Skull Session: Duane Washington Remembers Uncle Kobe, Shaun Wade Battled Injuries This Season, and Al Washington Praises Baron Browning's Versatility

It's game day, and the Buckeyes are gonna look CLEAN.

Ask and you shall receive

Well be wearing these classics tomorrow night vs Penn State as voted on by you! https://t.co/DPUsyPNGzc pic.twitter.com/ph2NJGTz2P
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) January 26, 2021

Thank you all for choosing correctly. I knew you could do it.

Word of the Day: Waylay.

UNCLE KOBE. It's officially been more than a year since one of the wildest and most stunning events I can recall in my life rocked the sports world.

At this point, I've had a year to digest the fact that Kobe Bryant was suddenly killed in a helicopter crash, and it still feels totally surreal. I can't imagine how that feels for someone like Duane Washington, who knew him well enough to call him Uncle Kobe.

Duane Washington Jr. (@dwizthekid4) is the nephew of five-time @Lakers champ Derek Fisher.

The @OhioStateHoops G not only knew Kobe, but he'd call him "Uncle Kobe."

"I didn't have too much time with him, but the time I had was not even about basketball."#MambaForever pic.twitter.com/LGlV2tI8CW
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 26, 2021

Here's hoping Duane does his best Mamba impression tonight. If he wants to drop 60, I won't be mad.

FIGHTING THROUGH PAIN? I think it's fair to say that Shaun Wade's return to Ohio State did not go the way anybody had hoped.

Wade came back to prove he could play corner and to bolster his draft stock, and by the end of the season, he had done literally the opposite – nobody on the planet believes he can play corner, and his draft stock is now shakier than it's ever been.

It was a rough season, but it turns out, we may not have known the whole story.

Shaun had major surgery before the season & having another surgery on something different now.He went thru season in pain.. No one knows it's so funny sometimes I wish he would have said f. it! But he did the best he could in pain. He will play numerous positions on next level!
— Randy L Wade% f@Ly..... (@gslsff) January 26, 2021

This would make some sense as to how he could go from looking like one of the best and most versatile defensive backs in the country to looking like a guy who's never even attempted to cover a wide receiver in his life.

I genuinely have no idea how much his health impacted his play, but I earnestly hope his NFL career fares better than his final season at Ohio State.

BARON'S VERSATILITY. Between his run-stuffing, coverage skills, and pass-rushing at multiple linebackers positions, Baron Browning might be one of the most complete linebackers in the NFL draft, and Al Washington's gonna make sure everyone knows it.

At a high level he has played in space, in the box, blitzed inside|outside, rushed the passer and covered man to man. You ask him to do the job and he will do the job. Character through the roof and the ultimate team player. One of most versatile LBs in draft. #H2 https://t.co/jk1mkR69um
— Al Washington (@CoachWash56) January 26, 2021

Browning might just go down as one of the most underappreciated Ohio State players in recent memory, especially if he's as successful in the NFL as I think he could be.

The dude was a versatile beast throughout his Buckeye career, he just always played in a loaded linebackers room full of players older and more inexperienced than him. Here's hoping he finds himself a solid NFL home.

PANDEMIC THINGS. Today in "imagine reading this sentence a year ago"...

The Ohio State men’s gymnastics team has adjusted its schedule and will host a virtual meet against Navy on Saturday, Jan. 30 at noon inside the Covelli Center. Navy will be competing from Annapolis, Md.

But the funniest part is, this actually makes complete sense for this sport even if there wasn't a global pandemic. Do these teams really need to be in the same location for their athletes to all do a bunch of separate events and add their scores together?

I'd say there are strong odds we see this happening in the future even when the Very Bad Virus is no longer a concern, cause this would save... a lot of money.

SONG OF THE DAY. "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister.