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OSU Women's Basketball Recruiting/Projections/General Discussions
- By Jagdaddy
- Basketball Recruiting
- 184 Replies
I wonder how long they’ve been expecting this. I had been surprised by how pat they’d been standing. This makes that make much more sense. If she can be a real post grinder/offensive rebounder and play low to Elsa’s high when we need size, we might really have something.
Five-Star Center Sydney Mobley Commits to Ohio State Women’s Basketball
Ohio State women’s basketball adds a five-star center to its roster as Sydney Mobley commits to the Buckeyes and reclassifies into the 2026 class.www.elevenwarriors.com
Five-Star Center Sydney Mobley Commits to Ohio State Women’s Basketball
Ohio State women’s basketball has added a five-star center to its 2026-27 roster.
Sydney Mobley, who was ranked as the No. 3 center and No. 18 overall prospect in the 2027 class, announced her commitment to Ohio State on Friday. Mobley also announced she will reclassify into the 2026 class and join the Buckeyes’ roster for the 2026-27 season.
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Mobley joins the Buckeyes from nearby Big Walnut High School in Sunbury, Ohio. She’s a cousin of Ohio State men’s basketball star John Mobley Jr.
Mobley chose Ohio State after also making official visits to Illinois and Virginia. Other major programs that offered Mobley included Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.
A 6-foot-2 post player, Mobley could play either center or power forward for Ohio State. She joins a frontcourt led by returning starters Elsa Lemmila and Kylee Kitts.
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Ross Bjork (OSU AD)
- By ScriptOhio
- Buckeye Football
- 346 Replies
Ohio State's Ross Bjork projects to have $500 million athletics budget 'very soon'
Athletic director Ross Bjork expects Ohio State’s athletic department to be the first to record an annual operating budget of $500 million in the coming years.“It’s going to happen,” Bjork said. “It could happen in three years from now. It could happen two years from now or five years from now. But we will have a $500 million athletic budget at some point in time very soon. We have that capability.”
Since replacing Gene Smith at the helm of the athletic department two years ago, Bjork has seen soaring revenues from ticket sales, sponsorship and licensing, as well as record fundraising following their national championship in football in 2024.
The university’s athletic department exceeded $300 million in operating revenue for the first time during the 2025 fiscal year, according to its annual financial report to the NCAA.
The department’s total of $336.1 million marked a significant spike from its previous high of $279.5 million from the 2023 fiscal year. Revenue and expense figures from this fiscal year ending on June 30 are not yet available.
Ohio State is a behemoth in college sports not only due to the stature of its football program, but also due to its sponsorship of 36 other varsity sports, leaving it tied with Stanford for the most among power conference schools.
Both factors have led the athletic department in recent years to pursue additional ways to generate revenue, especially as it also manages new expenses related to revenue-sharing with athletes that began last year following the settlement of three antitrust cases against the NCAA.
Bjork has sought to cultivate more donors as well as part of their fundraising efforts.
“There’s a lot of data that shows we have 12 million fans,” Bjork said. “If 1% of those people would join the Buckeye Club, what’s the math on that? One hundred and twenty thousand. Right now, we have about 25,000 donors, and that’s a great number, but how do we take the size and scale of Ohio State and maximize it?
“There really is no ceiling for our program from an engagement, enterprise, value, revenue, all of those things. That’s what we're really going to focus on. Take vision, turn it into action and make sure we're nationally competitive. We have to make sure there's some financial sustainable model.”
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has made a surprising admission about the Ohio State Buckeyes ahead of the 2026 season
Paul Finebaum has ruffled the feathers of Ohio State fans many times over the years. His latest comment on the Buckeyes may come as a surprise for that very reason.
atozsports.com
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has made a surprising admission about the Ohio State Buckeyes ahead of the 2026 season
Paul Finebaum has ruffled the feathers of Ohio State fans many times over the years. His latest comment on the Buckeyes may come as a surprise for that very reason.Paul Finebaum tells it like it is with the Ohio State Buckeyes
“Nobody is in Ohio State’s league right now,” Finebaum said recently. “I saw that story the other day, and the idea of a half-billion-dollar athletic budget is truly amazing. Now, remember, Ohio State has more sports than the average SEC program. I would think Texas and Georgia are considerably behind that. It’s just a number, but it’s also where college athletics is.”Finebaum is typically viewed as somewhat of an SEC homer in Big Ten land. He was honest about no other program being on Ohio State’s level right now athletics-wise. Of course, much of it has to do with the support of Buckeye Nation, as well as the success the football team can ride on every season.
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QB1 Julian Sayin (All B1G, B1G Frosh of Year, All American, National Frosh of Year, National Champion)
- By ScriptOhio
- Buckeye Football
- 947 Replies
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www.landgrantholyland.com
Last year around this time Buckeye Nation was wondering if Julian Sayin would be able to replace Will Howard and lead Ohio State to back-to-back national titles.
Shortly after enrolling at Alabama, Sayin transferred to Ohio State after Nick Saban announced his retirement. Sayin would sit behind Howard in 2024, learning the ropes of the Buckeye offense.
As if making your first collegiate start at quarterback wasn’t enough to deal with, Sayin had to do so against the Texas Longhorns, who entered the season opener against Ohio State as the top-ranked team in the country.
While Sayin’s numbers against Texas weren’t sexy, he did everything he was asked to in the 14-7 win. The goal for Sayin against the Longhorns was to get his feet wet and keep his confidence ahead of games against Grambling State and Ohio where he could pad the stat sheet.
All Sayin would go on to do as a redshirt freshman was complete 77 percent of his passes, throw for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Along with being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Sayin was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, where he finished fourth in the voting.
Despite failing to lead Ohio State to a Big Ten title and another national championship, Sayin did engineer a 27-9 win over Michigan, snapping a four-game losing streak against the Wolverines.
Heading into the 2026 season even more growth is expected from Sayin. Ohio State will likely open the season as the number one ranked team in the country and a major reason for that is because they have Sayin returning behind center.
Along with being the quarterback of a team that will be a serious national title contender, Sayin will likely be in the mix to be invited to New York City in early December for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Not to say that Sayin’s play as a freshman was perfect. In Ohio State’s most important games of the season, Sayin had a hard time finding his footing against Indiana and Miami, completing 43 of his 64 pass attempts for 545 yards, two touchdowns, and three picks while being sacked 10 times over those two games.
Even though those two teams would go on to meet for the national championship, Ohio State could have been Big Ten champs and even national champions if Sayin had been a little more effective in those games.
There also were some short-yardage issues for Sayin, as he failed to convert running the football deep in the red zone against Michigan and Indiana. Buckeye Nation was spoiled the previous season with the way Will Howard was able to put his head down and gain the necessary yards in short-yardage situations, but Sayin isn’t that type of quarterback.
Despite not being a quarterback who is going to have a number of designed runs called for him, Sayin is still big and strong enough to where he shouldn’t have nearly as much trouble picking up a yard or two.
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Burning Questions: How good can Julian Sayin be in 2026?
After an outstanding first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, more is expected of Sayin this year.
www.landgrantholyland.com
Burning Questions: How good can Julian Sayin be in 2026?
After an outstanding first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, more is expected of Sayin this year.Last year around this time Buckeye Nation was wondering if Julian Sayin would be able to replace Will Howard and lead Ohio State to back-to-back national titles.
Shortly after enrolling at Alabama, Sayin transferred to Ohio State after Nick Saban announced his retirement. Sayin would sit behind Howard in 2024, learning the ropes of the Buckeye offense.
As if making your first collegiate start at quarterback wasn’t enough to deal with, Sayin had to do so against the Texas Longhorns, who entered the season opener against Ohio State as the top-ranked team in the country.
While Sayin’s numbers against Texas weren’t sexy, he did everything he was asked to in the 14-7 win. The goal for Sayin against the Longhorns was to get his feet wet and keep his confidence ahead of games against Grambling State and Ohio where he could pad the stat sheet.
All Sayin would go on to do as a redshirt freshman was complete 77 percent of his passes, throw for 3,610 yards, 32 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. Along with being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Sayin was a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, where he finished fourth in the voting.
Despite failing to lead Ohio State to a Big Ten title and another national championship, Sayin did engineer a 27-9 win over Michigan, snapping a four-game losing streak against the Wolverines.
Heading into the 2026 season even more growth is expected from Sayin. Ohio State will likely open the season as the number one ranked team in the country and a major reason for that is because they have Sayin returning behind center.
Along with being the quarterback of a team that will be a serious national title contender, Sayin will likely be in the mix to be invited to New York City in early December for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Not to say that Sayin’s play as a freshman was perfect. In Ohio State’s most important games of the season, Sayin had a hard time finding his footing against Indiana and Miami, completing 43 of his 64 pass attempts for 545 yards, two touchdowns, and three picks while being sacked 10 times over those two games.
Even though those two teams would go on to meet for the national championship, Ohio State could have been Big Ten champs and even national champions if Sayin had been a little more effective in those games.
There also were some short-yardage issues for Sayin, as he failed to convert running the football deep in the red zone against Michigan and Indiana. Buckeye Nation was spoiled the previous season with the way Will Howard was able to put his head down and gain the necessary yards in short-yardage situations, but Sayin isn’t that type of quarterback.
Despite not being a quarterback who is going to have a number of designed runs called for him, Sayin is still big and strong enough to where he shouldn’t have nearly as much trouble picking up a yard or two.
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WR Jerquaden Guilford (Official Thread)
- By ScriptOhio
- Buckeye Football
- 93 Replies
Jerquaden Guilford’s path to playing time is clear, and Ohio State’s future is counting on it
Jerquaden Guilford enters one of the deepest receiver rooms in college football, but the former four-star prospect has all the tools to develop into a major contributor when Ohio State’s next wave of stars takes over.
www.landgrantholyland.com
Jerquaden Guilford’s path to playing time is clear, and Ohio State’s future is counting on it
Jerquaden Guilford enters one of the deepest receiver rooms in college football, but the former four-star prospect has all the tools to develop into a major contributor when Ohio State’s next wave of stars takes over.Ohio State rarely asks true freshman wide receivers to become instant stars. It has happened before, Jeremiah Smith immediately became one of the best players in college football. Chris Henry Jr. is expected to have a major role from Day One this season. But those are exceptions, not the rule.
More often, Ryan Day allows receivers to spend a year learning the offense, developing physically, refining their route running, and adjusting to one of the deepest receiver rooms in the country before their opportunity arrives. That is exactly why Jerquaden Guilford’s long term outlook is so exciting.
The Fort Wayne native may not fill the stat sheet during his freshman season, but everything about his profile suggests Ohio State could be developing another future star. His combination of size, route running, body control, and athletic upside gives him one of the highest ceilings in the Buckeyes’ 2026 recruiting class.
If his progression follows the typical Ohio State wide receiver timeline, the next three seasons could tell the story of one of the program’s next great receivers.
Year one is about development, not production
Ohio State just simply does not need Jerquaden Guilford to play significant snaps in 2026. That is a luxury few programs can offer.The Buckeyes return arguably the best receiver in college football in Jeremiah Smith, while Brandon Inniss, Devin McCuin, Chris Henry Jr, and several experienced veterans headline one of the nation’s deepest receiver rooms. Earning meaningful offensive snaps as a freshman in that environment would be difficult for almost anyone.
Instead, Guilford’s first season should be spent exactly how Ohio State prefers to develop young receivers. Learning the offense, building strength, and perfecting the details that separate good receivers from future NFL Draft picks.
There is every reason to believe he is capable of making the leap. Guilford was one of the biggest risers in the 2026 recruiting cycle. After originally flying under the radar, he exploded nationally during his senior season, eventually finishing as one of the country’s top receiver prospects following an outstanding week at the Navy All American Bowl.
Ohio State beat out Michigan, Ole Miss, Indiana and several other Power Four programs to land his commitment after staying persistent throughout his recruitment.
What stands out most on film is how polished Guilford already is. He is an effortless mover who wastes very little motion getting in and out of his breaks, with advanced releases, natural ball tracking, soft hands, and the ability to consistently create separation at all three levels of the field.
He attacks leverage naturally, accelerates quickly off the line of scrimmage, and uses tempo and precise route running to keep defenders off balance rather than relying solely on elite speed. Add in his outstanding body control and ability to adjust to passes downfield, and it is easy to see why Ohio State believes his ceiling is so high.
He is still developing physically, particularly adding strength against press coverage, but that is exactly the type of improvement Ohio State’s strength staff has repeatedly helped receivers make over the years. Could Guilford work his way into the rotation late in the season if he progresses the right way? Absolutely.
If injuries occur or he develops faster than expected, his route running alone gives him a chance to contribute in specialized situations. But even if his stat line remains modest, it should not change expectations. This season is about building toward something much bigger.
Year two is where the opportunity arrives
Everything changes entering the 2027 season. It’s expected that Jeremiah Smith, Brandon Inniss, and Devin McCuin are all expected to move on to the NFL after the 2026 campaign. And that should create one of the biggest opportunities Ohio State’s receiver room has seen in years..
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