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LGHL Column: Ohio State’s transfer portal attrition is necessary — and there’s more to come
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Column: Ohio State’s transfer portal attrition is necessary — and there’s more to come
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images
The Buckeyes have had over a dozen players enter the portal thus far, but there is no reason to panic.
More than in years prior, Ohio State has seen a large number of players enter the transfer portal. Over a dozen names from the Buckeyes’ 2023 roster are already looking for new homes next season, and there are almost certainly a good amount more to come. With the program missing on its ultimate goals once again and a number of athletes now on their way out, is there reason to panic?
The short answer is no. With the extra year of eligibility players were afforded as a result of the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020 and a lack of graduating seniors, Ohio State is now faced with a bit of a numbers crunch.
Division I FBS football teams are allotted 85 full-ride scholarships. Unlike at the FCS level, where they are allowed 63 but can divvy them up to give some players partial scholarships, therefore increasing your number of potential players on the roster, it is all-or-nothing in the FBS.
At the end of the regular season, Ohio State was officially at 89 scholarship players — over the limit, but again this was a result of the COVID-19 rules affecting the 2019 and 2020 classes. Only four players on the team are exhausting eligibility at the conclusion of the year: Tristan Gebbia, Xavier Johnson, Matthew Jones and Josh Proctor. Losing those four brings your total down to 85, which would be perfectly fine if the Buckeyes didn’t plan on signing a recruiting class at all in 2024...
As of right now, there are 22 players committed to Ohio State in this year’s cycle, and there is still a chance Ryan Day and his staff add a few more players if they can flip guys like Florida commit Amaris Williams or Notre Dame commit Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, among other uncommitted prospects. In addition to the incoming 2024 class, the Buckeyes also had two greyshirt players on their roster this season that didn’t count towards the scholarship limit in Notre Dame transfer Lorenzo Styles and Northwestern transfer Nigel Glover.
Without any other player movement outside the four graduates, this would bring Ohio State’s scholarship total next season to 109. I’m not a mathematician, but 109 is definitely greater than 85, and so the Buckeyes need to make some room for their incoming players.
Thus far, Ohio State has had 13 players enter the transfer portal, one player officially declare for the NFL Draft (Miyan Williams), and two players medically retire (Jack Forsman, Grant Toutant). Including the four that exhausted eligibility, that brings the total departures to an even 20, bringing the scholarship total for next season to 89.
The Buckeyes still have a number of players with NFL Draft decisions to make, including Denzel Burke, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., TreVeyon Henderson, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and more. Burke, Harrison Jr. and Tuimoloau seem like locks, but the rest are truly up in the air. We won’t know the official total for sure until the declaration deadline passes, but just those three leaving brings you to 86 scholarships in 2024.
Of course, there is a good chance that more than just those three guys leave for the NFL. On top of the players mentioned, some other underclassmen among the likes of Mike Hall, Jordan Hancock, Donovan Jackson and Cade Stover could also decide to go pro. However, on the flip side of the uncertainty around NFL Draft declarations, Ohio State will also want to add a few names via the transfer portal, and any additional players acquired there will also add to the scholarship total.
All that is to say: we will almost definitely see more Buckeyes enter the transfer portal in the coming weeks. This is just the reality of the new world of college football, where all methods of improving your roster must be taken into account — whether that be through signing larger recruiting classes or bringing in a handful of impact transfers. This sort of thing is happening at many of the big programs around the country, but with so few graduates this season in Columbus and the way the year ended, it could seem to some like the sky is falling at Ohio State; That is not the case.
Ohio State will come out of this offseason just fine. Outside of Kyle McCord and Julian Fleming, none of the players that have entered the transfer portal were in line to start next season. The Buckeyes will bring in a handful of transfers that will improve the roster in areas of need, potentially at quarterback, offensive line, defensive line and maybe even linebacker and secondary. The personnel on the field will be good, just as it always is at Ohio State. I’m far more worried about the coaching staff decisions — looking at you, Parker Fleming — than I am any of the player movement going on right now.
It will take a bit to adapt and shift to a new reality of college football free agency, but this is how rosters will be built moving forward. At a place like Ohio State, you have to make some tough decisions on the bottom and middle levels of the roster to improve the top. So as Brad Pitt said in Moneyball, “Adapt or die.”
Continue reading...
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images
The Buckeyes have had over a dozen players enter the portal thus far, but there is no reason to panic.
More than in years prior, Ohio State has seen a large number of players enter the transfer portal. Over a dozen names from the Buckeyes’ 2023 roster are already looking for new homes next season, and there are almost certainly a good amount more to come. With the program missing on its ultimate goals once again and a number of athletes now on their way out, is there reason to panic?
The short answer is no. With the extra year of eligibility players were afforded as a result of the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020 and a lack of graduating seniors, Ohio State is now faced with a bit of a numbers crunch.
Division I FBS football teams are allotted 85 full-ride scholarships. Unlike at the FCS level, where they are allowed 63 but can divvy them up to give some players partial scholarships, therefore increasing your number of potential players on the roster, it is all-or-nothing in the FBS.
At the end of the regular season, Ohio State was officially at 89 scholarship players — over the limit, but again this was a result of the COVID-19 rules affecting the 2019 and 2020 classes. Only four players on the team are exhausting eligibility at the conclusion of the year: Tristan Gebbia, Xavier Johnson, Matthew Jones and Josh Proctor. Losing those four brings your total down to 85, which would be perfectly fine if the Buckeyes didn’t plan on signing a recruiting class at all in 2024...
As of right now, there are 22 players committed to Ohio State in this year’s cycle, and there is still a chance Ryan Day and his staff add a few more players if they can flip guys like Florida commit Amaris Williams or Notre Dame commit Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, among other uncommitted prospects. In addition to the incoming 2024 class, the Buckeyes also had two greyshirt players on their roster this season that didn’t count towards the scholarship limit in Notre Dame transfer Lorenzo Styles and Northwestern transfer Nigel Glover.
Without any other player movement outside the four graduates, this would bring Ohio State’s scholarship total next season to 109. I’m not a mathematician, but 109 is definitely greater than 85, and so the Buckeyes need to make some room for their incoming players.
Thus far, Ohio State has had 13 players enter the transfer portal, one player officially declare for the NFL Draft (Miyan Williams), and two players medically retire (Jack Forsman, Grant Toutant). Including the four that exhausted eligibility, that brings the total departures to an even 20, bringing the scholarship total for next season to 89.
The Buckeyes still have a number of players with NFL Draft decisions to make, including Denzel Burke, Emeka Egbuka, Marvin Harrison Jr., TreVeyon Henderson, Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and more. Burke, Harrison Jr. and Tuimoloau seem like locks, but the rest are truly up in the air. We won’t know the official total for sure until the declaration deadline passes, but just those three leaving brings you to 86 scholarships in 2024.
Of course, there is a good chance that more than just those three guys leave for the NFL. On top of the players mentioned, some other underclassmen among the likes of Mike Hall, Jordan Hancock, Donovan Jackson and Cade Stover could also decide to go pro. However, on the flip side of the uncertainty around NFL Draft declarations, Ohio State will also want to add a few names via the transfer portal, and any additional players acquired there will also add to the scholarship total.
All that is to say: we will almost definitely see more Buckeyes enter the transfer portal in the coming weeks. This is just the reality of the new world of college football, where all methods of improving your roster must be taken into account — whether that be through signing larger recruiting classes or bringing in a handful of impact transfers. This sort of thing is happening at many of the big programs around the country, but with so few graduates this season in Columbus and the way the year ended, it could seem to some like the sky is falling at Ohio State; That is not the case.
Ohio State will come out of this offseason just fine. Outside of Kyle McCord and Julian Fleming, none of the players that have entered the transfer portal were in line to start next season. The Buckeyes will bring in a handful of transfers that will improve the roster in areas of need, potentially at quarterback, offensive line, defensive line and maybe even linebacker and secondary. The personnel on the field will be good, just as it always is at Ohio State. I’m far more worried about the coaching staff decisions — looking at you, Parker Fleming — than I am any of the player movement going on right now.
It will take a bit to adapt and shift to a new reality of college football free agency, but this is how rosters will be built moving forward. At a place like Ohio State, you have to make some tough decisions on the bottom and middle levels of the roster to improve the top. So as Brad Pitt said in Moneyball, “Adapt or die.”
Continue reading...
LGHL Visiting Locker Room: Joe Lister of Onward State talks Penn State women’s basketball
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Visiting Locker Room: Joe Lister of Onward State talks Penn State women’s basketball
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
A look ahead to Sunday’s opponent for the Buckeyes, talking with someone who knows them well.
Ohio State women’s basketball stumbled once so far in its non-conference schedule — a lone defeat at the hands of the USC Trojans to start the 23-24 season. Since then, the Buckeyes are 7-0, including an impressive win against the Tennessee Volunteers. Now, the scarlet and gray take a small break from the non-conference slate, facing its first Big Ten opponent in the Penn State Nittany Lions.
It’s been a long time since Penn State’s competed near the top of the conference, and almost 10 years since the Nittany Lions found their way into the AP Top 25. Now, with Penn State back in a more competitive form, it comes to Columbus off a surprise defeat to the unranked West Virginia Mountaineers.
To learn more about the interesting state of the Nittany Lions in 2023, Land-Grant Holy Land reached out to Joe Lister from Onward State. Lister talks about the surging Lions, the difficult defeat to the Mountaineers and will guard Ashley Owusu ever play in a game for the Nittany Lions this season?
Land-Grant Holy Land: This season, the Nittany Lions return much of the same roster from last year, but the team is playing at a different level. What’s the difference you’ve seen in Penn State to start this season? (Minus the game against West Virginia, which we’ll chat about in a minute...)
LGHL: Even though much of the starting roster is the same, the Nittany Lions were active in the transfer portal this offseason. Who are some of the new names who are making an impact? Second part of that question, are there any signs that former All-American Ashley Owusu is going to play Sunday, or anytime soon?
LGHL: After the big start to the season, Penn State ran into a snare against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Monday. WVU played a pressing defensive style, much like the Buckeyes will on Sunday. Do you think that was the reason for the loss or were the Nittany Lions maybe looking ahead to the Big Ten matchup in Columbus?
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
A look ahead to Sunday’s opponent for the Buckeyes, talking with someone who knows them well.
Ohio State women’s basketball stumbled once so far in its non-conference schedule — a lone defeat at the hands of the USC Trojans to start the 23-24 season. Since then, the Buckeyes are 7-0, including an impressive win against the Tennessee Volunteers. Now, the scarlet and gray take a small break from the non-conference slate, facing its first Big Ten opponent in the Penn State Nittany Lions.
It’s been a long time since Penn State’s competed near the top of the conference, and almost 10 years since the Nittany Lions found their way into the AP Top 25. Now, with Penn State back in a more competitive form, it comes to Columbus off a surprise defeat to the unranked West Virginia Mountaineers.
To learn more about the interesting state of the Nittany Lions in 2023, Land-Grant Holy Land reached out to Joe Lister from Onward State. Lister talks about the surging Lions, the difficult defeat to the Mountaineers and will guard Ashley Owusu ever play in a game for the Nittany Lions this season?
Land-Grant Holy Land: This season, the Nittany Lions return much of the same roster from last year, but the team is playing at a different level. What’s the difference you’ve seen in Penn State to start this season? (Minus the game against West Virginia, which we’ll chat about in a minute...)
LGHL: Even though much of the starting roster is the same, the Nittany Lions were active in the transfer portal this offseason. Who are some of the new names who are making an impact? Second part of that question, are there any signs that former All-American Ashley Owusu is going to play Sunday, or anytime soon?
LGHL: After the big start to the season, Penn State ran into a snare against the West Virginia Mountaineers on Monday. WVU played a pressing defensive style, much like the Buckeyes will on Sunday. Do you think that was the reason for the loss or were the Nittany Lions maybe looking ahead to the Big Ten matchup in Columbus?
Continue reading...
LGHL You’re Nuts: Why isn’t the Ohio State men’s basketball team ranked?
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You’re Nuts: Why isn’t the Ohio State men’s basketball team ranked?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Buckeyes are 8-1, but to this point have not cracked the AP Top-25.
For the second consecutive week, the Ohio State men’s basketball team received votes in the AP Top-25 poll, but not enough votes to actually get it into the top-25. It’s in the top-25 in both the NET rankings and KenPom rankings, but not AP. In the words of Brian Windhorst... now why is that?
We will revisit that shortly.
Last week, Connor and Justin looked ahead at Ohio State’s schedule and tried to figure out how long the Buckeyes’ current win streak would last. Fortunately for us, it’s been a week and the Buckeyes still have not lost. Justin said the win streak would hit eight games before losing to UCLA. Connor said the win streak would get to 12 games before losing to Indiana.
57% of the readers sided with Connor, thinking that a 12-game winning streak was more likely than an 8-game streak. The other 43% sided with Justin. We love the optimism!
Connor- 61
After beating Minnesota Sunday night, most people expected to see Ohio State in the AP Poll Monday afternoon. However, the Buckeyes did not make the cut, winding up as the team with the second-most votes just outside the top-25. Why are the voters passing up the Buckeyes? Here are our thoughts:
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25097305/usa_today_21936697.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Emerald Coast Classic-Western Michigan at Ohio State")
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
I guess it’s understandable that people might doubt Ohio State, considering how poorly they played last year and how heavily they are leaning on that very same core this year.
It’s easy to glaze over a team that’s shown themselves to be bad — I feel the same way about teams like South Carolina and Nebraska this year. The Gamecocks and Cornhuskers combined to go 27-37 last year combined, but this year they’re a combined 14-3. Will either South Carolina or Nebraska make the NCAA Tournament, despite their good starts?
Probably not. They were bad last year, brought back those same bad teams for the most part, and are most likely smoke and mirrors to this point. The numbers will even out, and the losses will come.
So, isn’t it reasonable for the AP voters to be skeptical of Ohio State? They did beat Alabama, but the Crimson Tide have lost again since then. If you own any Alabama stock, the time to sell it has already passed. Other than that, who have the Buckeyes really beaten?
The difference between Ohio State and these two other teams is that the metrics back the Buckeyes. Ohio State is No. 24 in KenPom, while South Carolina is No. 53 and Nebraska is No. 66. Ohio State is No. 25 in the NET rankings, while South Carolina is 29 (little suprised by this) and Nebraska is No. 79.
The Buckeyes are the second team outside of the poll this week, which means another Big Ten win, this one on the road, should be enough to push them into the top-25 next week. But until then, just know that the Buckeyes’ record last season is still following them around this year, and the bad taste left in the mouth of all these media folks is interfering with how they see this year’s team.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25142749/usa_today_21992457.jpg "NCAA Basketball: Clemson at Alabama")
Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports
I don’t know what the main thing the AP voters look at when it comes to ranking a team if I am being honest. Even though the Buckeyes are not ranked yet, they have made a huge jump since the beginning of the season, going from receiving no votes to now No. 27 in the nation.
The main reason they are not ranked yet, in my opinion, is their opponents and their strength of schedule. The teams of note they have played are Texas A&M, which was a loss, Alabama, which has since really struggled to do anything positive, and Minnesota, which is one of the bottom-level teams in the Big Ten, if not the worst (they did just beat Nebraska).
They have played three MAC schools that are not named Toledo, Akron, or Kent State, and even though Oakland has been pesky for some teams, they still are not viewed highly either
They play at Penn State, UCLA, New Orleans, and West Virginia to end the year, and if they can go 4-0 in that stretch, which is very possible, they will be a top-20 team in the country. It is also still only December, so the season is young.
It has been a while since the Buckeyes have been ranked after the disaster that was last season, and it would be nice to see a number next to their name. It is reassuring, because if you are ranked at the end of the season, you are almost guaranteed a top-six or seven seed.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Buckeyes are 8-1, but to this point have not cracked the AP Top-25.
For the second consecutive week, the Ohio State men’s basketball team received votes in the AP Top-25 poll, but not enough votes to actually get it into the top-25. It’s in the top-25 in both the NET rankings and KenPom rankings, but not AP. In the words of Brian Windhorst... now why is that?
We will revisit that shortly.
Last week, Connor and Justin looked ahead at Ohio State’s schedule and tried to figure out how long the Buckeyes’ current win streak would last. Fortunately for us, it’s been a week and the Buckeyes still have not lost. Justin said the win streak would hit eight games before losing to UCLA. Connor said the win streak would get to 12 games before losing to Indiana.
57% of the readers sided with Connor, thinking that a 12-game winning streak was more likely than an 8-game streak. The other 43% sided with Justin. We love the optimism!
After 129 weeks:
Connor- 61
Justin- 50
Other- 14
(There have been four ties)
After beating Minnesota Sunday night, most people expected to see Ohio State in the AP Poll Monday afternoon. However, the Buckeyes did not make the cut, winding up as the team with the second-most votes just outside the top-25. Why are the voters passing up the Buckeyes? Here are our thoughts:
Today’s Question: Why isn’t the Ohio State men’s basketball team ranked?
Connor: Skepticism after last year
I guess it’s understandable that people might doubt Ohio State, considering how poorly they played last year and how heavily they are leaning on that very same core this year.
It’s easy to glaze over a team that’s shown themselves to be bad — I feel the same way about teams like South Carolina and Nebraska this year. The Gamecocks and Cornhuskers combined to go 27-37 last year combined, but this year they’re a combined 14-3. Will either South Carolina or Nebraska make the NCAA Tournament, despite their good starts?
Probably not. They were bad last year, brought back those same bad teams for the most part, and are most likely smoke and mirrors to this point. The numbers will even out, and the losses will come.
So, isn’t it reasonable for the AP voters to be skeptical of Ohio State? They did beat Alabama, but the Crimson Tide have lost again since then. If you own any Alabama stock, the time to sell it has already passed. Other than that, who have the Buckeyes really beaten?
The difference between Ohio State and these two other teams is that the metrics back the Buckeyes. Ohio State is No. 24 in KenPom, while South Carolina is No. 53 and Nebraska is No. 66. Ohio State is No. 25 in the NET rankings, while South Carolina is 29 (little suprised by this) and Nebraska is No. 79.
The Buckeyes are the second team outside of the poll this week, which means another Big Ten win, this one on the road, should be enough to push them into the top-25 next week. But until then, just know that the Buckeyes’ record last season is still following them around this year, and the bad taste left in the mouth of all these media folks is interfering with how they see this year’s team.
Justin: Strength of schedule
I don’t know what the main thing the AP voters look at when it comes to ranking a team if I am being honest. Even though the Buckeyes are not ranked yet, they have made a huge jump since the beginning of the season, going from receiving no votes to now No. 27 in the nation.
The main reason they are not ranked yet, in my opinion, is their opponents and their strength of schedule. The teams of note they have played are Texas A&M, which was a loss, Alabama, which has since really struggled to do anything positive, and Minnesota, which is one of the bottom-level teams in the Big Ten, if not the worst (they did just beat Nebraska).
They have played three MAC schools that are not named Toledo, Akron, or Kent State, and even though Oakland has been pesky for some teams, they still are not viewed highly either
They play at Penn State, UCLA, New Orleans, and West Virginia to end the year, and if they can go 4-0 in that stretch, which is very possible, they will be a top-20 team in the country. It is also still only December, so the season is young.
It has been a while since the Buckeyes have been ranked after the disaster that was last season, and it would be nice to see a number next to their name. It is reassuring, because if you are ranked at the end of the season, you are almost guaranteed a top-six or seven seed.
Continue reading...