Skull Session: A Buckeye Basketball Bash, Darron Lee's Time to Shine and Terrelle Pryor's Pro Bowl Push

By Kevin Harrish on July 23, 2018 at 4:59 am
Evan Turner in a baseball jersey, for some reason.
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Folks, (talking about) football is finally here. Today is the start of Big Ten media days.

The four Buckeyes in attendance won't take the podium until Tuesday, but as always, we've got you covered from start to finish anyway. Be sure to follow @11W, @Dan_Hope, @JGrega11 and @AndrewMLind on Twitter for live updates from the Big Ten’s preseason media event.

ICYMI:

Word of the Day: Jocund.

 BUCKEYE BASKETBALL PARTY. Columbus played host to the TBT Midwest Regional this weekend, offering a chance for a what was essentially a Thad Matta all-star team to play in front of an arena of Buckeye fans once again.

The homecoming went as planned. The aptly named Scarlet & Gray rolled giving a crowd of former and current players, local fans and former head coach Thad Matta something to smile about. As Bill Landis describes it, it was a "Celebration of Buckeye basketball."

From Cleveland.com:

A kid wearing a Buckeye hat and an Aaron Craft jersey, who couldn't have been more than two years old the last time Sullinger or Craft played in front of an Ohio State crowd, stood up and mimicked pulling up a shooting sleeve on his left arm in celebration. Across the gym, a section of OSU students and current players like C.J. Jackson, Micah Potter, Kaleb and Andre Wesson and freshman Luther Muhammad jumped and screamed.

Courtside, Clark Kellogg and Michael Redd cheered. Up in a VIP box above the court, Thad Matta watched as one of the best players he ever coached did what he did so many times during his college career -- he got an Ohio State basketball party started.

"When we were running out I got chills playing in front of the home town again," Sullinger said after Scarlet & Gray beat the West Virginia Wildcats 99-68 to advance to the second round of the $2 million winner-take-all tournament.

For those of you not not following along, the Scarlet & Gray squad is absolutely stacked. I'm not sure this exactly A+ quality recruiting material for the hoops program, but I don't think any other school could put together an alumni group of overseas professional players like this to compete in this tournament.

You've got Jared Sullinger, Aaron Craft, Jon Diebler, William Buford, David Lighty, B.J. Mullens, Dallas Lauderdale, Evan Ravenel, and joining them next week is Greg Oden. That's a gas roster.

Also, the Elam Ending rules to this tournament are absolutely fantastic. I'll admit, I thought it was pretty bad and gimmicky at first, but it switched when I realized it led to game-winning alley oops instead of fouls and milking the clock.

10/10. Extremely good.

 PRO BOWL BOUND. Along with LeBron James, Terrelle Pryor is one of the most physically impressive humans my eyes have ever seen.

I never bet against him when he made the switch to receiver, and I'm not betting against him now as he begins his Pro Bowl campaign in what appears to be modest, enclosed suburban lawn.

I sincerely do not know why Pryor is working the jug machine in some fellow's extremely small, plain, fenced-in neighborhood yard as a small girl gambols about, but I am certain he will have multiple footballs thrown his way this season. If this location and training regimen helps him catch them, who am I to judge?

 DARRON LEE SEEKS MANIMAL FORM. Honestly, I thought all of Ohio State's 2015 first-rounders were can't-miss picks, but I was especially high on Darron Lee. I thought his rare combo of speed and strength would bring a new element to an NFL defense, like it did to Ohio State's.

Through two years, that's not really been the case. Lee hasn't been bad, but he hasn't quite been the dominant playmaker I expected.

From NJ.com:

The development of Lee. Time for him to take the next step, as he enters his third season. He hasn't played like a first-round pick so far. He hasn't been awful, but he needs to show more in 2018. Last season was a step forward from 2016, as he had two forced fumbles and three sacks. 

The Darron Lee I know could break games open nearly single-handedly as a defensive player with his playmaking ability, and that guy didn't just disappear. I predict he'll have a breakout season this year.

 FOOTBALL COMMUNITY LOSES ONE OF ITS OWN. The football community – professional and college – is tight knit, and it always stings when a member of that community is lost.

Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings announced that offensive line coach Tony Sparano died unexpectedly.

Sparano was former Buckeye center Pat Elflein's current position coach and as a head coach of the Miami Dolphins, drafted and coached former Buckeye receiver Brian Hartline.

 ROLL DAMN... TIGERS? This guy honestly thought it would be a solid idea to get an Alabama-themed cake to celebrate his marriage to an LSU fan.

My man, I have very little sympathy. You should have known something was up the second she agreed to put your favorite sports team's logo on a wedding cake.

Plus, as a die-hard loaner LSU fan for the next one or two seasons, I fully appreciate this troll and am 100 percent on team wife.

Geaux Jeaux.

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Prognosticating: Indiana

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