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LGHL Ohio State’s biggest 2025 NFL Draft stock-risers
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Ohio State’s biggest 2025 NFL Draft stock-risers
Gene Ross 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
A good chunk of Buckeyes made themselves a lot of money over the past few weeks.
This Friday was the deadline for Ohio State’s NFL Draft-bound players to officially announce their intent to move on to the next level. Not too many Buckeyes had big decisions to make, as seniors like Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, Emeka Egbuka and many others were obviously going professional having already stayed in Columbus a year longer than originally expected.
There were, however, a few guys with the ability to return for another season that have instead chosen to enter the 2025 NFL Draft. That trio of players includes Jordan Hancock, Quinshon Judkins and Josh Simmons — none of whom come as any surprise, as all three had clearly done enough this season to warrant going pro.
That being said, Ohio State is also fortunate to have a pair of starting defenders forgo the NFL Draft with the goal of improving their stock following another year with the Buckeyes, as both linebacker Sonny Styles and cornerback Davison Igbinosun will return next season. With the Silver Bullets losing basically every other starter from the 2024 unit outside of Caleb Downs, having both Styles and Iggy back for 2025 will be a huge boost to a defense looking to follow up an incredible campaign.
Prior to this College Football Playoff run, the futures of a good deal of Ohio State’s NFL-bound talents were rather uncertain. The Buckeyes’ roster was filled to the brim with five-stars and former blue-chip prospects, but not all of them had lived up to the billing. Following an unbelievable postseason run culminating in a national championship, many of those same players have drastically improved their stock.
Here are just a few of Ohio State’s biggest risers heading into the 2025 NFL Draft...
The biggest and move obvious stock riser for Ohio State, both from the College Football Playoff run and the entire season as a whole, is undoubtedly Donovan Jackson. The Buckeyes’ offensive line was in a terrible place following injuries to both Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin, and Jackson made the selfless decision to move over to left tackle to help fill the void left by Simmons’ absence.
Had it not worked out, Jackson could have significantly hurt his own prospective future. Instead, Jackson became the MVP of Ohio State’s season, providing structure and consistency at one of the most important positions on the field.
The Buckeyes’ offensive line, which had become the team’s biggest point of weakness, became one of their strengths as the year wore on. Jackson’s presence at tackle was a key part of that turnaround, as the former five-star guard allowed zero sacks and all of two pressures over 126 pass-blocking snaps during the CFP — a good chunk of which came against NFL-caliber defensive linemen.
With experience at both guard at tackle, Jackson could now find himself as a top-50 overall pick, with a chance to go in the late first round if the right team has their eyes on the 6-foot-4, 320-pound offensive lineman.
Despite some national media folk proclaiming him the ‘worst starting quarterback in the College Football Playoff’, Will Howard got the last laugh by hoisting the national championship trophy. For the Kansas State transfer, it wasn’t even a situation of Ohio State winning despite clear limitations from its starting quarterback, like we saw as recently as last season’s “champs”. No, the Buckeyes won it all in large part because of the play of Howard down the stretch.
Across the four postseason games, Howard completed 82 of his 109 pass attempts (75.2%) for 1,150 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which came on a questionable call in the back of the end zone against Tennessee. He put the cherry on top with a masterful performance against Notre Dame, completing each of his first 13 pass attempts to set a CFP title game record. Howard was named the offensive MVP of the championship matchup, throwing for 231 yards and two TDs with no turnovers.
Howard finished the overall campaign with over 4,000 yards passing and 42 total touchdowns to 10 picks, breaking Ohio State’s single-season completion percentage record with a 73% accuracy mark. After four good-but-not-great seasons with the Wildcats, Howard became a completely different player under the tutelage of Ryan Day and Chip Kelly. As a guy who stands at 6-foot-4, 235-pounds, it is odd that Howard isn’t receiving more NFL Draft buzz, especially with a thin group of quarterback’s in this class.
With his exceptional play on the field matched by his tremendous leadership skills and high football IQ, it will not be at all surprising if Howard is selected on Day 2.
If Jackson was the unsung hero of Ohio State’s offense, then Lathan Ransom was his counterpart on the defensive side of the ball. So much of the focus on Jim Knowles’ elite group this season was centered around guys like Downs, Sawyer and Tuimoloau, but the Buckeyes’ defense as a whole would not have performed as well as it did without Ransom playing the best football of his career. But don't take my word for it, take it from his fellow safety:
“I really don’t think people give [Ransom] enough credit,” Downs told Eleven Warriors. “He’s an elite player. He has elite instincts, and he’s one of the most physical people I’ve met in my life (laughs). And he pushes me to be more physical every day.”
Statistically, Ransom’s 2024 season was the best of his career, finishing the year with 76 tackles — fourth-most on the team — to go along with nine tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, two pass breakups and a team-high three forced fumbles. Ransom also recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown in Ohio State’s first game of the season against Akron. While the counting numbers are obvious good on their own, so much of what makes Ransom great doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.
The Arizona native finished the year as the highest-graded run defender in all of college football, per PFF. Ransom has always been a punishing tackler, putting his physicality on display time and time again while also avoiding penalties and missed tackles by not being overly aggressive. His steadying presence at the back end of Ohio State’s secondary allowed them to move Downs all around the field, often closer to the line of scrimmage, trusting Ransom as that last line of defense.
His combination of size, speed and athleticism along with his tackling abilities and versatility should make Ransom a Day 2 pick at worst.
Heading into his fifth season at Ohio State, Cody Simon was thought of as an above-replacement level linebacker. We had seen some flashes from the former top-100 recruit during his time as the No. 3 guy behind Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg in 2023, but the expectations were not super high to begin his first full campaign as the starter in 2024.
The senior had earned the ‘Block O’ jersey in the offseason for his leadership and commitment to the program, but could he put it all together on the field right in the middle of this Ohio State defense?
The answer, of course, was a resounding yes, as Simon quickly turned into one of the Buckeyes’ most important defensive players. Starting at the MIKE as the quarterback of the defense, Simon was in the middle of everything Ohio State did this season, finishing with a team-high 112 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, seven sacks and seven pass breakups. The senior had clearly made huge strides in the offseason with the help of position coach James Laurinaitis, and it all resulted in being named the defensive MVP of the national title game.
With all of the other talent around him, Simon came into the year as a bit of an afterthought, but he finished the season as one of the most crucial cogs in the machine. Projected earlier in the year as an UDFA, the New Jersey kid should hear his name called somewhere in the early-middle rounds.
Running backs aren’t as highly valued in the NFL as they once were, but don't tell that to Ohio State’s incredible backfield duo of Henderson and Judkins. Henderson spent all four years in Columbus, but had a tough time staying healthy over the first three. In came Judkins, who transferred to Ohio State with the intentions of creating a timeshare between himself and Henderson to preserve both of their bodies for the next level.
The experiment proved out an immense success, and likely could not have worked out better for everyone involved. Both backs managed to eclipse over 1,000 yards rushing on the season, with Judkins finishing with 1,060 yards and 14 touchdowns (5.5 yards per carry) and Henderson with 1,016 yards and 10 touchdowns (7.1 yards per carry). Henderson was the more involved receiver of the two with 27 catches for 284 yards and a TD, but Judkins was right there with him with 22 catches for 161 yards and two TDs.
Even despite playing a 16-game season, the duo managed to keep some extra tread off the tires by splitting carries. This was especially true for Judkins, who had totaled 274 and 271 carries in 2022 and 2023, respectively, before dropping that number to 194 this year. Henderson also saw fewer carries than past campaigns, with a career-high 183 carries as a freshman before totaling 144 attempts in 2024.
With both guys having played huge roles in Ohio State’s success as a team, both Henderson and Judkins now find themselves ranked among the top five or six players at the position heading into the 2025 NFL Draft.
Of course, we can’t talk about guys improving their NFL Draft stock without at least mentioning Jack Sawyer.
The story of Captain Jack was been told a million times at this point: the local Ohio kid who grew up rooting for Ohio State, came to the Buckeyes as a five-star prospect but hadn’t quite lived up to the billing heading into the 2024 season. Sawyer was one of the seniors who led the charge in the large group of players who decided to forgo the 2024 NFL Draft and return to Columbus for one more ride in search of a national title — a goal that they have now ultimately achieved.
As far as Sawyer himself, something finally clicked for the defensive end this year, and after a previous career-high of 6.5 sacks in 2023, the 6-foot-4 edge rusher put up a personal best nine sacks and added nine tackles for loss as one of the shining stars on Ohio State’s much-improved defensive line. Sawyer was especially dominant during the Buckeyes’ CFP run, totaling 4.5 sacks and seven pass breakups over the four-game stretch, while also making perhaps the college football season’s most memorable play on his sack-fumble return for a touchdown to ice the game against Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
As one of the team’s leaders both on and off the field, you couldn’t have scripted a better ending for Sawyer. Now having completed his mission, the Ohio kid finds himself as one of the top defensive ends in this NFL Draft class and a potential first-round pick.
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
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
A good chunk of Buckeyes made themselves a lot of money over the past few weeks.
This Friday was the deadline for Ohio State’s NFL Draft-bound players to officially announce their intent to move on to the next level. Not too many Buckeyes had big decisions to make, as seniors like Jack Sawyer, J.T. Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, Emeka Egbuka and many others were obviously going professional having already stayed in Columbus a year longer than originally expected.
There were, however, a few guys with the ability to return for another season that have instead chosen to enter the 2025 NFL Draft. That trio of players includes Jordan Hancock, Quinshon Judkins and Josh Simmons — none of whom come as any surprise, as all three had clearly done enough this season to warrant going pro.
That being said, Ohio State is also fortunate to have a pair of starting defenders forgo the NFL Draft with the goal of improving their stock following another year with the Buckeyes, as both linebacker Sonny Styles and cornerback Davison Igbinosun will return next season. With the Silver Bullets losing basically every other starter from the 2024 unit outside of Caleb Downs, having both Styles and Iggy back for 2025 will be a huge boost to a defense looking to follow up an incredible campaign.
Prior to this College Football Playoff run, the futures of a good deal of Ohio State’s NFL-bound talents were rather uncertain. The Buckeyes’ roster was filled to the brim with five-stars and former blue-chip prospects, but not all of them had lived up to the billing. Following an unbelievable postseason run culminating in a national championship, many of those same players have drastically improved their stock.
Here are just a few of Ohio State’s biggest risers heading into the 2025 NFL Draft...
Donovan Jackson
The biggest and move obvious stock riser for Ohio State, both from the College Football Playoff run and the entire season as a whole, is undoubtedly Donovan Jackson. The Buckeyes’ offensive line was in a terrible place following injuries to both Josh Simmons and Seth McLaughlin, and Jackson made the selfless decision to move over to left tackle to help fill the void left by Simmons’ absence.
Had it not worked out, Jackson could have significantly hurt his own prospective future. Instead, Jackson became the MVP of Ohio State’s season, providing structure and consistency at one of the most important positions on the field.
The Buckeyes’ offensive line, which had become the team’s biggest point of weakness, became one of their strengths as the year wore on. Jackson’s presence at tackle was a key part of that turnaround, as the former five-star guard allowed zero sacks and all of two pressures over 126 pass-blocking snaps during the CFP — a good chunk of which came against NFL-caliber defensive linemen.
With experience at both guard at tackle, Jackson could now find himself as a top-50 overall pick, with a chance to go in the late first round if the right team has their eyes on the 6-foot-4, 320-pound offensive lineman.
Will Howard
Despite some national media folk proclaiming him the ‘worst starting quarterback in the College Football Playoff’, Will Howard got the last laugh by hoisting the national championship trophy. For the Kansas State transfer, it wasn’t even a situation of Ohio State winning despite clear limitations from its starting quarterback, like we saw as recently as last season’s “champs”. No, the Buckeyes won it all in large part because of the play of Howard down the stretch.
Across the four postseason games, Howard completed 82 of his 109 pass attempts (75.2%) for 1,150 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which came on a questionable call in the back of the end zone against Tennessee. He put the cherry on top with a masterful performance against Notre Dame, completing each of his first 13 pass attempts to set a CFP title game record. Howard was named the offensive MVP of the championship matchup, throwing for 231 yards and two TDs with no turnovers.
Howard finished the overall campaign with over 4,000 yards passing and 42 total touchdowns to 10 picks, breaking Ohio State’s single-season completion percentage record with a 73% accuracy mark. After four good-but-not-great seasons with the Wildcats, Howard became a completely different player under the tutelage of Ryan Day and Chip Kelly. As a guy who stands at 6-foot-4, 235-pounds, it is odd that Howard isn’t receiving more NFL Draft buzz, especially with a thin group of quarterback’s in this class.
With his exceptional play on the field matched by his tremendous leadership skills and high football IQ, it will not be at all surprising if Howard is selected on Day 2.
Lathan Ransom
If Jackson was the unsung hero of Ohio State’s offense, then Lathan Ransom was his counterpart on the defensive side of the ball. So much of the focus on Jim Knowles’ elite group this season was centered around guys like Downs, Sawyer and Tuimoloau, but the Buckeyes’ defense as a whole would not have performed as well as it did without Ransom playing the best football of his career. But don't take my word for it, take it from his fellow safety:
“I really don’t think people give [Ransom] enough credit,” Downs told Eleven Warriors. “He’s an elite player. He has elite instincts, and he’s one of the most physical people I’ve met in my life (laughs). And he pushes me to be more physical every day.”
Statistically, Ransom’s 2024 season was the best of his career, finishing the year with 76 tackles — fourth-most on the team — to go along with nine tackles for loss, one sack, one interception, two pass breakups and a team-high three forced fumbles. Ransom also recovered a fumble and returned it for a touchdown in Ohio State’s first game of the season against Akron. While the counting numbers are obvious good on their own, so much of what makes Ransom great doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.
The Arizona native finished the year as the highest-graded run defender in all of college football, per PFF. Ransom has always been a punishing tackler, putting his physicality on display time and time again while also avoiding penalties and missed tackles by not being overly aggressive. His steadying presence at the back end of Ohio State’s secondary allowed them to move Downs all around the field, often closer to the line of scrimmage, trusting Ransom as that last line of defense.
His combination of size, speed and athleticism along with his tackling abilities and versatility should make Ransom a Day 2 pick at worst.
Cody Simon
Heading into his fifth season at Ohio State, Cody Simon was thought of as an above-replacement level linebacker. We had seen some flashes from the former top-100 recruit during his time as the No. 3 guy behind Steele Chambers and Tommy Eichenberg in 2023, but the expectations were not super high to begin his first full campaign as the starter in 2024.
The senior had earned the ‘Block O’ jersey in the offseason for his leadership and commitment to the program, but could he put it all together on the field right in the middle of this Ohio State defense?
The answer, of course, was a resounding yes, as Simon quickly turned into one of the Buckeyes’ most important defensive players. Starting at the MIKE as the quarterback of the defense, Simon was in the middle of everything Ohio State did this season, finishing with a team-high 112 total tackles, 13 tackles for loss, seven sacks and seven pass breakups. The senior had clearly made huge strides in the offseason with the help of position coach James Laurinaitis, and it all resulted in being named the defensive MVP of the national title game.
With all of the other talent around him, Simon came into the year as a bit of an afterthought, but he finished the season as one of the most crucial cogs in the machine. Projected earlier in the year as an UDFA, the New Jersey kid should hear his name called somewhere in the early-middle rounds.
Quinshon Judkins/TreVeyon Henderson
Running backs aren’t as highly valued in the NFL as they once were, but don't tell that to Ohio State’s incredible backfield duo of Henderson and Judkins. Henderson spent all four years in Columbus, but had a tough time staying healthy over the first three. In came Judkins, who transferred to Ohio State with the intentions of creating a timeshare between himself and Henderson to preserve both of their bodies for the next level.
The experiment proved out an immense success, and likely could not have worked out better for everyone involved. Both backs managed to eclipse over 1,000 yards rushing on the season, with Judkins finishing with 1,060 yards and 14 touchdowns (5.5 yards per carry) and Henderson with 1,016 yards and 10 touchdowns (7.1 yards per carry). Henderson was the more involved receiver of the two with 27 catches for 284 yards and a TD, but Judkins was right there with him with 22 catches for 161 yards and two TDs.
Even despite playing a 16-game season, the duo managed to keep some extra tread off the tires by splitting carries. This was especially true for Judkins, who had totaled 274 and 271 carries in 2022 and 2023, respectively, before dropping that number to 194 this year. Henderson also saw fewer carries than past campaigns, with a career-high 183 carries as a freshman before totaling 144 attempts in 2024.
With both guys having played huge roles in Ohio State’s success as a team, both Henderson and Judkins now find themselves ranked among the top five or six players at the position heading into the 2025 NFL Draft.
Jack Sawyer
Of course, we can’t talk about guys improving their NFL Draft stock without at least mentioning Jack Sawyer.
The story of Captain Jack was been told a million times at this point: the local Ohio kid who grew up rooting for Ohio State, came to the Buckeyes as a five-star prospect but hadn’t quite lived up to the billing heading into the 2024 season. Sawyer was one of the seniors who led the charge in the large group of players who decided to forgo the 2024 NFL Draft and return to Columbus for one more ride in search of a national title — a goal that they have now ultimately achieved.
As far as Sawyer himself, something finally clicked for the defensive end this year, and after a previous career-high of 6.5 sacks in 2023, the 6-foot-4 edge rusher put up a personal best nine sacks and added nine tackles for loss as one of the shining stars on Ohio State’s much-improved defensive line. Sawyer was especially dominant during the Buckeyes’ CFP run, totaling 4.5 sacks and seven pass breakups over the four-game stretch, while also making perhaps the college football season’s most memorable play on his sack-fumble return for a touchdown to ice the game against Texas in the Cotton Bowl.
As one of the team’s leaders both on and off the field, you couldn’t have scripted a better ending for Sawyer. Now having completed his mission, the Ohio kid finds himself as one of the top defensive ends in this NFL Draft class and a potential first-round pick.
Continue reading...
LGHL Three things to watch when Ohio State travels to Nebraska
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Three things to watch when Ohio State travels to Nebraska
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 Matthew Holst/Getty Images
Buckeye and Cornhusker freshmen, battle of the bigs and a bounce back performance.
The No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball team is back on the road, heading to Lincoln, Nebraska to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers. After losing away from Columbus last Sunday against Penn State, the Scarlet and Gray were back in form in the second half of Thursday’s game against No. 8 Maryland.
Now, it’s scarlet versus red, in a matchup that features two outstanding freshmen on the perimeter, size in the paint and a chance for one Ohio State player to bounce back against a tough Nebraska team.
Here are three things to watch in a matchup against two teams in the top five of the Big Ten standings:
On Monday, the Big Ten announced its weekly award winners. For Freshman of the Week, two players had to share the honor, and those two play against each other Sunday when point guard Jaloni Cambridge goes up against guard Britt Prince.
Last week, Prince made five three-point shots in Iowa City, Iowa, including a game-tying three in the final minute to bring the Cornhuskers back from an 11-point deficit. Plus, Prince added the two free throws at the death of regulation to send the game into overtime.
Prince scored 22 points in the overtime win, plus seven rebounds, six steals and five assists. It not only earned Prince a share of the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award, but the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) bestowed its national freshman of the week honor for the Nebraska native.
The Nebraska freshman is also building a strong rapport with forward Alexis Markowski, similar to the duo of Jaz Shelley and Markowski that the Buckeyes have faced over the past three season.
Cambridge had an outstanding week in her own right, scoring 19 first half points against the Wisconsin Badgers and leading the Buckeyes with 27 points and eight rebounds. On Thursday, Cambridge led the team in scoring for the fifth time this season, scoring 20 points with another career high eight rebounds, plus two assists and two steals.
Since the start of the new year, Prince and Cambridge are hitting new levels in the freshman maturation process. Prince averages 15.5 points and six rebounds per game so far in 2025, with Cambridge averaging 21.4 points and 6.4 rebounds in five games of the 2025 calendar.
That means Sunday has the chance for an explosive game on the perimeter, the first of many should both stay in the Big Ten for the duration of their careers.
Both freshmen can attack inside the paint or sit back and hit shots from deep. Cambridge has the speed advantage, but Ohio State faces the concern of Prince getting open shots from long range. The shooting guard Prince can make it a long afternoon in Lincoln if Nebraska effectively puts her on an island through the Scarlet and Gray press.
When the Buckeyes beat Maryland Thursday, forward Ajae Petty played seven minutes. In that time, the starting forward scored nine points on 3-of-3 shooting and grabbed one rebound. Head coach Kevin McGuff put Petty on the bench, and oddly enough didn’t bring her back into the game much.
It wasn’t because of foul trouble or injury either. After the game, McGuff assured that Petty was fine but he was letting freshman center Elsa Lemmilä stay on the court, playing 23 minutes for the Buckeyes. Lemmilä had five points, five rebounds and four blocks. What’s also impressive is the 6-foot-6 center didn’t turn the ball over once.
McGuff had the trust in the freshman to keep her in against a stout inside game from the Terrapins instead of the graduate senior Petty who has started every game for Ohio State this season.
Is it a means to get his future starting big more comfort in conference? Was it simply based on matchup, despite Maryland coach Brenda Frese employing three starting forwards? Time will tell but McGuff will need both of them against senior forward Alexis Markowski.
The career Cornhusker Markowski leads the team in points (14.5) and rebounds (8.2), which is nothing new. Markowski has been dominant since joining the program for the 20-21 season and especially against Ohio State. In three games against the Buckeyes, Markowski averages a 15.7-point, 13-rebound, double-double, regularly making life difficult for whoever is matched against her inside.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25845354/1238385221.jpg "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: FEB 10 Womens - Nebraska at Ohio State")
Photo by Graham Stokes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Petty has the speed to play step-by-step with Markowski, but McGuff leverages Lemmilä’s wingspan to stop inside shots. Lemmilä’s 35 blocks on the season is already higher than any single Buckeye in the past four seasons and is likely to surpass the 40 blocks mark, which hasn’t been hit in the program since the 18-19 season.
Can the duo keep Markowski at bay? This season, Nebraska doesn’t have the reinforcements of Natalie Potts. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year suffered an ACL injury on Nov. 19, taking her out for the remainder of the season. Even so, Markowski alone is enough to cause issues for most teams.
An anomaly on the scoresheet Thursday night was shooting guard Chance Gray. In 21 minutes, Gray had one assists, one turnover and two fouls on 0-of-7 shooting, with four of those missed shots coming from deep.
It’s the first time in Gray’s college career that she scored no points in a game. Gray also hasn’t scored less than five points in a game since her 22-23 freshman season.
That makes the Ohio State win more improbable than it already was with the Scarlet and Gray down 15 points in the second quarter. This season, Gray has been a spark for the Buckeyes offense. Since the start of the new year, Gray averaged 15.2 points per game with at least three shots made each game from beyond the arc.
Part of that Thursday performance was the outstanding play of Kennedy Cambridge, who was the spark that helped propel the Buckeyes comeback. Now, against Nebraska, Gray can have her own comeback. The likelihood that Gray has a repeat performance like Thursday is drastically low.
Gray hasn’t scored less than 10 points in consecutive games since the 2023 Pac-12 conference tournament, when Gray was a freshman for the Oregon Ducks.
Now a Buckeye guard, Gray is a coach’s kid and a competitor. Odds are, Gray makes a return against the Cornhuskers, giving the visiting Scarlet and Gray a dynamic the team needs if they hope to stay near the top of the Big Ten.
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 Matthew Holst/Getty Images
Buckeye and Cornhusker freshmen, battle of the bigs and a bounce back performance.
The No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball team is back on the road, heading to Lincoln, Nebraska to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers. After losing away from Columbus last Sunday against Penn State, the Scarlet and Gray were back in form in the second half of Thursday’s game against No. 8 Maryland.
Now, it’s scarlet versus red, in a matchup that features two outstanding freshmen on the perimeter, size in the paint and a chance for one Ohio State player to bounce back against a tough Nebraska team.
Here are three things to watch in a matchup against two teams in the top five of the Big Ten standings:
Cambridge and Prince
On Monday, the Big Ten announced its weekly award winners. For Freshman of the Week, two players had to share the honor, and those two play against each other Sunday when point guard Jaloni Cambridge goes up against guard Britt Prince.
Last week, Prince made five three-point shots in Iowa City, Iowa, including a game-tying three in the final minute to bring the Cornhuskers back from an 11-point deficit. Plus, Prince added the two free throws at the death of regulation to send the game into overtime.
Prince scored 22 points in the overtime win, plus seven rebounds, six steals and five assists. It not only earned Prince a share of the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award, but the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) bestowed its national freshman of the week honor for the Nebraska native.
The Nebraska freshman is also building a strong rapport with forward Alexis Markowski, similar to the duo of Jaz Shelley and Markowski that the Buckeyes have faced over the past three season.
cannot get enough of this duopic.twitter.com/OSO4cfIIk3
— Nebraska Women's Basketball (@HuskerWBB) January 21, 2025
Cambridge had an outstanding week in her own right, scoring 19 first half points against the Wisconsin Badgers and leading the Buckeyes with 27 points and eight rebounds. On Thursday, Cambridge led the team in scoring for the fifth time this season, scoring 20 points with another career high eight rebounds, plus two assists and two steals.
Since the start of the new year, Prince and Cambridge are hitting new levels in the freshman maturation process. Prince averages 15.5 points and six rebounds per game so far in 2025, with Cambridge averaging 21.4 points and 6.4 rebounds in five games of the 2025 calendar.
That means Sunday has the chance for an explosive game on the perimeter, the first of many should both stay in the Big Ten for the duration of their careers.
Both freshmen can attack inside the paint or sit back and hit shots from deep. Cambridge has the speed advantage, but Ohio State faces the concern of Prince getting open shots from long range. The shooting guard Prince can make it a long afternoon in Lincoln if Nebraska effectively puts her on an island through the Scarlet and Gray press.
Paint Work
When the Buckeyes beat Maryland Thursday, forward Ajae Petty played seven minutes. In that time, the starting forward scored nine points on 3-of-3 shooting and grabbed one rebound. Head coach Kevin McGuff put Petty on the bench, and oddly enough didn’t bring her back into the game much.
It wasn’t because of foul trouble or injury either. After the game, McGuff assured that Petty was fine but he was letting freshman center Elsa Lemmilä stay on the court, playing 23 minutes for the Buckeyes. Lemmilä had five points, five rebounds and four blocks. What’s also impressive is the 6-foot-6 center didn’t turn the ball over once.
McGuff had the trust in the freshman to keep her in against a stout inside game from the Terrapins instead of the graduate senior Petty who has started every game for Ohio State this season.
Is it a means to get his future starting big more comfort in conference? Was it simply based on matchup, despite Maryland coach Brenda Frese employing three starting forwards? Time will tell but McGuff will need both of them against senior forward Alexis Markowski.
The career Cornhusker Markowski leads the team in points (14.5) and rebounds (8.2), which is nothing new. Markowski has been dominant since joining the program for the 20-21 season and especially against Ohio State. In three games against the Buckeyes, Markowski averages a 15.7-point, 13-rebound, double-double, regularly making life difficult for whoever is matched against her inside.
Petty has the speed to play step-by-step with Markowski, but McGuff leverages Lemmilä’s wingspan to stop inside shots. Lemmilä’s 35 blocks on the season is already higher than any single Buckeye in the past four seasons and is likely to surpass the 40 blocks mark, which hasn’t been hit in the program since the 18-19 season.
Can the duo keep Markowski at bay? This season, Nebraska doesn’t have the reinforcements of Natalie Potts. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year suffered an ACL injury on Nov. 19, taking her out for the remainder of the season. Even so, Markowski alone is enough to cause issues for most teams.
Chance Gray Comeback
An anomaly on the scoresheet Thursday night was shooting guard Chance Gray. In 21 minutes, Gray had one assists, one turnover and two fouls on 0-of-7 shooting, with four of those missed shots coming from deep.
It’s the first time in Gray’s college career that she scored no points in a game. Gray also hasn’t scored less than five points in a game since her 22-23 freshman season.
That makes the Ohio State win more improbable than it already was with the Scarlet and Gray down 15 points in the second quarter. This season, Gray has been a spark for the Buckeyes offense. Since the start of the new year, Gray averaged 15.2 points per game with at least three shots made each game from beyond the arc.
Part of that Thursday performance was the outstanding play of Kennedy Cambridge, who was the spark that helped propel the Buckeyes comeback. Now, against Nebraska, Gray can have her own comeback. The likelihood that Gray has a repeat performance like Thursday is drastically low.
Gray hasn’t scored less than 10 points in consecutive games since the 2023 Pac-12 conference tournament, when Gray was a freshman for the Oregon Ducks.
Now a Buckeye guard, Gray is a coach’s kid and a competitor. Odds are, Gray makes a return against the Cornhuskers, giving the visiting Scarlet and Gray a dynamic the team needs if they hope to stay near the top of the Big Ten.
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