Dispatch
Women’s Volleyball: Buckeyes beat Indiana in five sets, complete 2-1 set comeback
Samuel Ing, The Lantern
This looks dope:
Continue reading...
Matt Tamanini 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
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 to the Land-Grant Podcast Network for all of your Ohio State needs
Matt Tamanini, Land-Grant Holy Land
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | iHeart Radio
On the Gridiron
Will Howard deserves to be in the Heisman Trophy conversation
Matt Tamanini, Land-Grant Holy Land
Ohio State’s Will Howard, Cody Simon named Big Ten Players of the Week
Patrick Murphy, Bucknuts
Buckeyes radio color commentator Jim Lachey to miss The Game
Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row
Ryan Day named 247Sports’ Week 13 Big Ten Head Coach of the Week
Matt Zenitz, 247Sports
Things are going to be spicy this weekend:
Big Ten Championship, playoff scenarios for Oregon, Ohio State, Penn State, Indiana heading into rivalry week
Cody Nagel, 247Sports
You’re Nuts: Biggest matchups to watch in The Game
Gene Ross and Josh Dooley, Land-Grant Holy Land
Everything Michigan coach Sherrone Moore, Wolverines players said about Buckeyes
Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row
Three Questions with Buckeyes fully focused on ending skid in The Game
Austin Ward, Dotting The Eyes
Will Howard motivated to beat Michigan, ‘shut up the haters’ of Ryan Day, Ohio State in rivalry game
Carter Bahns, 247Sports
Good for Josh for owning this one:
What’s most important for you: beating TTUN, avenging the Oregon loss, winning B1G title?
Matt Tamanini, Land-Grant Holy Land
Ohio State Hosts Annual Band Practice to Kick Off Rivalry Week
Andy Anders, Eleven Warriors
Grumpy Old Buckeye: Nitpicking Ohio State’s 38-15 win over Indiana
Michael Citro, Land-Grant Holy Land
On the Hardwood
Gott ‘em: Bruce Thornton, Buckeyes overwhelm Doug Gottlieb’s Green Bay Phoenix, 102-69
Connor Lemons, Land-Grant Holy Land
Ohio State’s Aaron Bradshaw being investigated for domestic incident
Adam Jardy, The Columbus Dispatch
Who could Ohio State turn to down low without Aaron Bradshaw?
Adam Jardy, The Columbus Dispatch
Kennedy Cambridge’s moment almost two years in the making
Thomas Costello, Land-Grant Holy Land
Outside the Shoe and Schott
Kroger loans Brutus statue after OSU gift shop’s damaged by vandals
Shahid Meighan, The Columbus Dispatch
Women’s Volleyball: Buckeyes beat Indiana in five sets, complete 2-1 set comeback
Samuel Ing, The Lantern
And now for something completely different...
This looks dope:
Continue reading...
LGHL Silver Bullets Podcast: Indiana rewind and TTUN preview
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- 0 Replies
Silver Bullets Podcast: Indiana rewind and TTUN preview
Michael Citro 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 Buckeyes take down the No. 5 Hoosiers and set their sights on their rivals from up north as The Game looms.
Ohio State started slowly again, but the Buckeyes took care of the previously undefeated Indiana Hoosiers in a game we thought would be closer but could have been even more lopsided than the 38-15 score indicates.
We broke down the game’s key moments, looked at the statistical data, checked in on our score predictions, and learned that all of our picks to click actually clicked. It was a comprehensive victory by the Buckeyes, and it’s entirely possible that despite its accomplishments this year, Indiana might not be for real.
Following our game recap, we looked around the rest of the Big Ten to check in on all the other scores, including a rivalry battle out in the City of Angels and Nebraska finally becoming bowl eligible.
Wisconsin is left needing a win in a rivalry game of its own this weekend or the Badgers won’t be going bowling. Rutgers was a minute from victory and ended up losing. Minnesota threw a big scare into Penn State. Poor seasons for Purdue, Maryland, and Northwestern didn’t get any better over the weekend.
Finally, we turned our attention to Hate Week. That Team Up North has played solid defense all season but the offense is a one-trick pony. We talked about TTUN’s statistical numbers on the offensive side of the ball, made our picks to click for The Game, and tried our best to predict the final score.
We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at @SilvrBulletsPod.
As always, thanks for listening!
0:20 - The Buckeyes needed some time to get going, but then had little trouble with the Hoosiers.
50:00 - The other schools in the Big Ten offered up few surprises this week and even fewer games that were fun to watch.
1:05:08 - The Buckeyes who returned for another season to take care of “unfinished business” have a shot at doing that starting Saturday at noon when TTUN comes to Columbus.
Continue reading...
Michael Citro 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 Buckeyes take down the No. 5 Hoosiers and set their sights on their rivals from up north as The Game looms.
Ohio State started slowly again, but the Buckeyes took care of the previously undefeated Indiana Hoosiers in a game we thought would be closer but could have been even more lopsided than the 38-15 score indicates.
We broke down the game’s key moments, looked at the statistical data, checked in on our score predictions, and learned that all of our picks to click actually clicked. It was a comprehensive victory by the Buckeyes, and it’s entirely possible that despite its accomplishments this year, Indiana might not be for real.
Following our game recap, we looked around the rest of the Big Ten to check in on all the other scores, including a rivalry battle out in the City of Angels and Nebraska finally becoming bowl eligible.
Wisconsin is left needing a win in a rivalry game of its own this weekend or the Badgers won’t be going bowling. Rutgers was a minute from victory and ended up losing. Minnesota threw a big scare into Penn State. Poor seasons for Purdue, Maryland, and Northwestern didn’t get any better over the weekend.
Finally, we turned our attention to Hate Week. That Team Up North has played solid defense all season but the offense is a one-trick pony. We talked about TTUN’s statistical numbers on the offensive side of the ball, made our picks to click for The Game, and tried our best to predict the final score.
We would love to hear from you, so please reach out with your feedback and questions below in the comments section or send us an email. Any questions directed toward us will be answered on our next show.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, review, share, and follow the show over on Twitter at @SilvrBulletsPod.
As always, thanks for listening!
0:20 - The Buckeyes needed some time to get going, but then had little trouble with the Hoosiers.
50:00 - The other schools in the Big Ten offered up few surprises this week and even fewer games that were fun to watch.
1:05:08 - The Buckeyes who returned for another season to take care of “unfinished business” have a shot at doing that starting Saturday at noon when TTUN comes to Columbus.
Continue reading...
LGHL BOOOM!!! Ohio State flips 2025 cornerback from Cincinnati
- News
- 0 Replies
BOOOM!!! Ohio State flips 2025 cornerback from Cincinnati
Dan Hessler via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
2025 three-star safety Jordyn Woods | via @JW7_2025 on X
The Buckeyes also added to their visitor list for The Game on Saturday.
Ohio State added to its already loaded 2025 recruiting class late Monday night when it was able to flip three-star cornerback Jordyn Woods (Cartersville, GA / Cartersville) from Cincinnati.
Woods had been committed to the Bearcats since June 25, but despite the pledge, his recruitment remained open. Ohio State was not alone in their flip pursuit, and the Buckeyes played host to Woods on Oct. 26 for the Nebraska game for an unofficial visit.
The visit went as well as possible and Woods returned for an official visit last weekend when Ohio State hosted Indiana. The visit was for the full weekend and took place over multiple days. By the end of the trip, Woods was ready to announce his new commitment to the Buckeyes.
Woods will join fellow 2025 cornerbacks Devin Sanchez and Na’eem Offord, making for a solid recruiting haul at the position for the Buckeyes. While there has long been talk regarding the strength of Offord’s commitment to the Buckeyes and whether or not he will flip himself, Ohio State has been looking to add depth to the position group in this class, and Woods became the priority late in the cycle.
Woods is the No. 117 CB in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 1273 overall prospect. He is also the No. 143 recruit out of Georgia.
Ohio State sits at 10-1 entering ‘The Game’ this Saturday, following what might have been the most impressive showing by this Ohio State team. The Buckeyes led by Ryan Day took down a red-hot Indiana team 38-15 last weekend. Ohio State dominated the ball on both sides of the field and the team played with a level of intensity that felt long missing.
While the victory was impressive and Ohio State should be proud of the showing, the team will not be resting on its laurels this week. Ohio State is set up to host arch-rival Michigan this weekend. The weather is predicted to be extremely cold, but Ohio Stadium will be full regardless.
Buckeye Nation will not be alone in attendance early Saturday, as the Buckeyes are gearing up for a large recruiting weekend. It is no secret the environment that this game creates, and the electric feel in unmatched across maybe all sports. Because of this, Ohio State will be playing host to a large number of recruits across multiple classes. Additionally, the talent on board will be some of the best high school football players across the country.
The visitor list will continue to grow as we get closer to Saturday noon, and Monday was no different. Below are just some of the recruits to make it known Monday that they will be in Columbus this weekend for the game.
Class: 2027
Hometown: Harper Woods, MI / Harper Woods
Size: 6-foot-1 / 185 pounds
Class: 2027
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA / Huntington Beach
Size: 6-foot-5 / 200 pounds
Class: 2027
Hometown: Dayton, OH / Wayne
Size: 5-foot-11 / 170 pounds
Class: 2027
Hometown: Severn, MD / Archbishop Spalding
Size: 5-foot-11 / 165 pounds
Class: 2026
Hometown: Richmond, VA / St. Christopher’s School
Size: 6-foot-2.5 / 277 pounds
Class: 2026
Hometown: Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy
Size: 6-foot-2 / 200 pounds
Class 2027
Hometown: Norwalk, IA / Norwalk
Size: 6-foot-4 / 210 pounds
Of the above, and outside of Jamier Brown as he just committed to Ohio State last weekend, five-star signal caller Brady Edmunds is the most likely to commit to the Buckeyes.
Edmunds visited with Ohio State earlier this season on Oct. 5 when Ohio State played host to Iowa. Additionally, Edmunds has also stated a desire to make a commitment sooner than later. Because of this, if the weekend’s visit is another successful one, the Buckeyes could cement themselves as the overwhelming favorite.
Edmunds is the No. 2 QB in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 10 overall prospect. He is also the No. 3 recruit out of the talent-rich state of California.
Continue reading...
Dan Hessler via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
2025 three-star safety Jordyn Woods | via @JW7_2025 on X
The Buckeyes also added to their visitor list for The Game on Saturday.
Ohio State added to its already loaded 2025 recruiting class late Monday night when it was able to flip three-star cornerback Jordyn Woods (Cartersville, GA / Cartersville) from Cincinnati.
Woods had been committed to the Bearcats since June 25, but despite the pledge, his recruitment remained open. Ohio State was not alone in their flip pursuit, and the Buckeyes played host to Woods on Oct. 26 for the Nebraska game for an unofficial visit.
The visit went as well as possible and Woods returned for an official visit last weekend when Ohio State hosted Indiana. The visit was for the full weekend and took place over multiple days. By the end of the trip, Woods was ready to announce his new commitment to the Buckeyes.
Woods will join fellow 2025 cornerbacks Devin Sanchez and Na’eem Offord, making for a solid recruiting haul at the position for the Buckeyes. While there has long been talk regarding the strength of Offord’s commitment to the Buckeyes and whether or not he will flip himself, Ohio State has been looking to add depth to the position group in this class, and Woods became the priority late in the cycle.
Woods is the No. 117 CB in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 1273 overall prospect. He is also the No. 143 recruit out of Georgia.
Ohio State’s visitor list for ‘The Game’ continues to grow
Ohio State sits at 10-1 entering ‘The Game’ this Saturday, following what might have been the most impressive showing by this Ohio State team. The Buckeyes led by Ryan Day took down a red-hot Indiana team 38-15 last weekend. Ohio State dominated the ball on both sides of the field and the team played with a level of intensity that felt long missing.
While the victory was impressive and Ohio State should be proud of the showing, the team will not be resting on its laurels this week. Ohio State is set up to host arch-rival Michigan this weekend. The weather is predicted to be extremely cold, but Ohio Stadium will be full regardless.
Buckeye Nation will not be alone in attendance early Saturday, as the Buckeyes are gearing up for a large recruiting weekend. It is no secret the environment that this game creates, and the electric feel in unmatched across maybe all sports. Because of this, Ohio State will be playing host to a large number of recruits across multiple classes. Additionally, the talent on board will be some of the best high school football players across the country.
The visitor list will continue to grow as we get closer to Saturday noon, and Monday was no different. Below are just some of the recruits to make it known Monday that they will be in Columbus this weekend for the game.
Five-star WR Dakota Guerrant
Class: 2027
Hometown: Harper Woods, MI / Harper Woods
Size: 6-foot-1 / 185 pounds
Five-star QB Brady Edmunds
Class: 2027
Hometown: Huntington Beach, CA / Huntington Beach
Size: 6-foot-5 / 200 pounds
Colubus this weekend @ryandaytime @CoachRLarkin @CoachFess @HBHSFootball
— Brady Edmunds 2027 (@bradyedmunds9) November 25, 2024
Five-star WR commit Jamier Brown
Class: 2027
Hometown: Dayton, OH / Wayne
Size: 5-foot-11 / 170 pounds
I will be at the Horseshoe/Home this weekend #GoBuckspic.twitter.com/HOaQFPZbPI
— Jamier "Showtime" Brown (@ShowTimee_23) November 25, 2024
Four-star WR Myles McAfee
Class: 2027
Hometown: Severn, MD / Archbishop Spalding
Size: 5-foot-11 / 165 pounds
Four-star OL Darius Gray
Class: 2026
Hometown: Richmond, VA / St. Christopher’s School
Size: 6-foot-2.5 / 277 pounds
Three-star S Kaden Gebhardt
Class: 2026
Hometown: Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy
Size: 6-foot-2 / 200 pounds
I’ll be at The Ohio State University this weekend for a visit! @MattGuerrieri @ryandaytime @OHSBravesFB @CoachSlater25 @thompsonfbcoach @coachcorn10 @AllenTrieu @mickdwalker @alexgleitman @adamgorney @SWiltfong_ @TomLoy247 @Bill_Kurelic pic.twitter.com/FL4y00r4P2
— Kaden Gebhardt 4️ S/ATH (@kaden_gebhardt) November 25, 2024
TE Luke Brewer
Class 2027
Hometown: Norwalk, IA / Norwalk
Size: 6-foot-4 / 210 pounds
Of the above, and outside of Jamier Brown as he just committed to Ohio State last weekend, five-star signal caller Brady Edmunds is the most likely to commit to the Buckeyes.
Edmunds visited with Ohio State earlier this season on Oct. 5 when Ohio State played host to Iowa. Additionally, Edmunds has also stated a desire to make a commitment sooner than later. Because of this, if the weekend’s visit is another successful one, the Buckeyes could cement themselves as the overwhelming favorite.
Edmunds is the No. 2 QB in the 247Sports Composite Rankings and is the No. 10 overall prospect. He is also the No. 3 recruit out of the talent-rich state of California.
Quick Hits
- Ohio State’s 2025 recruiting class is all but settled and currently sits atop the 247Sports Class Rankings. The Buckeyes have a small number of recruits they are still targeting to close out the class, and one of those was four-star Auburn DL commit Malik Autry. However, on Monday Autry announced he was sticking with his pledge to the Tigers and shutting down his recruitment.
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LGHL Gott ‘em: Bruce Thornton, Buckeyes overwhelm Doug Gottlieb’s Green Bay Phoenix, 102-69
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Gott ‘em: Bruce Thornton, Buckeyes overwhelm Doug Gottlieb’s Green Bay Phoenix, 102-69
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Bruce Thornton outplayed the nation’s leading scorer as the Buckeyes picked up their third straight win.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team (5-1) did not look ahead to Friday night’s game, nor did they let the looming drama and uncertainty surrounding sophomore forward Aaron Bradshaw distract them from the task at hand Monday night against the fighting Doug Gottliebs. Three days after dropping 104 points on Campbell at the Schottenstein Center, the Buckeyes followed it up on Monday night with a 102-69 win over the Green Bay Phoenix (2-5).
Jake Diebler’s team was as healthy as they’ve been this entire season, with senior guard Ques Glover the only player listed on the Ohio State injury report. Glover was listed as “questionable” after suffering a sprained ankle during Ohio State’s 78-64 loss to Texas A&M on November 15. He did not play in Ohio State’s previous two games.
The aforementioned Bradshaw, who started the first four games of the season for Ohio State, was listed as “out.” Per the university, Bradshaw is going through a “university process” and is away from the team. On Monday afternoon, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Bradshaw was being investigated for a “domestic incident” at his off-campus residence last week. Neither the team nor the university confirmed the Dispatch’s report.
With Bradshaw out, Diebler went with his normal three guards — Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson, and Micah Parrish. At forward, Devin Royal made his second start of the season and Sean Stewart essentially replaced Bradshaw at the five.
Fellow first-year head coach Doug Gottlieb’s lineup starts with senior guard Anthony Roy, who entered Monday night’s game as the nation’s leading scorer at 28 points per game. Alongside him were Jeremiah Johnson, Preston Ruedinger, Fosters Wonders, and Marcus Hall.
After trading eight empty possessions, Ohio State scored the first bucket of the game on a Johnson three-pointer from the left wing. Green Bay was sending extra attention to Thornton but seemed okay leaving Johnson open off the double team, so the senior guard put up three more three-pointers before the first media timeout, knocking down two of them. A Roy foul on a driving Parrish stopped the game 4:12 into the game with Ohio State leading 8-5.
Stewart was a force on the glass in the first half, snatching six rebounds by the under-eight timeout of the first half. He and his teammates were starting to separate themselves, but a few blown defensive assignments allowed Green Bay to score three easy baskets early and stay within arm’s reach. With 7:04 left in the first half, the Buckeyes led 28-19. Johnson and Evan Mahaffey combined to score 15 of Ohio State’s first 28 points.
Even when guarded tight Roy hit tough shot after tough shot for Green Bay, and the result was a close-ish game at halftime. The Buckeyes jogged to the locker room up 42-32, but Roy had 14 of his team’s 32. The Buckeyes knocked down nine three-pointers in the first half but were just 7-for-17 (41.1%) from two-point range.
Green Bay cut that Ohio State lead down to seven points by the first media timeout of the second half, just over four minutes into the half. Roy buried another pair of three-pointers to bring his game-long total to 20, and Diebler called a timeout to get his team together. Roy walked towards center court, clapping and screaming and his teammates ran his way.
Roy and his buddies just kept swinging. Each time the Buckeyes knocked down a big shot that might represent a run, Gottlieb’s team had an answer. After John Mobley buried his first three-pointer of the game with 12:12 left in the game to put Ohio State up 61-51, he went to the other end and was called for a blocking foul on a drive by Green Bay’s Ben Tweedy. The freshman guard from Australia missed the free throw, but Ohio State’s lead still sat at 61-53 with just under 12 minutes to go.
Over a five-minute span, Thornton scored 13 points to set a new season-high with 22 and help Ohio State extend its eight-point lead to a 16-point lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game. After deferring to teammates in the first half Thornton showed why he’s an All-American candidate in the second half.
Thornton’s hot stretch sparked a dominant final 10 minutes for Ohio State, as the Buckeyes went on a 30-7 run to finally put the Phoenix to bed, Green Bay hung around for longer than Evansville or Campbell, but Ohio State simply had too many offensive weapons to stop. When the buzzer sounded, the Buckeyes had put the bow on a 102-69 win.
If you opted for Monday Night Football or just weren’t able to catch Ohio State’s game on Monday night for whatever reason, here’s a rundown of the most impactful players during the Buckeyes’ fifth win of the season:
The sophomore forward has essentially become the Buckeyes’ starting center now with Bradshaw out and got his longest run of the season Monday night. Partially that had to do with Bradshaw being out, but Stewart also played better defense and stayed out of foul trouble, not picking up his third foul until midway through the second half. Stewart scored four points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked a shot in 19 minutes.
The nation’s leading scorer was electric in the first half with 14 points, including a quartet of three-pointers. No other Green Bay player had more than four points in the first half of Monday night’s game. He kept his team into this game deep into the second half — Ohio State did not pull away until the final 10 minutes or so, mostly because of him. He finished with 24 points and knocked down six three-pointers.
Johnson played his best half of basketball against Green Bay Monday night over the first 20, scoring 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. It was the first time this season that Meechie had knocked down at least four three-pointers in a game and was also the first time he’d ever hit five three-pointers while wearing a Buckeye uniform.
Meechie helped space the floor for Thornton in the second half and didn’t attack like he did in the first half, but still finished with a season-high 17 points.
Thornton’s scoring pace so far this season is well below what he finished with as a sophomore, but he’s been taking care of the ball better than anyone else in the country. Ohio State’s star guard scored nine points in the first half but went nuts in the second half, at one point scoring 13 points in a span of just over five minutes.
He also finished with a season-high nine assists — the third consecutive game that he registered at least seven assists. That’s the best three-game stretch of Thornton’s career distributing the basketball, and during those three games, he committed just two turnovers.
The sophomore forward moved back to the bench Monday night after starting Friday, but Mahaffey has been stellar shooting the ball through the first six games of the year. Entering Monday’s game, Mahaffey was shooting an even 60% from the field, which was the best mark on the team among the nine Buckeyes playing 10 minutes or more per game.
Mahaffey was all over the box score on Monday night, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, three rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and one steal.
The Buckeyes (5-1) are off until Friday when they welcome the Pittsburgh Panthers (6-1) to Columbus. Pitt is not ranked but was the second team listed among the teams receiving votes this week (Ohio State was two spots behind them).
The Panthers’ only loss this season came at the hands of the undefeated Wisconsin Badgers Sunday afternoon in the title game of the Greenbrier Tipoff Event in West Virginia. Pitt is ranked No. 17 in KenPom, one spot ahead of Ohio State.
Ohio State’s game against Pitt is set to tip off at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday and will be broadcast on Peacock.
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Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Bruce Thornton outplayed the nation’s leading scorer as the Buckeyes picked up their third straight win.
The Ohio State men’s basketball team (5-1) did not look ahead to Friday night’s game, nor did they let the looming drama and uncertainty surrounding sophomore forward Aaron Bradshaw distract them from the task at hand Monday night against the fighting Doug Gottliebs. Three days after dropping 104 points on Campbell at the Schottenstein Center, the Buckeyes followed it up on Monday night with a 102-69 win over the Green Bay Phoenix (2-5).
Jake Diebler’s team was as healthy as they’ve been this entire season, with senior guard Ques Glover the only player listed on the Ohio State injury report. Glover was listed as “questionable” after suffering a sprained ankle during Ohio State’s 78-64 loss to Texas A&M on November 15. He did not play in Ohio State’s previous two games.
The aforementioned Bradshaw, who started the first four games of the season for Ohio State, was listed as “out.” Per the university, Bradshaw is going through a “university process” and is away from the team. On Monday afternoon, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Bradshaw was being investigated for a “domestic incident” at his off-campus residence last week. Neither the team nor the university confirmed the Dispatch’s report.
With Bradshaw out, Diebler went with his normal three guards — Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson, and Micah Parrish. At forward, Devin Royal made his second start of the season and Sean Stewart essentially replaced Bradshaw at the five.
Fellow first-year head coach Doug Gottlieb’s lineup starts with senior guard Anthony Roy, who entered Monday night’s game as the nation’s leading scorer at 28 points per game. Alongside him were Jeremiah Johnson, Preston Ruedinger, Fosters Wonders, and Marcus Hall.
After trading eight empty possessions, Ohio State scored the first bucket of the game on a Johnson three-pointer from the left wing. Green Bay was sending extra attention to Thornton but seemed okay leaving Johnson open off the double team, so the senior guard put up three more three-pointers before the first media timeout, knocking down two of them. A Roy foul on a driving Parrish stopped the game 4:12 into the game with Ohio State leading 8-5.
Stewart was a force on the glass in the first half, snatching six rebounds by the under-eight timeout of the first half. He and his teammates were starting to separate themselves, but a few blown defensive assignments allowed Green Bay to score three easy baskets early and stay within arm’s reach. With 7:04 left in the first half, the Buckeyes led 28-19. Johnson and Evan Mahaffey combined to score 15 of Ohio State’s first 28 points.
Even when guarded tight Roy hit tough shot after tough shot for Green Bay, and the result was a close-ish game at halftime. The Buckeyes jogged to the locker room up 42-32, but Roy had 14 of his team’s 32. The Buckeyes knocked down nine three-pointers in the first half but were just 7-for-17 (41.1%) from two-point range.
Green Bay cut that Ohio State lead down to seven points by the first media timeout of the second half, just over four minutes into the half. Roy buried another pair of three-pointers to bring his game-long total to 20, and Diebler called a timeout to get his team together. Roy walked towards center court, clapping and screaming and his teammates ran his way.
Roy and his buddies just kept swinging. Each time the Buckeyes knocked down a big shot that might represent a run, Gottlieb’s team had an answer. After John Mobley buried his first three-pointer of the game with 12:12 left in the game to put Ohio State up 61-51, he went to the other end and was called for a blocking foul on a drive by Green Bay’s Ben Tweedy. The freshman guard from Australia missed the free throw, but Ohio State’s lead still sat at 61-53 with just under 12 minutes to go.
The Bruce Thornton takeover He’s got 25 points so far tonight#Team126 | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/GGKuOOS4x8
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) November 26, 2024
Over a five-minute span, Thornton scored 13 points to set a new season-high with 22 and help Ohio State extend its eight-point lead to a 16-point lead with just over 10 minutes left in the game. After deferring to teammates in the first half Thornton showed why he’s an All-American candidate in the second half.
Thornton’s hot stretch sparked a dominant final 10 minutes for Ohio State, as the Buckeyes went on a 30-7 run to finally put the Phoenix to bed, Green Bay hung around for longer than Evansville or Campbell, but Ohio State simply had too many offensive weapons to stop. When the buzzer sounded, the Buckeyes had put the bow on a 102-69 win.
If you opted for Monday Night Football or just weren’t able to catch Ohio State’s game on Monday night for whatever reason, here’s a rundown of the most impactful players during the Buckeyes’ fifth win of the season:
Sean Stewart
The sophomore forward has essentially become the Buckeyes’ starting center now with Bradshaw out and got his longest run of the season Monday night. Partially that had to do with Bradshaw being out, but Stewart also played better defense and stayed out of foul trouble, not picking up his third foul until midway through the second half. Stewart scored four points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked a shot in 19 minutes.
Anthony Roy
The nation’s leading scorer was electric in the first half with 14 points, including a quartet of three-pointers. No other Green Bay player had more than four points in the first half of Monday night’s game. He kept his team into this game deep into the second half — Ohio State did not pull away until the final 10 minutes or so, mostly because of him. He finished with 24 points and knocked down six three-pointers.
Meechie Johnson
Johnson played his best half of basketball against Green Bay Monday night over the first 20, scoring 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc. It was the first time this season that Meechie had knocked down at least four three-pointers in a game and was also the first time he’d ever hit five three-pointers while wearing a Buckeye uniform.
Meechie helped space the floor for Thornton in the second half and didn’t attack like he did in the first half, but still finished with a season-high 17 points.
Bruce Thornton
Thornton’s scoring pace so far this season is well below what he finished with as a sophomore, but he’s been taking care of the ball better than anyone else in the country. Ohio State’s star guard scored nine points in the first half but went nuts in the second half, at one point scoring 13 points in a span of just over five minutes.
He also finished with a season-high nine assists — the third consecutive game that he registered at least seven assists. That’s the best three-game stretch of Thornton’s career distributing the basketball, and during those three games, he committed just two turnovers.
Evan Mahaffey
The sophomore forward moved back to the bench Monday night after starting Friday, but Mahaffey has been stellar shooting the ball through the first six games of the year. Entering Monday’s game, Mahaffey was shooting an even 60% from the field, which was the best mark on the team among the nine Buckeyes playing 10 minutes or more per game.
Mahaffey was all over the box score on Monday night, finishing with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, three rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and one steal.
What’s next?
The Buckeyes (5-1) are off until Friday when they welcome the Pittsburgh Panthers (6-1) to Columbus. Pitt is not ranked but was the second team listed among the teams receiving votes this week (Ohio State was two spots behind them).
The Panthers’ only loss this season came at the hands of the undefeated Wisconsin Badgers Sunday afternoon in the title game of the Greenbrier Tipoff Event in West Virginia. Pitt is ranked No. 17 in KenPom, one spot ahead of Ohio State.
Ohio State’s game against Pitt is set to tip off at 2:30 p.m. ET on Friday and will be broadcast on Peacock.
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