The Drought is Over
Caleb Downs scores Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown since 2014.
Yesterday was Mother's Day and while many of us were enjoying brunch and showering our wives and/or mothers with gifts, Gary (Ind.) West Side's Lonnie Johnson topped us all by committing to become the 8th member of Ohio State's football class as a gift for his mother, Nora.
Johnson has speed in bunches and plans to play wide receiver for the Buckeyes. While there were discussions of academics holding up an offer from Ohio State, Johnson told us that wasn't the case. "The reports about my grades were not true," he said. "I just wasn't ready, and was going through some personal stuff."
Welcome to the show, Mr. Johnson.
In late-breaking news Sunday night, our own Jeremy Birmingham reported that former Texas commit Demetrius Knox will make an official visit to Ohio State for the Penn State game in October. That's a night game, so Meyer and his staff will be doing what they do best: selling an incredible atmosphere to an elite offensive lineman.
BIG HELP ON THE WAY? Per Jeff Goodman of CBS Sports, Tulane big Josh Davis will take an official visit to Columbus soon.
A 6-foot-8 forward, Davis has one season of eligibility remaining and would be able to play for Ohio State right away. He averaged 17.6 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the Green Wave last season, going off for 27 against Georgia Tech in the opener and 21 and 15 against Memphis in the Conference USA tournament.
Davis will also take visits to San Diego State and Gonzaga. Wherever he lands gets an instant upgrade.
In other basketball addition news, here's class of 2014 big man Dave Bell earning straight As on the height test next to former Buck Dallas Lauderdale.
BIG GAFFE BOB. Mere days after calling out the SEC's lack of top-to-bottom strength, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is back in the news with another round of curious comments.
Speaking to reporters about his concern with the yet to be determined selection committee for the College Football Playoff, Stoops circled back to his beef with Northern Illinois jumping his Sooners for a BCS bid last season:
"Going into the bowl games, Northern Illinois had one loss, we had two," Stoops said. "Theirs was to Iowa, right? Ours were to Notre Dame and K-State. And they're ranked ahead of us - well, they got the bid to the BCS bowl ahead of us."
Oh, Bob... When you go on to lose your bowl game 41-13, you kind of have to stop bringing that up.
BIG BUCKEYE WEEKEND. Several Ohio State teams had big weekends, led by the men's lacrosse team's 16-6 clubbing of Towson in their NCAA tournament opener and men's tennis going 2-0 to advance to the NCAA round of 16.
With the Big Ten Track & Field Championship in Columbus, the lacrosse team faced Towson at Ohio Stadium and made the most of their time in the Shoe, outscoring the Tigers 15-4 after falling behind 2-1 early. Ohio State, the nation's No. 3 team, will face Cornell Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ESPN2 will air the game live.
The tennis team did the lacrosse team one better by shutting out Cleveland State and Washington Friday and Saturday in Columbus. They've now won 23 in a row and will face Texas A&M Thursday at 5:00 p.m. at the Atkins Tennis Center at the University of Illinois. The Aggies beat the Buckeyes back in February, so revenge will be the order of the day.
Ohio State baseball entered their weekend series with No. 6 Oregon having won 10 of their last 12, but were swept by the Ducks in Columbus. This is a good Buckeye baseball team, but the three close losses proved there is still a gap between where they are and where they want to be.
Back to Track & Field, the men's team finished 6th at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships Sunday afternoon at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, thanks to senior Michael Hartfield's third-straight league crown in the long jump and a first in the triple jump, while freshman Billy Stanley set a Big Ten meet- and Ohio State school-record in the javelin with a throw of 75.23m. The ladies finished 3rd on their side of the Big Ten meet, earning titles in the 4x100 and long hurdles.
Finally, Roger Espinoza, star of the 2007 Ohio State men's soccer team that came within a goal of winning the national championship, became the first Honduran – and certainly the first Buckeye – to hoist the FA Cup, following Wigan's 1-0 upset of Manchester City Saturday. That's a pretty big deal.
Barry Walker: 1964-2013RIP, BARRY WALKER. Former Buckeye Barry Walker lost his battle with pancreatic cancer Friday.
Walker was a bit of a legend in Central Ohio during the early 80s when starred for Lancaster. He rushed for 1,129 yards as a senior despite asthma preventing him from playing entire games. He was named All-Ohio for his gridiron exploits.
He captured state titles in the shot put and discus, setting a state shot put record of 67' 10¾". Injuries plagued his Ohio State football career – his profile in the 1986 media guide, his senior season, said it best: "A seemingly endless series of injuries have kept this talented athlete from contributing as he can."
He was Mike D'Andrea before Mike D'Andrea was Mike D'Andrea.
Yet another reminder that nothing sucks quite as much as cancer does.
HELLO, JOY CHEEK. New women's basketball coach Kevin McGuff made his first significant hire, stealing up-and-comer Joy Cheek away from Duke, her alma mater:
I've thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Duke and now I'm looking forward to joining the Buckeyes! Heard Columbus loves its Buckeyes!
— Joy Cheek (@CoachJoy21) May 12, 2013
Cheek, a Maryland native, was a four-year letterwinner for the Blue Devils from 2007-10, starting all 36 games as a senior. She played briefly in the WNBA before returning to Duke to take a position on Joanne P. McCallie's staff in 2011.
She's part of the wave of smart, young, hard-working coaches that gets things like Twitter and will be an asset on the recruiting trail.
ETC. Tracy Sprinkle's prom attire was on point... Mississippi State's Dan Mullen sends a mother's day card to a recruit's mom. Sadly, it did not read "YOU BIRTHED A BALLER"... Penn State's Graham Spanier proves gross negligence pays... 50 rejected names for the College Football Playoff... Free ebooks from Ohio State... YES YES YES... Commander Chris Hadfield may be the greatest living Canadian... Oh, Ygritte, you're just the best.
