Skull Session: Larry Johnson is The King of the Past Decade, Gee Scott Jr. is Making Plays at Tight End, and Women's Hoops is Still Stacked

The Ohio State synchronized swimming team won another natty yesterday, so it's time to drag out my favorite stat once again.

The Buckeye synchro team wins national championships at a better rate (.750) than the football team does games (.731). They now have 33 titles in 44 tries.

Song of the Day: Sagacious.

PASS RUSHER U. It's been a minute since Ohio State's had an absolutely elite pass rusher (well, it's been two years. but that feels like an eternity when you were cranking out a top-five pick like every other year).

But Larry Johnson has still been the unquestioned king of the last decade.

pic.twitter.com/udF4vQ1XVw
— Larry A. Johnson (@R2X_Rushmen1) March 26, 2022

So, Ohio State has had more than half of the top-five pass rushers of the past decade, including the best one. And there are a couple of guys on the current roster who probably expect to be in this category when all is said and done.

I don't know how many years Larry Johnson's got left in him, but regardless, I'd be willing to bet in a couple of years the Buckeyes have another high first-round pick (or two) from the defensive line and all will be right with the world.

GEE SCOTT JR., TIGHT END. The good news is, Gee Scott Jr. is now officially tight end sized. The better news is, he's still moving like a wide receiver and cooking defensive backs even with that extra 30 pounds.

This is how Gee Scott is moving at 235 lbs pic.twitter.com/7EgkwiMtWY
— The Victory Bell (@VictoryBellOSU) March 26, 2022

And that's a different play from this one:

Tight Ends in the end zone!!?? This is going to be interesting https://t.co/2PVmWYHNJH
— Gee Scott Jr. (@Geescottjr) March 25, 2022

So Ohio State might just have itself a new red zone target, which is cool since the Bucks definitely didn't already have several of those.

I have no idea how much Scott will be featured in the offense this season, but I do know that a guy that's 6-foot-3, 235 pounds a runs and plays like a wide receiver is a hypothetical matchup disaster, so thoughts and prayers to the defenses that have to figure that out on top of *gestures vaguely towards the rest of Ohio State's offense*.

JUST THE BEGINNING. The Ohio State women's hoops team won the Big Ten regular season title and was a possession or two away from advancing to its first Elite Eight since 1993 (before I was born, mind you). And it all came after losing its starting point guard a couple of days before the start of the season.

It's safe to say they exceeded expectations. And the good news is, they're set to run it back next year.

Much of their core, including their top three scorers in guards Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Mikesell and forward Rebeka Mikulasikova, could return next season.

Sheldon and Mikulasikova are juniors, while Mikesell, a senior who transferred from Oregon, has a remaining season of eligibility given to all players as a result of the pandemic.

...

Though she did not participate in senior day festivities with Tanaya Beacham and Braxtin Miller last month, Mikesell remains undecided about a return and said after Friday’s loss that she would take a couple of weeks before making up her mind.

She didn’t mention if she was leaning in any direction, but relished her first season with the Buckeyes.

“I would say this is the best decision that I made, coming here,” Mikesell said.

Let's take a look at what that means. by the numbers:

Sheldon led the team with 19.7 points and 4.2 assists per game this season and was first-team All-Big Ten
Mikesell averaged 18.6 points per game and was second in the nation in three-pointers and three-point shooting percentage. She was also first-team All-Big Ten.
Mikulasikova averaged 9.4 points per game and led the team with five rebounds per game.

And this doesn't even include former starting point guard Madison Greene, who missed the entire season with a knee injury after averaging 13.4 points and a team-high 4.3 assists per game last season.

Needless to say, this team could be absolutely stacked next year, and I've here for it.

THIEVES. I never really imagined I'd be mad online about women's college hockey, but that was before Sophie Jaques got absolutely robbed in broad daylight.

Congratulations to Taylor Heise of @GopherWHockey on winning the 2022 Patty Kazmaier Award! #NCAAHockey pic.twitter.com/nuKvoPjmkD
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) March 26, 2022

Taylor Heise led the nation with 66 points this season, so I'm not out here slandering her. But Jaques was third in the nation with 59 – as a defender. And a damn good defender, at that.

Let's take a look at that top-20, and take a gander at those positions.

There wasn't a better all-around player in the country. Nobody else even came close.

If you're going to just blindly give the award to the league's highest scorer, just call it the scoring title. But miss me with that "top player in women's college hockey" drivel.

Oh well. At the end of the day, she got the natty. And that's what matters.

SONG OF THE DAY. "My Hero" by Foo Fighters.