Terry McLaurin is turning heads at Senior Bowl practice

“Gonna be a steal for someone. Beyond the measurables [Terry] does all the dirty work as a WR. Mentally as tough as any player in this draft and better WR than most realize.”

- Kirk Herbstreit on wide receiver Terry McLaurin via Twitter

While guys like Dwayne Haskins, Dre’Mont Jones and Parris Campbell have gotten all the love when it comes to Ohio State players in the upcoming NFL Draft, there are other Buckeyes who could be primed for long professional careers despite flying under the radar. One such player is Terry McLaurin, who impressed onlookers at Tuesday’s Senior Bowl practice as he looks to up his draft stock.

McLaurin, the only Buckeye set to play in Saturday’s Senior Bowl, shined in all aspects during the North team’s first practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. His biggest highlight of the day was a deep-ball touchdown after burning cornerback Corey Ballentine, getting up to 22.2 mph on the play — the fastest recorded speed by any player on the team. Outside the long touchdown, McLaurin made a couple of other impressive grabs, one with a corner draped all over him and the other on a comeback route as he showed off his under-appreciated ability as a route runner.

While McLaurin has been lauded for his special teams prowess at Ohio State, he may be opening NFL scouts’ eyes on his abilities as a wide receiver as well. Analyst Todd McShay on Twitter called McLaurin a “mid-round pick who should have a long NFL career”. McLaurin had the best year of his collegiate career in his senior season, hauling in 35 receptions for 701 yards and 11 touchdowns — second to only Campbell’s 12 TDs. As an extremely solid wideout who has put in the work to make himself an elite route runner, McLaurin could wind up as a steal for any team if he is still available in the middle rounds.

“Without getting too specific, that’s something we’re still evaluating here. I think it will be a combination of really a number of guys, [Jaedon Lee] and Justin [Ahrens], Musa [Jallow], those three guys in particular.”

- OSU head coach Chris Holtmann on who will fill in for the injured Kyle Young

The Ohio State men’s basketball team has been struggling mightily of late, and things are not going to get any easier with forward Kyle Young out indefinitely due to a stress fracture in his leg. Young, while not a starter, has been incredibly important to the Buckeyes this season. Mainly as a backup to Kaleb Wesson, Young has added 7.3 points per game off the bench while averaging just under five rebounds per game while shooting over 73 percent from the field.

With Young unavailable, Holtmann is not looking to one specific player to fill his role, but instead three young guys in sophomore Musa Jallow and freshmen Jaedon LeDee and Justin Ahrens. None of the three underclassmen have averaged more than 12 minutes per game this season, but will be asked to step up in the coming games, their first test coming tonight at 7 p.m. ET against Purdue.

Jallow has played the most of the three in his second year at Ohio State. The 6-foot-5 guard is averaging just under three points and a little over two rebounds per game shooting 40 percent from the field in 11.8 minutes per game. LeDee has averaged around three points and two rebounds in just under seven minutes per game, while Ahrens, playing the least of the three, has scored under two points per game in a little more than five minutes per contest.

With an obvious increase in minutes coming for as long as Young is sidelined, the Buckeyes will hope these guys will be able to be productive and pick up the slack as the team looks to get out of their current four-game skid.

“I am also excited to play more football. I will explore finishing my final two years of eligibility at another program.”

- Former Texas A&M quarterback Nick Starkel announces his transfer via Twitter

With the departure of Dwayne Haskins to the NFL and the transfer of Tate Martell to the University of Miami, Ohio State has been left with just three scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, one of whom being Justin Fields who has yet to be granted eligibility for the 2019 season. There are now reports, however, that there could be another potential transfer interested in joining the Buckeyes.

As reported by Travis Brown of The Eagle, former Texas A&M quarterback Nick Starkel has listed Ohio State as one of his potential destinations. Other schools the transfer is looking at include Duke, SMU and Arizona.

Starkel, a three-star prospect and the No. 21 pro style quarterback coming out of high school, is leaving Texas A&M after three years as a graduate transfer, making him immediately eligible at his next destination for the 2019 season. Starkel was named the starter for the Aggies in 2017 before a broken ankle in the opener forced him to miss time. He would still play in seven games, throwing for 1,793 yards with 14 touchdowns and six interceptions. He would beat out for the starter job in 2018 by Kellen Mond.

Starkel would certainly add much needed depth to an Ohio State quarterback room that is lacking in bodies. It is also likely he will look to go some place where he would be able to start right away, however, with two years of eligibility remaining it is entirely possible that Starkel could choose the Buckeyes with hopes of earning playing time over the next two seasons.

Around Campus

Women's Basketball

The Buckeyes return home on Thursday to take on No. 11/10 Maryland. After winning three games in a row, Ohio State fell on Sunday as Michigan came back for a 62-58 victory. The Lady Bucks come into their matchup with the Terrapins at 7-9 overall and 3-4 in Big Ten play. Maryland leads the all-time series between the two teams 7-6.

Men's Tennis

Ohio State will host and participate in a four-team tournament this weekend as part of the nation-wide Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff weekend. The Buckeyes will take on VCU as they look to improve to 4-0 on the season. The winner of that game will take on the winner of Arkansas and Cornell for the Kickoff weekend title the following day.

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