Friday goals: Walk into your boss' office this morning and tell them you have a haircut at 4 p.m. and will have to leave the office at 11.
Commit watch: Four-star 2018 power forward Marcus Bingham of Grand Rapids, MI. will reportedly announce his college commitment at high noon. New Buckeye coach Chris Holtmann targeted him at Butler, and he has an Ohio State offer.
It'd obviously be a nice upswing for hoops recruiting, but as the experts say, "Only time will tell."
Also, please don't let your friends pay for the Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather fight because blood from McGregor's death will be on their hands:
Mayweather and McGregor training videos from today side by side. pic.twitter.com/cAJDPy9Dwn
— BlackSportsOnline (@BSO) June 29, 2017
ICYMI:
- Observations from Day 1 of The Opening Finals in Oregon. Be sure to follow 11W Director of Recruiting Andrew Lind on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates from Nike HQ.
- Five Swings: The five greatest comebacks in Buckeye football history.
- Ohio State decommits since 2014: Where are they now?
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Croupier.
MILLER BOUNCE BACK. Injuries shortened Braxton Miller's rookie 2016 season with the Houston Texans. Now fully healthy entering 2017 training camp season, the Texans still sound enamored of his rare mix of size and speed.
They also want to work him in the slot.
From chron.com:
The Texans are upbeat about Miller's potential as a larger slot receiver at 6-1, 205 pounds.
“He has the quickness and the speed that you’re looking for in there," Texans receivers coach John Perry said. "The thing that’s really intriguing is that he’s generally a larger guy than most slot receivers, but he does have that quickness and speed to go along with that. That’s something that’s really valuable and gives him options to play on the outside and do those things, too. He’s fighting to try to get on the field in a lot of different ways.”
I'm smart enough to realize Miller doesn't start in the slot on the only touchdown of his career, but he still shows everything coaches see in him while working that area of the field:
All on Miller's health at this point. As we saw with Devin Smith, it's a swift exit from the NFL without it.
HYDE COMEBACK? Carlos Hyde will be coached in 2017 by the offensive coordinator that helped blow a 28-3 Super Bowl lead, which is an upgrade over being coached by the offensively frustrated Chip Kelly or a homeless mechanic like Jim Tomsula.
Kyle Shanahan has orchestrated competent running attacks in the past, though. It could mean big things for El Guapo's production—if he can stay healthy.
NFL Network names #49ers RB Carlos Hyde a player to watch in 2017 pic.twitter.com/DQjQfuyE0O
— Rob Lowder (@Rob_Lowder) June 27, 2017
From ninersnation.com:
Last season, Hyde’s highest carries total was 22 against the Arizona Cardinals, with six receptions. The 30 number is kind of arbitrary, particularly in this day and age of complementary players, but the issue is just how busy will Hyde be. Hightower averaged ten touches per game last season, and I suspect we see something similar with him in games where Hyde is healthy.
Best of luck to Hyde. They just don't make many backs like him anymore.
PLEASE WOODY, LET IT HAPPEN. The nice benefit to the anxiety of being involved in a century-old rivalry between two Midwest factions is a win against Michigan can salvage worthwhile dignity from the worst case scenario of any Ohio State season.
Urban Meyer led away in cuffs by the FBI. J.T. Barrett winning a Heisman at Texas. Mickey Marotti surviving by posting YouTube strength training videos from a country assumably without an extradition treaty with the United States.
It wouldn't matter (as much) as long as the season ends with a ceremonial dumping of Michigan.
Fortunately, Michigan fans aren't too familiar with the converse. But Harbaugh will definitely face backlash if he loses at home to Ohio State.
From espn.com (emphasis mine):
Thanksgiving weekend is a loaded cornucopia of worthwhile trips. It's hard to go wrong with the end-of-year Big Ten rivalry games, but it's impossible to pass on The Game. Last season's meeting went into double overtime and tipped in Ohio State's favor on a controversial fourth-down conversion. For all the tangible progress he's made in two season, Jim Harbaugh has yet to beat the Buckeyes. The only coach to ever start his Michigan career 0-3 against the school's biggest rival is Rich Rodriguez. So, though no one in maize and blue will be ready to run him out of town anytime soon, the pressure to win this year's meeting at the Big House will be significant.
There would be good memes. There would be bad memes that are so bad they switch to good.
What would Michigan be paying Harbaugh for at that point? He's only worth an extravagant salary if he's beating Ohio State and winning conference and national championships.
MEET A BUCKEYE LEGEND. Don't look now, but we're less than a month away from Big Ten media days. The conference announced Thursday that Ohio State legend Tom Cousineau will attend the annual luncheon and be available for autographs for fans in attendance.
From the B1G:
ROSEMONT, Ill. – College Football Hall of Fame inductees Tom Cousineau of Ohio State and Tim Krumrie of Wisconsin will be in attendance at the 2017 Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon. The former standouts will be available for autographs and take part in a group interview at the 46th annual event, which will be held on Tuesday, July 25, at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.
The action kicks off at 10 a.m. CT with an opportunity to get autographs from Cousineau, Krumrie and all 14 coaches and hear interviews with the conference's top returning players.
Individual tickets and full tables are now on sale at bigten.org. Tickets start at $110 with a table for 10 fetching $1,100. My accountant lists me as doubtful for the event.
WHICH ONE IS HE? If you could spare a moment today, put a prayer or thought into the air for the future non-NFL players drawn into a blocking assignment against 2018 five-star Georgia defensive end (and Ohio State commit) Brenton Cox.
From Rivals reporter Chad Simmons:
I watched #OhioSt commit #Rivals100 DE Brenton Cox @Brenton_cox Wednesday and he was impressive. #GoBucks @Kevin_Noon @MarcGivlerBG pic.twitter.com/PUd0lfwRnJ
— Chad Simmons (@ChadSimmons_) June 29, 2017
For more on Cox, check out Lind's impact piece from April. I don't get excited about recruits often (prove it, #teen!) but it would disappoint me if he landed elsewhere. Like Solomon Thomas, he seems destined for greatness.
#TEENS DON'T KNOW SHIT. One reason Urban Meyer erected a recruiting machine with a budget of nearly a million dollars is because these #teens have a memory like fish and must be repeatedly reminded of Ohio State's historical greatness.
Troy Smith slinging the ol' pigskin to Ted Ginn might seem like just yesterday to us, but they might as well be 18th-century ghosts to 2018 recruits.
From Bud Elliott of sbnation.com:
First, I was chatting up the college position coach of an All-Pro linebacker and made the comment that it has to help him in recruiting. Surprisingly, he said not much.
“They don’t know shit,” he said of current recruits. “And I don’t think they read about the past greats, or watch replays of them like we did, either. They don’t watch as many games going on now, either. If we don’t tell them, they don’t know.”
Some recruits, like five-star linebacker Shane Lee, have told us that they don’t even watch current football on TV.
At least most of them are old enough to remember 2014. Most schools, including a couple fans swear are still relevant, don't have that luxury.
Recruits were not born when Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, or Tennessee last won a national title.
[...]
They are too young to remember watching Oklahoma, Miami, and USC win titles.
That USC one stung only because I'm old enough to remember when it seemed Pete Carroll and USC would never lose another big game, which means I might as well be dead.
Good knowledge to carry forth into the day.
THOSE WMDs. China's mistress-dispellers... My father's fashion tips... Ireland's County Donegal... John Misty's quest to explain himself... Nazi memorabilia discovered in Argentina.
