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"'They keep direct-messaging me (on Twitter) that they keep losing Ohio kids,' Bragg told The Courier-Journal."
-David Cassilo, Northeast Ohio Media Group
It would appear that during recruitment of basketball recruit Carlton Bragg, the Ohio State coaching staff mentioned or revealed that the Buckeyes continue losing in-state recruits to outside colleges. It was already pretty well known that Ohio State's basketball staff has had trouble here and there when it comes to recruiting the top talent in the state.
What's disturbing is that they're now supposedly using this as a recruiting tactic, at the very least to Bragg, in some twisted hope of keeping Bragg in Ohio and for his commitment to Ohio State. I'm not sure I like that idea, especially since Bragg says later on that the school recruiting him the hardest right now is Illinois. Furthermore, Bragg speaks highly about Kentucky's "one-and-done" theme and says they're successful regardless.
"Nearly half (47.3 percent) of all draftees hailed from either California, Florida, Texas, Georgia or Ohio, and nine of the top 11 recruiting hotbeds were claimed by those five states."
-Jamie Newberg, Scout.com
For the state of Ohio, Columbus ranked ninth in NFL draftees per 1 million residents. Cleveland checks in right under the capital at 10th. There wasn't one particular area of the state that dominated, however, as draftees were spread out throughout. Cleveland and Columbus had virtually the same numbers (Columbus with 6.67 and Cleveland with 6.6). Cleveland had more players drafted (14 to 13) but Columbus had the higher per capita (6.67 to 6.6). Cincinnati/Dayton came in very close at 12 drafted players with a per capita of 5.71.
This information is actually a tad surprising to me, simply because I had always assumed that Cleveland and Cincinnati were the most talent-filled cities in the state. It's nice to see Columbus lead the way, even if by a slim margin.
"There's a host of issues that potentially overlap between O'Bannon and Keller."
-NCAA attorneys
Apparently the NCAA's #strat for the pending Ed O'Bannon litigation (in which a trust of former and current student athletes seek amongst many things control of their own image/according usage rights) is to...delay the trial until immediately before March Madness?
SB Nation's Kevin Trahan has a roundup of what they're possibly thinking – as well as everything else you need to know about landmark litigation which could forever change college athletics as we know it.
"Rutgers was young, explosive, and all sorts of erratic in 2013. The Scarlet Knights move to the Big Ten with more experience, serious athletic potential ... and plenty of reason to doubt that potential turns into consistent production."
-Bill Connelly, SB Nation
The venerable Bill Connelly hit the other new forthcoming member of the Big Ten today, and sheds light on why the Scarlet Knights may not be as bad as you might think based on seeing them play last year – or how they might be worse.
With both luck and inefficiency on offense (to say nothing of the freshmen on defense) and plenty of brutal PR lately, it's tough to know what to make of Rutgers exactly. If you want to get smart on Ohio State's opponent for homecoming this season though, there's no better place to do it than with Bill Connelly and his Big 2014 College Football Countdown.
STICK TO SPORTS
- Columbus, Ohio is a breakfast mecca. Also, this just makes me hungry.
- An Ohio State university student has been named a 2014 Tillman Military Scholar.
- Columbus tops in Ohio among best cities for aspiring entrepreneurs.
- Sports drafts are ruthless exploitation.
- The title (and logo) of the forthcoming "Man of Steel" sequel (featuring Batman) is revealed.