NastyNatiBuck said:

I'll be very impressed if he's successful playing WR and DE in college. I would think optimizing for one would significantly reduce effectiveness at the other. It would be really cool to see him be successful, though.

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Just look up Nyckoles Harbor at South Carolina…

calibuck said:

And who do we think is Diebs using to bang this young man under the bucket, in order to get him ready for the rigors of the B10? It's gotta be happening, as well as the strength coach working on lower body strength to withstand the pounding a person takes. Still not certain I see the stud power forward to share the rebounding burden, or maybe sending the small forward into the fray as well. Would be a long time since have seen tOSU send three guys to the boards. Anyway, idle musings on a Friday. Guess we'll see soon enough. Will be visiting daughter in C'bus in mid-December to mid-January, so will hope to get to a game or three to see in person. Also the 2025 version of the women's team....Go Bucks!!

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With the roster as-is, Brandon Noel is likely the starting PF. I actually see Ojianwuna starting at the 5, if he is healthy.

Ryan Day admits what the challenge is that Ohio State is facing with the Texas Longhorns right around the corner​

We are now less than six weeks away from the Ohio State Buckeyes opening their season by hosting Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns.

The Buckeyes are coming off a National Championship win over Notre Dame—a magical run that also included a victory over Texas.

This year’s team, however, will look quite a bit different. Ohio State is replacing a significant amount of talent that departed for the NFL—14 players were drafted, and the Buckeyes have upwards of 16 starters to replace.

Head coach Ryan Day recently opened up about one of the challenges facing the program​

A program like Ohio State reloads year after year thanks to elite recruiting and savvy use of the transfer portal. Player development is at an all-time high, and the program is in great shape. Still, Day acknowledged that replacing leadership has been a challenge.

“It’s been going good. The guys have been working really hard this summer,” Day said via The Bobby Carpenter Show. “And I think that the biggest challenge has been the leadership—figuring out who the guys are that are going to step up. When you look at last year’s team, there are guys returning like Caleb Downs and Sonny Styles—guys who have been in some leadership roles in the past—but a lot of players now have to step into more prominent roles in that area.”

I feel like it’s been a good couple of months leading up to it. As you know, when (strength coach Mickey Marotti) gets to work with these guys, that’s really when the team bonds and forges together. So we know that August is going to be a huge month—and it’s right around the corner.”

Fortunately for Ohio State, they return star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith for his second season and standout safety Caleb Downs for his third. Arguably two of the best players in college football, their presence will certainly help ease the transition.

Other key returners like Sonny Styles, Carnell Tate, Davison Igbinosun, Caden Curry, and Kenyatta Jackson have been in the program long enough to emerge as team leaders as well.
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Hey. A hit and a run!

Welcome to the fam Jerquaden! Great body control, high end speed with legs so long that it looks like he's not moving as fast as he really is. Great catch radius. Hartline stole another kid who should be ranked higher than what he is.

NFBuck said:

- Kneel before Zod Day.

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You had the Penn State fans at.....oh, never mind!

This Yurnling Flight beer looks noxious but I’d give this little female golfer spokesperson a proper rogering.

Solid movie. Loved the soundtrack.

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Everyone realizes this is a no hitter but for Manea’s pitch count, right?

Shame Friedl is going to lose that hand.

When I rewatch the 4 playoff games, those are the ones I watch. (macafee)

If we can get Manamana to walk 5 more guys this inning, they might have a chance.

But they’ll got down in under 10 pitches.

Good night folks.

Drive safe.

Tip your waiters and waitresses.

16 pitches.

Lodolo is showing signs of hyman fatigue.

One ball out of the outfield so far. But at least they’ve made the dude throw some pitches. Once they get to the bullpen, they can suck against them, too!

3-1 count and he’s late on a fastball.

I’ll be glad to see Stephenson go

LordJeffBuck said:

"Betting on himself" is the right way to put it – it's a definite risk with an unknown reward.

Instead, he should be "investing in himself." Here's what I mean....

There are two types of prospects who should always take the largest "bag":

(1) The kids who are going to be NFL stars regardless of where they go to school. For example, Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs. That's less than one percent of prospects; and

(2) The kids who have no reasonable chance to have a significant NFL career. That's at least 95% of prospects.

It's the kids in the middle 4-5% who really need to think about investing for the future rather than taking the biggest bag now.

If Ohio State offers a prospect $500k less than another school, that prospect needs to consider if "investing" that $500k in an Ohio State football "education" will make him a more marketable commodity in the NFL – in other words, will "earn" him more down the road than the $500k that he is leaving on the table now. Certainly, Ohio State has used that sales pitch on WR recruits who believe that learning to play the position from Brian Hartline will "pay dividends" at the next level. (Most everyone who goes to college uses a similar calculus – pay for an education to get a better job upon graduation.)

Part of the problem is that many kids in the 4-5% middle category think that they're in the top 0.1%. It will be interesting to see how often NIL money will enhance careers ... and how often it will ruin careers.

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I agree but disagree also with your points.
You’re making it seem that these financial decisions are based solely on football. A kid getting an extra $500k is LIFE changing money! If You make the NFL or not, that can erase a lot of family debt and set up a kids life extremely well if he invests it intelligently. And contrary to what many believe, a good number of kids are getting sound financial advice. Getting the biggest bag now is still a very smart decision for a lot of kids, especially if you’re a 3star and may never see the field at a place like OSU. And I’m sure many of these kids don’t come from the best environments either, so it’s easy for us grown ups on a message board to tell them to just give up on half a million dollars to maybe Play at OSU.

And kids go to college and also have jobs which these athletes can’t have. So yes, they go in hopes of getting better jobs at graduation, but being able to work also helps. Also having much more free time to work more hours also helps. And I don’t know of any parent that would tell their child to not take a higher pay check from a company compared to another company. Weatherspoon is going to UNC, not Lackawanna Community college, he can still make the NFL. So can Noah Rogers who transferred from OSU to NC State

Welcome to the Buckeye Family, Jerquaden!!

NFBuck said:

Still say needs to be a 3 year postseason ban. They cheated in 3 seasons, why let them off with just a 2 year ban?

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Also, make the games ‘no contests’ rather than vacated wins.

Take away their wins and also take away the losses from the teams that were cheated.

I don’t expect them to go to forfeits, which would change the losses to wins.