Today's Skull Session is dedicated to Pitsburg Pizza & Grill in Darke County.
ICYMI:
- Synchronized swimming captured its 30th national title.
- Schott attendance continues to dip as Ohio State struggles on the court.
- Emory Jones, No. 1 2018 dual-threat QB and Ohio State commit, visited Alabama.
- Recapping the women's basketball season, which ended with a Big Ten title and Sweet 16 exit.
- Indiana hired Dayton's Archie Miller. (From the Dayton Daily News: Behind the scenes on Miller's road to Indiana.)
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Aver.
TALENTED #TEEN TALKS LIFE CHOICES. As mentioned above, Emory Jones, 2018's No. 1 dual-threat quarterback and Ohio State commit, visited the dastardly den of Alabama football over the weekend.
A commit visiting an SEC campus is always a dicey proposition for fans. You never know what entrepreneurial opportunities await.
Thankfully for Buckeye fans, Ohio State didn't appear far from his mind afterward.
From al.com:
"[Braxton Miller] is who I looked up to, that's who I wanted to be," said Jones, rated the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the 2018 recruiting class in the 247Sports composite rankings.
[...]
"I fell in love with the school," said Jones, who is interested in majoring in business finance, sports management, film or photography. "I believe in Urban Meyer and his philosophy... He prepares his players to be great in the future, and great men.
"If (I didn't play) football, I believe that would be the school I'd want to go to."
Jones also revealed he took some visits to Auburn "nobody knew about," so it seems like the entire state of Alabama is trying to torpedo the future prospects of Ohio State football.
Alas, his potential major list of "finance, sports management, film or photography" is perfect. If Jones is serious about school, Ohio State won't lose sleep over him comparing its academic credentials with Alabama or Auburn.
[For the latest on Ohio State's big visitors weekend, check out last night's Hurry Up.]
WELCOME TO THE OTHERSIDE, DOLO. A little over two years ago, Cardale Jones went from third-string quarterback to Buckeye Immortal in 30 days.
Unfortunately for him, athletes' eras are finite in Columbus. The one-time signal caller is now relegated to the couch like the rest of us herbs.
And like us, the Iron King has #takes on the local offense.
From theozone.net:
"Just put up some points, man," he said. "Let’s just see some excitement and go back to what we used to do."
That lack of excitement a year ago was a source of frustration for Jones just as it was for the fans at home and in the stadium. How much yelling did he do last season?
"I’m pretty sure just like the average fan because you think you’re a coach at home on your couch and you think you’ve got all of the answers, but you never know what goes on in a play caller’s shoes," he said diplomatically.
"Just put up some points, man." That's what I was mumbling by the third quarter of the Fiesta Bowl. It's also a helluva rallying cry for the 2017 season.
Just put up some points, man.
MAKES YOU THINK. Emory Jones isn't the first elite football prospect to weigh the balance of academics and football. Myles Garrett did too.
As a five-star defensive end prospect in 2014, the Arlington, Texas, product pondered an Ohio State football offer and how it could allow him to study dinosaurs.
From cleveland.com:
Ohio State's School of Earth Sciences is a fine place for an undergrad to lay the groundwork for a career in paleontology, the study of what fossils tell scientists about the past. Ohio State also features a highly respected graduate school for future paleontologists.
So when Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin was asked to recount Garrett's recruitment before the Aggies' bowl game in December, he saw Garrett smiling off to the side of the room. That's because both knew the story of what Garrett initially wanted to do.
"He knows what I know, that he wanted to go somewhere else early," Sumlin said in that news conference. "But we had to convince him that A&M was the best place for him. ... I've got my side of it and he's got his side. I think we had a lot of work to do, early, with him."
Ohio State landed Jalyn Holmes and Sam Hubbard in that class. They aren't projected No. 1 picks (yet, anyway), but they ain't stiffs, either.
Still, Myles probably dodged a bullet. Studying paleontology must be a lot like studying astronomy. You think it's all mystical; in reality, it's a bunch of dust and soul-crushing math.
(Myles majored in Global Arts, Planning, Design and Construction at A&M.)
EDSALL COMMITS LIGHT NEPOTISM. Randy Edsall, last seen getting fired after Ohio State waxed Maryland by 21 points in 2015, resurfaced this offseason as head coach at Connecticut.
He promptly hired his large adult son, Corey, as tight ends coach. That hiring is now subject to a UConn ethics investigation.
From courant.com:
The issue at hand is essentially whether Corey Edsall's employment, and the setup of father/son and coach/assistant, violate the Code of Ethics or even create that perception that it has potential to.
To that end, on March 9, the board asked its staff to prepare a formal advisory opinion to address those questions. UConn associate general counsel Nicole Fournier Gelston requested that petition be denied during the board's monthly meeting March 16, but the board voted 6-0 to go ahead with the formal opinion.
The board is to inform UConn during the next meeting, which will take place April 20, when the advisory opinion will be issued. The process could play out over months, and while UConn will operate with the belief that Corey Edsall's employment at UConn and the unique nature of his hiring is permissible, a delay in the finalization of Corey Edsall's contract is likely. Corey Edsall, who coaches tight ends, has agreed to a salary, and he is the lowest-paid coach on the staff.
Spencer Hall said it better than me:
Probably should happen way more than it does https://t.co/EWW8FgjGXq
— CONWAY TWEETY (@edsbs) March 26, 2017
THOSE WMDs. Going under the knife, with eyes and ears wide open... Michigan Man guilty in Seinfeld-esque can return scheme... 11 things you might not know about the Philly shopkeeper who helped win the Civil War (by counterfeiting)... Anatomy of a scam: A crime-fighting office became a victim... The secret Disney world you didn't know existed.
