Entries from July 2007 ↓

By Adam Kiefaber

The new president of the Ohio State University has some Buckeye fans worried. Actually he isn’t officially the president yet, but Ohio State’s trustees are expected to approve Gee’s hiring today.

As chancellor at Vanderbilt, E. Gordon Gee thought that the time has come to an end on the way that athletic departments separate themselves from the rest of the university. He got rid of the athletic department and turned it over to the Office of Student Athletics, Recreation and Wellness. That meant that the same department controlling your flag football schedule was in charge of your school’s football team.

However, Vandy is a private school with 6,319 undergraduates, while Ohio State has 45,417 undergrads enrolled at the university.

According to The Dayton Daily News, the Vanderbilt football team earned $15.1 million during the 2005-06 academic year as part of a $40.4 million budget. On the other hand, OSU earned $60.7 million on football during the same period and took in $104.7 million in revenue overall.

Obviously, the schools are in different positions regarding their athletic programs. Also, Gee did not abolish the athletic department during his first stint as OSU president. Gee’s previous term at Ohio State lasted from 1990 to 1997. Or better known to football fans as the John Cooper years.

Some of the rememberable losses to Michigan took place in 1993, 1995 and 1996. Cooper coached the Buckeyes from ‘88 to ‘00 and compiled a record of 2-10-1 against the Wolverines. In ‘92, after Cooper had lost four straight to Michigan, Ohio State tied their rivals. Gee said of the game that it was, “one of our greatest wins.”

The situation at OSU is much different than it is at Vanderbilt, so I don’t think the athletic department will change. Also, the fact that Gee is a big OSU sports’ fan and extremely hungry for a win against Michigan should mean that the Buckeyes sports’ programs will remain bigger than ever.

However, if you want a good scare take a look at Gee Gets Rid of Athletics Department at Vanderbilt

The article goes in to detail about Gee’s abolishment of Vandy’s Athletic Department.

Most Information from The Columbus Dispatch

‘The Game’

A documentary about the rivalry between the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University is in works by HBO Sports.

It will first air on November 13th at 10 p.m., which is the Tuesday before the big game. Michigan will play host to Ohio State on Saturday November 17th.

Obviously, the special will include a look at former coaches Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler.

Tressel Donates Money to Save the Penguins

The new practice complex at Youngstown State will be named the WATTS Center.

The name stems from a donation made by Jim Tressel, his wife Ellen, and her parents. Ellen Tressel graduated from Youngstown State. Her parents, Frank and Norma Watson of Canfield, are longtime supporters of the university.

The donation was for $1 million.

The Buckeyes will play the Penguins at noon on September 1st to begin the season. OSU will open their season next year against Youngstown State as well on August 30th.

Hall-of-Famer

Fullback Pete Johnson will be inducted into OSU’s athletic hall of fame in September.

While sharing the backfield with Archie Griffin, Johnson still managed to break the school’s career and season records for touchdowns. Johnson scored 58 career touchdowns and 26 in 1975.

Johnson was also known as a Cincinnati Bengal. He help lead the Bengals to Super Bowl XVI. Then in 1984, Johnson was traded to San Diego for running back James Brooks.

By Adam Kiefaber

Greg Oden will miss the rest of the Summer League in Las Vegas.

Oden will undergo a tonsillectomy Saturday at the Vancouver Clinic in Vancouver, Washington.

I can’t imagine how big Oden’s tonsils actually are, but it’s got to be close to a record. It’s going to take two or three weeks for the big man to recover.

“Greg felt that this was the right decision to make in the interests of his health, and we support that decision 100 percent,” Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard said. “The sooner he gets the procedure done, the sooner he can get back on the court at full strength.”

In two games, Oden scored 18 points and committed 19 fouls. The Summer League rules allow a player 10 fouls before fouling out.

This means that the #1 draft pick will miss Sunday’s matchup with Seattle, who has the #2 draft pick in Kevin Durant.

Other Summer League Notes:
Daequan Cook struggled offensively in his second summer-league game in Pepsi Pro Summer League. Cook hit only two shots while taking 13 in the Miami Heat’s 73-65 loss to the New Jersey Nets. Cook finished with seven points and three rebounds. Cook hit two of eight three-point attempts and connected on one of his four shots from the free-throw line. The only positive was the work load, as Cook lead the team in minutes played; he played for over 35 minutes.

Ron Lewis saw his first action and while he started in the Houston Rockets 90 to 76 win over the Los Angeles Clippers, he was only in the game for less than 20 minutes. Fellow guard and draft pick Aaron Brooks (Oregon) stole the show and scored 21 points (8 assists) in over 31 minutes of playing time. Lewis scored five points, grabbed two rebounds and committed two turnovers. Lewis shot one of three from the floor, zero of two for three, three for four at the free-throw line.

Mike Conley Jr. and his Memphis Grizzles next game will be Thursday evening at 6pm EST against Cleveland. ESPN.com’s Marc Stein calls the battle between Kyle Lowry and Conley Jr. as the best of the summer league. he writes
My favorite battle: Kyle Lowry vs. Mike Conley
“Lowry is ahead on points at present, but one interesting theory I’m stealing from an Eastern Conference personnel man is that these two could form Memphis’ answer to the T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon combination in Toronto. There will be nights, in other words, when you don’t know which guy is better until the game unfolds. Or perhaps new Grizzlies coach Marc Iavaroni will find a way to play them together.”

By Adam Kiefaber

Daequan Cook was the second-leading scorer for the Miami Heat in their first Summer League game against the Charlotte Bobcats.

Cook scored 13 points in Miami’s 88-74 loss to Charlotte. In just over 22 minutes, Cook hit three of four three-point shots, was four of four at the free-throw line and had two assists. Cook played well on the defense side of the ball while guarding Adam Morrison. Morrison hit only two of six shots from the floor. However, Cook did commit six fouls and Morrison scored 10 of his 14 points on the free-throw line.

Mike Conley Jr. is writing a blog detailing his Summer League experience at Conley Jr. Summer League Blog.

It is unclear how Conley Jr. did in last night’s 80 to 78 loss to the Detroit Pistons. I believe these stats are correct: Conley Jr. scored eight points and had three assists with two turnovers. However, NBA.com (one of the worst sites ever) has Conley Jr. listed as the center and had him playing 92 minutes for the Memphis Grizzles last night. Conley’s next game will be Thursday evening at 6pm EST against Cleveland.

Ron Lewis will see his first action tonight when the Houston Rockets face the Los Angeles Clippers at 10:30pm EST. Hopefully, Lewis will receive some good playing time.

Oden’s next game is Wednesday night at 10:30pm EST when the Portland Trail Blazers take on the Los Angeles Lakers.

By Adam Kiefaber

Greg Oden is putting on a show in Las Vegas. So far in two games, Oden has committed 19 fouls.

In game one, Oden played only 21 minutes, grabbed two rebounds, had two blocks, turned it over four times and scored only six points. Furthermore, Oden missed all three free throws before fouling out with 10 fouls. NBA Summer League rules allows a player to commit 10 fouls before fouling out. Oh yeah, the Portland Trail Blazers (probably the most talented Summer League roster) lost 74-66 to the Boston Celtics.

Many people describe appearance as ugly, but now you are open to describe his performance as just that - ugly.

In game two, Oden continued the foul show by committing nine in less than 28 minutes of play. However, Oden did improve in some areas by scoring 13 points, grabbing five rebounds and swatting four blocks. Oden did continue to struggle at the free throw by hitting one of five. So far in two games, Oden is shooting 12.5% from the FT line. Maybe he should go back to his left hand. Again Portland lost the game 72-68 to the Dallas Mavericks. Oden’s next game will be on Wednesday night at 10:30pm against the Los Angeles Lakers.

While Sportscenter talked about the Oden foul show, they did not mention how his lifelong teammate Mike Conley Jr. did. Conley Jr. came off the bench in the Memphis Grizzles 86 to 77 win over Team China. In 28 minutes, he scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, had two assists, three steals and didn’t commit a single turnover. Conley Jr.’s Memphis team will play the Detroit Pistons at 6pm today, the game is supposed to be broadcasted live on NBA-TV.

Daequan Cook’s Miami Heat is due to begin play today in the Pepsi Pro Summer League in Orlando. The Heat will play the Charlotte Bobcats, the game will begin following the Inidiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls contest. Then the Heat will play the New Jersey Nets at 3pm tomorrow. Followed by the Bulls on Wednesday, Pacers on Thursday and the Magic on Friday. Friday is the last day for the Pepsi Pro Summer League.

Still waiting to see Ron Lewis in action. His Houston Rockets are playing tomorrow at 10:30pm against the Los Angeles Clippers. It should be interesting to see how much playing time Lewis will receive.

-Buckeye Fans to Watch the NBA Summer League-

By Adam Kiefaber

Before the ’07 NBA Draft, Michael Redd was the only former Ohio State Buckeye left in the league. In fact, only four Buckeyes including Redd, Lawrence Funderburke, Jim Jackson and Ken Johnson played a game in the NBA during the 21st century.

Now, Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook and Ron Lewis are expected to play in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, which begins today and runs through July 15th.

Oden and Cook have already signed multi-million-dollar contracts. Also, undrafted-NCAA-tournament star Ron Lewis signed to play for Houston Rockets’ summer-league team. Currently, the Rockets team website has a poll asking- ‘Which Rockets player will have the best week in the Las Vegas summer league?’- the choices are John Lucas III, Steve Novak, Lior Eliyahu, Aaron Brooks or Carl Landry. Who in the world is Lior Eliyahu? I don’t know, but he has 12% of the vote.

Conley Jr. and the Memphis Grizzlies will take on Team China tonight at 7:30pm Eastern time. Yi Jianlian will be playing for Team China. Jianlian was the sixth overall pick by the Milwaukee Bucks. NBA.com claims that all of the games will be televised on NBA-TV. Many games will be shown by way of tape delay.

At 10pm Eastern time tonight, Oden’s Portland Trail Blazers will face the Boston Celtics. Oden will team up with Florida’s Taurean Green and Duke’s Josh McRoberts. Many NBA experts are hoping to see Oden on the floor at the same time with LaMarcus Aldridge. I wouldn’t call this the official schedule, but the Trail Blazers are set to play Sunday (July 8th) at 4pm, Wednesday (July 11th) at 10:30pm, Saturday (July 14th) at 10:30pm and Sunday (July 15th) at 10pm. (all games given in Eastern time)

Besides tonight, Memphis will play Monday (July 9th) at 6pm, Thursday (July 12th) at 6pm, Friday (July 13th) at 6pm and on Saturday (July 14th) at 6pm. (again all times are Eastern- and the schedule is more official because it was given on the Memphis team website).

Lewis and the Rockets schedule starts on Tuesday (July 10th) at 10:30pm, Thursday (July 12th) at 6pm, Friday (July 13th) at 10pm, Saturday (July 14th) at 8:30pm and Sunday (July 15th) at 8:30pm. (Again Eastern time, but times are from NBA.com, which means some times will change)

NBA-TV and NBA.com are making a slight push at gaining viewers this week for their broadcast, which will be the first look at one of more popular drafts in some time. However, it is disorganized and times are not official on the NBA’s official website. That would be fine if play started a month from now, but the summer league starts today.

So if you have NBA-TV and you want to catch the action, you might have to randomly click over to the station. Personally, I wouldn’t believe what the guide tells you. Good luck.

By Adam Kiefaber

Three Ohio State Buckeyes have decided to transfer this week.

Brandon Underwood, Ryan Williams and Walter Dubin have all decided to leave the team.

Transfers are not normally a positive thing for a program. However, in this case it could very well end up being just that.

Ohio State has already received verbal commitments from nine seniors-to-be as part of their ‘08 recruiting class. That would leave Ohio State with only five more full rides available. However, the team will get three more with the departure of these three players. Underwood, Williams and Dubin were all listed at the bottom of the depth chart.

The ‘08 verbals include two great offensive linemen in Michael Brewster and Mike Adams. Also coming in is a future star running back in DeVoe Torrence and a tall track athlete at wide receiver in DeVier Posey.

Furthermore, the Buckeyes are in the sweepstakes for the country’s best quarterback recruit in Terrelle Pryor.

Check out ‘08 recruiting class for information on the 2008 recruiting class.

(I will breakdown each recruit throughout the year)

Dayton Daily News
Story Done by the Associated Press

Thursday, July 05, 2007

MIAMI — Daequan Cook and the Miami Heat agreed on a contract Thursday, and the first-round pick from Ohio State will be part of the team’s roster when summer league play begins next week.

The 6-foot-5, 210-pound guard who left Ohio State after one season will earn more than $2 million over the next two years, and would be in line to make around $5 million if options are picked up for what would be his third and fourth seasons in the league.

Cook averaged 9.8 points and made 41.5 percent of his tries from 3-point range last season for the Buckeyes, who lost to Florida in the national championship game.

Miami’s summer league team began practice Thursday, with three new free agent signees in center Joel Anthony, guard Jeremy Richardson and forward Marcus Slaughter. Each was believed to have signed a partially guaranteed one-year deal with a team option for the second season.

The 6-9 Anthony was the Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year last season for UNLV, and had a 13-block game against TCU in February. He averaged 5.2 points as a senior, shooting 60 percent from the floor.

Richardson, a 6-7, 190-pound player out of Delta State, played sparingly in six NBA games last season with Atlanta and Portland and averaged 17.6 points in 33 games with Fort Worth of the NBA Development League.

The 6-8, 223-pound Slaughter was an All-Star in the Turkish League last season after not being selected as an early entry candidate out of San Diego State in last year’s NBA draft.

Posted on ESPN.com
Story from the Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers announced Monday that they have signed Greg Oden, the No. 1 overall pick in last week’s NBA draft.

In accordance with the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, Oden’s deal will be for two years, with team options for the third and fourth seasons. Oden will make $3.885 million as a rookie and $4.176 in Year 2. If they pick up the option in the third year, his salary will be $4.476 million.

Oden, a 7-foot center from Ohio State, signed his contract Sunday and immediately started working out with the other players on Portland’s summer league roster, impressing teammates with his powerful dunks and ability to block shots.

“One shot I couldn’t block, and he came over my shoulder and blocked it; I was amazed,” said power forward LaMarcus Aldridge, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2006 draft. “And he dunked everything around the rim.”

Oden, Aldridge and second-year guard Sergio Rodriguez headline Portland’s Las Vegas Summer League team, which opens its five-game schedule Friday against the Boston Celtics.

Monty Williams, the assistant coach who will run the team’s summer league entry, told The Oregonian newspaper that Oden will likely play up to 35 minutes in each of the first three games.

The Trail Blazers also signed second-round picks Josh McRoberts, the forward from Duke, and Florida guard Taurean Green.

Petteri Koponen, the Finnish point guard who was the final pick of the first round, signed a waiver that allows him to play in the summer league.

By Adam Kiefaber

The 2007 Ohio State football team is only returning 10 starters. That means there will be 12 new starters, which include seven on offense.

Somebody has to break out?

The 2006 team had 17 seniors and NFL-ready juniors Antonio Pittman (fourth-round pick by New Orleans), Ted Ginn Jr. (first-round pick by Miami) and Anthony Gonzalez (first-round pick by Indianapolis).

New Faces on Offense:
QB – see Blog: Quarterback Question?
RB- Sophomore Chris Wells has the best chance of any Buckeye to win the Heisman Trophy. Now that Pittman is gone, junior Maurice Wells should get more touches. The Wells duo should be one of the best in the Big Ten. Also, OSU loses fullback Stan White (signed by Cincinnati). However, seniors Dionte Johnson and Trever Robinson should fill in fine. Filling out the roster at running back are two big-time recruits in Brandon Saine and Daniel “Boom” Herron.
WR- OSU loses two key wide receivers from the ’06 squad in Ginn Jr. and Gonzalez. Junior Brian Robiskie looks to be the team’s first option and finished last season with 29 catches for 383 yards and five touchdowns. Sophomore WR Brian Hartline and junior TE Rory Nicol should get more looks. Junior WRs Albert Dukes and Devon Lyons (three catches for 72 yards in spring game) could become solid players. However, sophomore Raymond Small has been considered by his teammates ‘as the next great wide receiver at Ohio State.’ The receivers could put on big numbers, but the big question is at quarterback.
OL- Ohio State already has two great tackles in senior Kirk Barton and junior Alex Boone. Ohio State loses two of last year’s starters in center Doug Datish (sixth-round pick by Atlanta) and guard T.J. Downing (signed by Arizona). Currently, sophomore center Jim Cordle and junior guard Ben Person lead the depth chart as the replacements. Also, look for freshmen Connor Smith and Bryant Browning to compete for the open spots. I expect the offensive line to continue to be solid.

Take a look at the stats from the Scarlet and Grey Game- Spring Game Stats