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Buckeye Bits: College basketball could start Nov. 25, Dwayne Haskins is QB1, more

All of the latest Ohio State news from around the beat and beyond.

By Tia Johnston
Illinois v Ohio State Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images

I’m going to begin today’s Buckeye Bits with a quick Public Service Announcement, if you don’t mind. Just because a sports reporter is not promoting the reports about the football season that come from this “Big Ten source” and that “anonymous coach” does not mean they are against a football season. The college football writer, who is paid to write about college football (!!!), is not rooting for college football to be cancelled! The amount of tweets along my timeline accusing credible reporters (who only report factual information and who have yet to steer us wrong, might I add) of this is beyond me. You think Adam Schefter tweets out every single tip he gets from every single source? No way. If he were to report a false news report even one time, his credibility would decrease tenfold.

I know that it’s tempting to believe every report you come across, especially when its what you want to hear, the tweet has thousands of retweets, and the words “per source” are used, however, if the “reporter” follows his or her “breaking news” tweet with “please hire me @BarstoolSports,” there’s a solid chance he or she is not someone you can rely on to report factual information.

That’s all I got! And speaking of factual information, let’s jump into today’s headlines.

From around Land-Grant Holy Land...

BOOOM! 2022 tight end Bennett Christian commits to Ohio State

Gene Ross, LGHL

As expected, three-star tight end Bennett Christian committed to THE Ohio State University Wednesday night, making him the sixth member of the Buckeyes’ 2022 class. Christian is the No. 19 TE in the class and the No. 370 player in the nation overall. Check out Birm of Lettermen Row’s analysis on what Christian’s commitment means for OSU both on the field and in the recruiting rankings here.

There will be a 2020 Ohio State Football season at Land-Grant Holy Land

George Eisner, LGHL

Fear not, LGHL reader, our own George Eisner has figured out how to make an Ohio State season happen virtually! Now, I have absolutely no idea how he is making this happen, nor have I ever played the video game, so here’s the gist, according to George:

“I dug up my copy of NCAA Football 14 — the last college football video game ever made (for now) — installed a 2020 roster update, tweaked the sliders to reflect as close to an authentic college football viewing experience as possible, and set up a channel to stream it on.”

We’re going to have game previews, live tweets— the works! Be sure you’re following our Twitch channel LandGrantHolyLand, along with our Twitter account for updates throughout the season. Our first stream will be live at noon ET this Saturday!

From around the gridiron...

Ohio State commits shine in high school season debuts

Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row

Okay, it’s not Ohio State football, but it’s as close as you’re gonna get to watching Buckeyes,—albeit future Buckeyes—play football in September. Now that high school football is underway, Holbrook will be recapping the best performances from Ohio State commits and targets throughout the season over at Lettermen Row.

Haskell’s “recovery is going well.”

Garrett was released from the hospital on Monday after he suffered a “through and through gunshot wound to the cheeks in his face,” according to police.

The Buckeye defensive tackle was walking toward Chittenden and Grant Avenue when he saw a man and a woman “arguing and being aggressive.” Garrett told police that he tried to intervene before the man turned toward Garrett, pulled out a handgun and shot him in the face. The suspect has not been identified.

Ya love to see it.

Haskins will start week one of the NFL season after beating out veteran Alex Smith for the job. I live in Philadelphia, but I might have to root for Haskins, Terry McLaurin and Chase Young just a smidge this season (as long as they’re not playing the Eagles).

When will it end?

How can one “B1G source” say that the government is supplying tests, football will be back in October and all is right in the world, while another “B1G source” is saying that none of the above is true? If they’re both “B1G sources” wouldn’t they be reporting the same thing???

And I don’t even want to shed light on this one but...

Teams have been practicing since the season was cancelled. I’ll leave it at that.

Believe me, if all of these crazy reports and rumors about Big Ten football starting in October, the government sending supplies, etc. prove to be true, no one will be happier than yours truly. Until then, however, I will continue on with my skepticism.

From around the hardwood...

A credible reporter!

And whaddyaknow—It’s true! The NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committee plans to propose a Nov. 25 start date for the 2020 college basketball season, and the vote of approval will take place on Sept. 16, according to The Athletic’s Dana O’Neil. Ohio State’s season opener was initially scheduled for Nov. 11.

Chris Holtmann and his team are “ecstatic” over this “potential” start date.

However, as Dan Hope of Eleven Warriors writes, we should take this news with a grain of salt considering the Big Ten canceled the season six days after releasing its schedule. It’s 2020 and literally anything could happen. The good news is, the NCAA holds the reins for basketball’s national championship tournament, meaning all the conferences should be on the same page/timeframe for the college basketball season.

Basketball Bucks commits’ movements in the updated top-150 rankings:

From everywhere else...

The NCAA will furlough its entire staff (about 600 employees) for three to eight weeks in a cost-saving move. And THAT’S why the 2021 NCAA Tournament is more than likely going to happen.

Ummmm

Well Kirk, I don’t think your wife and kids would agree with you on this one.

“Loofah mandates”

This is an incredibly well-researched, eye opening story and I highly recommend you read it. I have never been part of a collegiate athletic program, and I understand that as athletes, they represent their team and their school, but some of these rules can’t possibly be ethical, right? For example:

Tennis teams — which have a disproportionately large number of international students — were most likely to explicitly restrict the speaking of foreign languages. Of the six rulebooks we encountered with some kind of English-only provision, five were from tennis squads.

EXCUSE ME??

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