This Week in Twitter: OSU Football Calls for Walk-On Tryouts, Ladies Put a Bow on March Madness and Bye-Bye to More Black Stripes

By 11W Staff on April 8, 2023 at 2:35 pm
Nate Ebner and Reid Fragel of The Ohio State Buckeyes
Nate Ebner (left) and Reid Fragel (right)
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This Week in Twitter is a look at some of the week's best and most entertaining tweets from Buckeyeland and beyond.

The postseason has already set in for several winter sports, but women across the Ohio State athletics landscape still remain very much in the spotlight. For example, Sophie Jaques had the honor of doing the puck drop at the Columbus Blue Jackets game last Sunday, where she was conversely honored for her Kazmaier Award win this past season.

While Jaques prepared to hit the ice as a guest of honor rather than for a line change, Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes women's basketball team were well into their championship battle with Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers. The matchup generated plenty of controversy both during and after the game, reflected by thoughts from standout Buckeye freshman Cotie McMahon on the abundance of quick whistles.

Route Man Marv didn't seem as bothered, given he had so much fun watching Clark hoist up shots from beyond the arc.

Onto the next evening, Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a good week of press ahead of the NFL Draft that kicked off with getting to see his brother Canaan bat-in his first career runner as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

JSN also did a brief feature with NFL Network later in the week.

Smith-Njigba was not the only Buckeye poised for the draft to get some positive time with the media this week, as Paris Johnson did a roughly three-and-a-half-minute segment with Good Morning Football on Tuesday.

With so much Ohio State talent heading for the NFL, director of recruiting strategy Nick Murphy felt compelled to call out to the Buckeye student body this week for walk-on considerations. The next Terry Glenn or Nate Ebner could only be a tryout away!

However, aspiring special teamers may have to limit their dreams to gunner or protection duty, because there appears to be no shortage of kicker talent available already and Parker Lewis (still) can't lose.

As for the players on the team that don't share a likeness with early ’90s sitcom characters, Jim Knowles seems to be hinting at the refined progression of several players within the Buckeye secondary — a welcome development for fans and teammates alike.

Several newer faces on the squad also lost their black stripes at practice this week, including:

  • QB Tristian Gebbia, #14
  • OG Quinton Burke, #64
  • RB Chase Brecht, #34
  • TE Jelani Thurman, #15
  • S Malik Hartford, #25

Ryan Shazier announced he will be on campus next Wednesday to discuss the full scope of managing NIL opportunities with student-athletes at the university. Given the current season, promotion of financial literacy and responsibility seem like charitable endeavors, even if they come with sponsorship hashtags.

Also on the subject of NIL, Bruce Thornton will be attending a Spring Festival at the Schottenstein Center on the evening of April 20th along with three other members of the most recent Buckeye men's basketball team and Wooden Award winner Evan Turner.

Finally, This Week in Twitter concludes with an appearance from returning Buckeye women's hoopers Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Thierry on Good Morning Columbus from earlier today.

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