Ohio State coaches go above and beyond at Dayton-area coaching clinic

“Come down and spend time watching us,” Johnson said. “See us do it. I’ll help you — because we’re in the same family. When we say, ‘O-H’ we’re talking about everybody. That’s why we’re here.”

-Ohio State coach Larry Johnson via Marcus Hartman, Dayton Daily News

Despite only a week’s notice of the event, the football coaching clinic held at Northmont High School was a valuable resource, as high school coaches from around the area had time to work with and learn from Ohio State coaches Larry Johnson and Greg Studwara.

Hartman describes the event — in a way that leaves me more than a little envious about his experience — as more than he could have imagined, with what he expected to be a quick one hour event turning into a 2.5 hour workshop with non-stop lessons. He described a renewed insight into how not only the Buckeye coaches train their players and what things they consider the most important, but also how Ohio State football is helping develop the high school programs around the state.

The whole article is a really fascinating journey into the different philosophies of specific position groups and how the Buckeyes develop their players to be confident in the work they do and how it translates to the NFL.

Of particular note was Johnson talking about what Hartman describes as the “[taekwondo]-inspired pass rush moves he’s taught Pro Bowlers such as Tamba Hali at Penn State and All-American brothers Joey and Nick Bosa at Ohio State.”

The Bosa brothers are phenoms at both the collegiate and NFL levels, so learning some of the concepts that work at both levels helped show the high school coaches in the area how they can challenge their players to step up their games.

My favorite part about the piece was that at the end of the clinic, Johnson handed out his business card and told the coaches his door is open. That kind of goodwill among the coaching community doesn’t often go unnoticed — or unused — with both the high school programs benefiting and Ohio State earning the trust of potential (and better developed) recruits from the area.

“The Final Four was obviously amazing, but the biggest game that sticks out to me was my Sophomore year at Michigan State – the last regular season game of the year. We needed to win to win a share of the Big Ten title. We were on the road, it was Draymond Green’s senior night.”

-Aaron Craft via Harry Wexner, 11W

For the past several years, there’s been a rosey-cheeked, defensive pest missing from the Buckeyes lineup. Aaron Craft graduated from Ohio State in 2014 and after two seasons playing in the NBA’s G-league — where he won Defensive Player of the Year for the 2014-15 season, and All-Defense honors in both years—, he and his wife packed their bags for Europe.

Craft currently suits up for AS Monaco in the French league. With Craft in the fold, Monaco made a deep run in the 2018 Basketball Champions League. (The basketball Champions League has a similar setup as the soccer Champions League).

I’ll read just about anything written about Craft, but this interview with Eleven Warriors was particularly interesting. When asked about his favorite basketball memory at Ohio State, it would’ve been easy to go with the Final Four run his senior season, but instead Craft chose a game from his sophomore year to hang his hat on.

In order to earn a share of the Big Ten title that season, the Buckeyes needed a big win on the road against a Michigan State team that featured now-NBA All-Star Draymond Green. It was a team effort throughout the contest, but a shot by William Buford at the buzzer gave Ohio State the victory, silencing the Spartans’ home crowd.

“Walking out of the stadium in complete quiet was awesome. Then going into the locker room and celebrating with coach and the players is one of my favorite memories,” Craft told Wexner in his interview.

The Rubik’s Cube-maven also spoke to Wexner about his future plans after basketball, and while it doesn’t sound like he’ll find his way back to the Buckeye bench as a coach, his love for Ohio State and the Buckeye community wouldn’t make the idea completely unrealistic.

It’s tournament time for the spring-sport Buckeyes

Men’s Tennis

The Ohio State men’s tennis team is hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament, running May 11th and 12th (Live Scoring). The Buckeyes are 24-0 in the past 12 years in the first and second rounds of the tournament, and they’ve continued that streak in 2018.

There’s a real chance the Buckeyes claim yet another NCAA Championship, following an impressive season that included a 15-0 home game streak and 11-0 conference record. The team is also riding a 17-match win streak heading into the tournament, with an overall 29-2 record for the year.

Track and Field

The Buckeyes are headed to Bloomington, Indiana to compete in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, from May 11-13 (Schedule of Events | Live Results | Watch: BTN | Watch: FloTrack). All 13 Big Ten teams will be in attendance for the weekend’s event, and Ohio State will look to build on their indoor championship just a few months ago.

Last year, the Buckeyes finished No. 4 in the outdoor event, with their last titles coming in back-to-back years, 2011 and 2012. Thirty-two individual Buckeyes rank among the top-10 in the conference at their respective events, in addition to both the men’s and women’s 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

Rowing

The No. 4 ranked Buckeyes will compete for the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, at Eagle creek Park in Indianapolis beginning at 9 a.m. ET (follow @OhioState_WROW on Twitter for live updates). This year’s Ohio State rowing team features 27 returning letterwinners from last year’s team that finished fifth in the 2017 NCAA Championship.

Their last home regatta of the season was on April 21, when the Buckeyes went undefeated against Notre Dame in the first session, and No. 19 Duke in the second. They’ll look to extend that win streak as they head into conference and then NCAA championships.

Women’s Tennis

STICK TO SPORTS

• Ohio State men’s and women’s hockey teams visited Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio this week to deliver the stuffed animals collected at the annual Teddy Bear Toss.
• Ohio State’s two Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipients are Liz Li and Brayden Seal of the swimming and diving team.
• FOX announced that Brooklyn Nine Nine has been cancelled and people are freaking out — but I’m more upset that ABC isn’t bringing back The Mayor.