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Illinois State Redbirds

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Illinois State AD Kyle Brennan resigns amid report of excess spending on trip to watch Big Ten Championship​


Illinois State University Athletics Director Kyle Brennan resigned after being pressed by a public radio station on spending during a December 2021 donor trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten football championship game. WGLT.org 89.1 FM reports "ISU preemptively announced Brennan's resignation" as the outlet was planning to report that Brennan and another top ISU Athletics official spent more than $23,000 total on the one-day trip to Indianapolis. Interim President Aondover Tarhule will oversee the school's athletics until a full-time replacement for Brennan is announced.

WGLT.org reports the trip, which was centered around the 2021 Big Ten Championship Football Game between Michigan and Iowa and also included a stop at a strip club, was at least partially paid for with money held by the university's fundraising foundation. Guidelines surrounding those funds prohibit "lavish” or “extravagant” spending, including for donor events.

Records obtained by WGLT showed Brennan purchased nine 100-level club Big Ten Championship game tickets on StubHub within a day of kickoff, in three separate transactions at a total cost of $18,754. A voucher Brennan submitted to the ISU Foundation listed “donor stewardship” as the purpose of the trip, per the station. A portion of the group was reported to have concluded the evening at a gentlemen's club in downtown Indianapolis after the game. Those on the trip flew to Indianapolis in a private Falcon 900 jet owned by former Reditus Labs CEO Aaron Rossi, who was indicted in March 2022 on federal tax-fraud charges.

Just sayin': What a jerk!!!...:lol:

LGHL You’re Nuts: Which former Ohio State men’s basketball player is next to become a head coach?

You’re Nuts: Which former Ohio State men’s basketball player is next to become a head coach?
Connor Lemons
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


COLLEGE BASKETBALL: JAN 09 Ohio State at Rutgers

Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

It’s only a matter of time until these guys are running their own programs.

On spring game eve, we’re hitting all of the hottest hitting topics here at Land-Grant Holy Land. Which position groups should we keep an eye on this weekend? How does Devin Brown’s hand injury impact the starting quarterback battle? How do the young guys like Sonny Styles and Kye Stokes perform? And which former Ohio State basketball players are next in line to become head coaches?

Well, maybe you weren’t thinking of the last one... until now, of course.

During last week’s version of “You’re Nuts” we discussed sophomore guard Roddy Gayle. After a year of seasoning and a great showing in the Big Ten Tournament, are we okay to write him into the 2023-2024 starting lineup with a sharpie?

Connor said yes, while Justin said not necessarily.


56% of the voters from last week agreed with Connor that yes, Roddy Gayle should get the first hack at that staring two-guard spot come November — no if’s, and’s or but’s.

After 96 weeks:

Justin- 42
Connor- 39
Other- 11

(There have been four ties)


This week, we’re looking at all of the former Buckeyes currently working in the assistant coaching ranks and taking our picks of which one will be the next person to take a head coaching job.

Today’s Question: Which former Ohio State basketball player is next to become a head coach?


Connor: Scoonie Penn

2022 NBA Playoffs - Memphis Grizzlies v Minnesota Timberwolves
Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

With respect to guys like Andrew Dakich and Greg Oden, the former Ohio State hooper who will become a head coach next is none other than Scoonie Penn.

The now-46-year-old Penn played for Ohio State from 1998-2000, joining the 1000-point club in just two seasons. He was a second-round NBA Draft selection in 2000, but wound up spending his entire career overseas. Penn was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013, and returned to work for the Buckeyes in 2017.

Penn was hired as Ohio State men’s basketball’s Director of Player Development before the 2017 season. He worked with student-athletes to ensure both on and off-court success, including helping at practice but also keeping an eye on things from an academic standpoint. Penn was never officially an assistant coach at Ohio State.

He then left Ohio State in 2019 to take an assistant coaching position for the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies, working under Taylor Jenkins. Penn is currently in his fourth season with Memphis, who are now in the playoffs.

Penn has made it clear being an assistant coach is not his final stop. He’d like to become a head coach somewhere — perhaps even at the college level. He’s also said that working in a front office in an important role could suit him. In April 2021, Penn told the Eagle Tribune in Andover, Massachusetts

“I’m comfortable where I am and think I’m in a good position to grow and learn and be involved in a lot of stuff. But I definitely want more,” said Penn. “Head coach is always the goal; maybe I’ll go back to college as a head coach at some point. But I’d also like to explore front office. Right now my focus is on where I am now and continuing to help build this team.”:

Penn has the experience of being at a large institution like Ohio State and now has the experience in the NBA as well. He can promote himself as someone who knows what it takes to make it in “the league” but is no stranger to recruiting and the travel that’s necessary to be great at the college level.

It’s a matter of when, not if, Scoonie Penn takes over his own program.


Justin: Andrew Dakich

NCAA Basketball: Rutgers at Ohio State
Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

This feels like the low-hanging fruit, but that is sometimes the best kind. Scoonie Penn is a solid pick, but he has an incredibly solid gig right now with the Grizzlies, and even though being a head coach is a step up no matter what, you wonder when or if he might make the jump back to college.

Dakich was going to be a head coach from the minute he had a basketball put in his hand. His father, Dan Dakich, was a collegiate basketball head coach for 11 seasons at Bowling Green University in the Mid-American Conference and also spent a small time as the interim head coach at Indiana after Kelvin Sampson.

Andrew has been a coach since he was in college. He was basically a bench coach during his undergraduate years at Michigan and when he was a grad transfer at Ohio State, he played solid minutes and was the clear floor general as the point guard. Not hard to tell he is a coach’s kid.

At Ohio State, he got his Master’s degree in Sports Coaching and was a graduate assistant and a program assistant for the Buckeyes.

After that, Dakich immediately joined Elon University as the Director of Basketball Operations, which is a really good job for someone of his age and his experience, obviously showing how good he is at his job. He was there for two years.

Once former Ohio State associate head coach Ryan Pedon took the head coaching job at Illinois State, Dakich joined the staff as a full-fledged assistant coach. He is already sitting on the top end of the bench for Pedon.

This one really does not take that much explaining. He was a coach on the floor, he got his degree in coaching, and every job he has had since college has been in coaching. He will be a head coach sooner than later; think Greg Paulus-career trajectory. And he will likely be a really good one.



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LGHL 7 Cent Drafts: The best Buckeye values from each round of the NFL Draft - 3rd Round

7 Cent Drafts: The best Buckeye values from each round of the NFL Draft - 3rd Round
Josh Dooley
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


1439622965.0.jpg

Photo by Jason Hanna/Getty Images

These Scarlet and Gray legends produced the highest ROI relative to when they were selected in the NFL Draft.

Since 1936, the first year in which an official pro football draft took place, 481 Ohio State Buckeyes have been selected in the NFL Draft. Two players – Russ Thomas and Bob Meyers – were actually drafted into the NFL twice, in back-to-back (but separate) years. And 14 of those 481 former Buckeyes were also taken in the AFL Draft, including the legendary Hall of Fame wideout Paul Warfield. That makes 497 total draft picks for OSU since Gomer Jones was selected by the NFL’s Chicago Cardinals nearly a century ago.

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Warfield counts for two

Of the nearly 500 Buckeyes taken, hundreds have enjoyed successful pro careers, while others flamed out and/or never playing a snap after their time in Columbus. The Ohio State football program has produced NFL Hall of Famers, Pro Bowlers, Players and Rookies of the Year, ten-year tackling dummies, one-and-doners, monumental busts, and everything in between.

All of these former OSU football players share one thing in common, which is their affiliation with THE greatest university on the planet. Conversely, one thing that sets them all apart is their varying degrees of success (or lack thereof) in the NFL.

Another way to look at it is in terms of value. Each of these players produced value – positive or negative – for the team which drafted them. And that is what I am going to look at in the weeks leading up to the 2023 NFL Draft. I am going to attempt to identify the seven best Scarlet and Gray values, picking only one player from each round (length of the modern draft, and going in reverse order).

Before we get started, “best” and “most” must be sorted out. Best value is not the same as most valuable. And most valuable is not same as best value. Warfield, Eddie George, Orlando Pace, Jack Tatum, or Jim Parker would inarguably be among the most valuable (former) Buckeyes at the professional level. All became team captains, Pro Bowlers, eventual Hall of Famers, you name it. But they were also taken within the first 20 picks of their respective drafts, whereas Dick LeBeau made the NFL Half of Fame as a fifth-rounder.

I might argue that LeBeau was the better overall value because of where/when he was drafted. But going round by round means I do not have to choose between Pace or LeBeau, which is a good thing because there are already plenty of difficult decisions ahead... Without further ado, let’s go bargain shopping.


Round 3: Mike Vrabel - Defensive end / Linebacker

Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Similar to his predecessors (Dick LeBeau and Cris Carter) on this particular list, Vrabel became a household name while playing for his second NFL franchise. But unlike LeBeau and Carter (and many Ohio State legends who entered the league before him) Vrabel also became synonymous with winning... a lot.

Vrabel was the first former Buckeye to win three Super Bowls as a player, all with the New England Patriots. And he has since taken quite well to coaching, racking up 50 wins in his first five seasons as the Tennessee Titans’ head coach — A nice run for the former third-rounder, with plenty of presumably fruitful years still ahead of him.

A homegrown Buckeye out of Akron, Ohio, Vrabel played for OSU from 1993-1996 and set a number of TFL and sack-related records. He was a two-time All-American, two-time B1G Defensive Lineman of the Year, and arguably the program’s most consistently dominant DL ever. But because he tested poorly – “slow”, couldn’t jump over a sheet of paper – Vrabel fell to the third round of the 1997 NFL Draft, where the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him with pick No. 91.

During four seasons in the Steel City, Ohio State’s record-setting sack artist was deployed merely as a backup and rotational piece. Vrabel never started a game for the Steelers and totaled just seven sacks in 51 games played. When it came time to test free agency, he sought opportunity elsewhere, and the rest is history.

Vrabel signed with the New England Patriots prior to the 2001 season and became an immediate contributor. Praised for his work ethic, football IQ, and versatility, the former Buckeye was (eventually) utilized in a number of ways, including as a tight end. He started 12 of 16 games as an outside linebacker during that first (‘01) season, establishing himself as a player NE coach Bill Bellichick would come to count on and trust in the not-so-distant future.

As the legend of the 2000s Patriots began to grow, so too did that of Vrabel. No longer a one-trick pony, he continued to excel on the defensive side of the ball while also being used as a secret weapon on offense. Over the next handful of years, Vrabel caught 10 TD passes for the Pats, with two of them coming in back-to-back Super Bowls (both NE wins). His second SB TD made him only the 17th player ever to catch two or more TD in the big game.

Mike Vrabel caught 10 passes in a Patriots uniform. All 10 resulted in touchdowns. @CoachVrabel50 (via @nflthrowback)

: #TENvsNE— Sunday 1pm ET on CBS
: NFL apppic.twitter.com/gTMpyIEtN8

— NFL (@NFL) November 27, 2021

And oh by the way, Vrabel became a foundational piece and a leader for Bellichick’s consistently elite defense(s). From 2001-2008, he averaged 76 tackles and 6 sacks per season, in addition to picking off 11 passes. Vrabel’s best season came in 2007, when he racked up 77 total tackles and 12.5 sacks, to go with 4 forced fumbles. He earned his first and only Pro Bowl nod that season, as well as five AP Defensive Player of the Year votes... As a 32 year-old playing his 11th professional season.

Vrabel’s production began to taper off near the end of the decade, during which he was traded to and played for the Kansas City Chiefs. He totaled just two sacks in 2009 and 2010 combined, despite starting all 30 games for which he was available. He was 35 by the end of his KC run and called it a (playing) career after 14 seasons.

Now a successful coach, Vrabel will never be remembered as the greatest Buckeye turned professional baller, but he will go down as one of the winningest. A third-round pick who was forced to wait his turn, Ohio State’s all-time sack leader took the ball and ran with it once given an opportunity. He made a real, tangible impact for three Super Bowl-winning teams, matching the round in which he was drafted. Not too many second and third-day draftees can say the same.

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LGHL Another linebacker in the 2025 class grabs an Ohio State offer, California lineman makes plans to be in Columbus this weekend

Another linebacker in the 2025 class grabs an Ohio State offer, California lineman makes plans to be in Columbus this weekend
Caleb Houser
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ohio State continues to focus on the linebacker position in the 2025 class by offering their second player at the spot in as many days.

It’s a busy weekend for Ohio State’s football program, and the coaching staff especially. Kicking off the coaches clinic on Thursday, the Buckeyes will be hosting mainly high school coaches from all over the country tonight as well and into Saturday morning. However, the main event is this weekend’s annual spring game to cap off the last few weeks of practice, and that will have all of the staff’s attention for more than just a few reasons for sure.

Staying healthy in the scrimmage will be atop of the list, but getting in good work as they continue developing for the 2023 season is right there as well among the more important aspects to Saturday. In addition, recruiting will be at the forefront of the coaching staff’s minds after the game, as the amount of high-profile talent making visits to see the program is almost too many to count.

It’s been one heck of a spring, and Saturday should be no different.

Buckeyes stay after the linebacker position in 2025​


Ohio State is staying busy with linebacker recruiting. Like Wednesday of this week, the Buckeyes were active once again on Thursday with another new offer out to an LB in the 2025 class. Clearly emphasizing the need to really reload the stables in the next couple of cycles, both Jim Knowles and James Laurinaitis seem to be in full evaluation mode, so the offers may continue to keep coming. Fortunately, the momentum surrounding the position has been nothing but positive, and that’s in large part because of the time spent here.

On the receiving end, Virginia native Brett Clatterbaugh took to Twitter to share the news that he now owns an Ohio State offer. A 6-foot-2, 220 pound athlete, Clatterbaugh currently does not hold a 247Sports ranking, but with double-digit offers this soon into his recruiting process, it’s easy to see why the Buckeyes were the next in line and felt the need to pull the trigger.

Ohio State being one of the bigger offers on his list, the Buckeyes are also joined by the likes of Wisconsin, Penn State, Virginia, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, among others. Knowing full well how successful Laurinaitis has been when it comes to recruiting players on campus, it’s now going to be a goal for the staff to get Clatterbaugh to Columbus to see not only the inside of the program, but of course to also see what the chatter is all about when it comes to being recruited by a former Ohio State great at the position.

After a great conversation with @ryandaytime I am extremely blessed to say I have received an offer from THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. #gobucks @JLaurinaitis55 @CoachJimKnowles @OhioStateFB @coachlowreh @CycloneEV pic.twitter.com/THaWSy06dD

— Brett Clatterbaugh (@Bclatterbaugh1) April 13, 2023

Spring game = loaded guest list of recruits


It’s been impressive to see the loaded guest lists for the past few weekends at Ohio State. The last two weeks have been nothing but kind to the Buckeyes’ 2024 class, and this weekend marks the last big opportunity before the summer months to play host to many of their top targets.

Big time players in the current and future cycles will be in attendance to see Ohio Statetake the field, and while the spring game is more of just a glorified touch football scrimmage, the environment and everything this weekend entails should mean more positive vibes.

Taking a look at all of the names that popped up this week that have shared their visit plans, there’s another addition that was added Thursday.

2025 offensive lineman and California native Maki Stewart will be on hand to take in this weekend’s festivities. A 6-foot-6, 290 pound offensive tackle prospect, Stewart currently holds nine offers from the likes of Florida State, Utah, South Carolina, Arizona, and a handful of others. Without an Ohio State offer to date, this weekend could be a step in that direction, as Stewart coming that far on his own dime certainly shows his interest in all the Buckeyes have to offer.

Offensive line in the 2024 class is shaping up fairly well, with only a couple of spots up for grabs, but 2025 will be like every other recruiting cycle where the trenches stay as a top priority for the Buckeyes to reach their ultimate goal. Building these relationships early and often with young players only bodes well for decisions down the road.

Ohio state Tomorrow !!!@adamgorney @ChadSimmons_ @GregBiggins pic.twitter.com/Ooi4KqjyDR

— Maki Stewart, 4⭐️OT (@MakiStewart3) April 13, 2023

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