Why is this news?: Ohio State's Thad Matta staying true to recruiting, permanent light added to Ohio Stadium

"You start with guys who value the education, guys who have an appreciation for this university, guys who have strong character traits who are going to be hard-working and are going to care, to whom winning and losing is important."

- Thad Matta, via Bob Baptist, The Columbus Dispatch

The past few seasons, Ohio State's basketball team has faced off against teams featuring some former top prospects from the state of Ohio that weren't donning the scarlet and gray; though many fans argue that they should have gotten more looks from coach Matta and his staff during recruiting. Names like Trey Burke, Caris LeVert, and Nigel Hayes all played for Michigan or Wisconsin. These players also end up becoming a pretty big thorn in the side of not just Ohio State, but other top Big Ten teams as well. So why doesn't coach Matta recruit more of the in-state talent?

According to Baptist, Michigan State and Wisconsin will have as many scholarship players from Ohio on their roster as Ohio State will next season, and Michigan will have just under as many. Only one of the players committed to the Buckeyes in the class of 2015 is from Ohio (A.J. Harris). The fact of the matter is that coach Matta believes Ohio State is a national brand on the same level as Duke, Kansas, North Carolina, etc. and that works just fine for him. With all of the success he has brought, I can't argue at all, but he's right about there not being an exact science to recruiting, either.

"Crews said the installation should continue into next week, with a test of the lights hoped for in the middle of the month."

- Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Ohio State doesn't play a home game until September 6, when they host Virginia Tech, but the stadium is keeping busy in the meantime. Crews are working hard on a $13.7 million construction project that will add 2,600 more seats to the south stands and the Ohio State tunnel to be widened and will have a non-slip surface for extra safety when the players take the field.

The Buckeyes are also hosting three night games at the Horseshoe this season (the first time ever this many night games have been hosted at Ohio stadium) and are preparing by adding lights above the east and west walls, which will go around the stadium with high definition sports lighting. Football season can't get here soon enough!

Hey @KingJames - come back to the @cavs and we'll rename one of our coasters, "King James!" Ball in your court, sir. RT, #Ohio!

— Cedar Point (@cedarpoint) July 9, 2014

This is happening. In the middle of the craziness that is NBA free agency, LeBron James has been offered a deal - but it's not from a team. Cedar Point, the amusement park based in Sandusky, Ohio, has called out the Akron-native basketball player to forget about the Miami Heat and rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers. If LeBron follows through, the park says they'll change the name of one of their coasters to "King James!" which is pretty good deal in my eyes.

After reviewing the facts, I think it's safe to say this easily puts the Cavs' chances at landing LeBron at 91 percent (up from the reported 90 percent). That's good enough, right? Forget all the other news about the Cavs trying to sign virtually every player LeBron might even have the slightest interest in playing with, he could have an actual roller coaster in one of the country's greatest amusement parks named after him!

"It's not a fun pill to swallow, but even if James doesn't come back you aren't giving up anything that looks like it can be a future starter in the NBA at the moment. And if LeBron James does make it to Cleveland? Well, this was the deal that had to happen. It was either that or shipping off a piece like Dion Waiters or Anthony Bennett."

- David Zavac, Fear The Sword

The report that the Cleveland Cavaliers dealt Jarrett Jack, Tyler Zeller, and Sergey Karasev to open up three roster spots and cap space is the latest move in the free agency madness and has plenty of people eyeing a return of LeBron James to Cleveland. I wanted to share this because I think David makes a good point.

While Tyler Zeller has shown improvement over the course of his career with the Cavs and Sergey Karasev has a chance to be a solid player in the NBA, this is still a much better move than the alternative which would have meant moving a piece such as Dion Waiters or Anthony Bennett. Now, the Cavs are reportedly pursuing Ray Allen, Mike Miller, and sending feelers out to James Jones to try and perk more interest into coming back to Cleveland by signing players LeBron has said in the past he enjoyed playing with.

I've never been one to root for going all out to sign a player that may not even join the team, but if there was going to be a move, I'd much prefer this to be the one over moving young, valuable assets such as Waiters and Bennett. Hopefully we'll know where LeBron lands soon enough, but until then, we can only watch the craziness of teams trying to entice players to come to them.

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