Skull Session: Caleb Downs and Quinshon Judkins Shed Their Black Stripes, Larry Johnson is “Chasing Greatness” and Columbus Makes a Bid For Future Big Ten Hoops Tournaments

By Chase Brown on March 27, 2024 at 5:00 am
Caleb Downs Black Stripe
X/@OhioStateFB
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Welcome to the Skull Session.

Ohio State men's basketball fought to the end.

Have a good Wednesday.

 “WOULDN’T WANT TO BE NOWHERE ELSE.” On Tuesday, Alabama transfer Caleb Downs and Ole Miss transfer Quinshon Judkins shed their black stripes after six practices with the Buckeyes.

But...

But...

People with sources told me Downs wants to transfer back to Alabama!

People with sources told me Judkins wants to transfer back to Ole Miss!

“I appreciate y'all accepting me here,” Downs told his teammates after Ohio State assistant C.J. Barnett introduced him. “I'm glad to be here. I wouldn't want to be nowhere else. Go Bucks.”

Sounds like someone on Transfer Watch to me!

“Aye, y'all, I appreciate everybody getting me better, bro. I couldn't do it without y'all,“ Judkins said when he accepted his scarlet stripe. “I'm happy to be in the best place in America, bro. Go Bucks.”

That man wants out!

By all accounts, those two narratives — which X accounts with no sources or reputation for credible information created and pushed — could not be further from the truth.

Never fall for their bait.

They are snake oil salesman.

All of them.

 THEY'RE BACK! At the start of their Ohio State careers, JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer expected to leave for the NFL after three seasons, becoming first-round picks and earning millions of dollars from their professional contracts.

That's not how it worked out.

Instead, Tuimoloau and Sawyer spent three seasons at Ohio State, and when awarded the choice to leave for the NFL, the standout defensive ends decided to return for another year with the Buckeyes. Their Silver Bullet teammates – Tyleik Williams, Ty Hamilton, Cody Simon, Denzel Burke, Jordan Hancock and Lathan Ransom – chose to do the same.

“I think it’s awesome,” Johnson said of Tuimoloau and Sawyer's return to Columbus. “It speaks volumes about the kids and their families. It really talks about what they believe. The brotherhood and the culture of the program is really the reason they came back.”

In 2023, Tuimoloau collected 38 tackles, seven tackles for loss, five sacks and two pass breakups across 13 appearances, earning his second first-team All-Big Ten honor. Sawyer had a late-season breakout and ended the year with 48 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, including three in Ohio State's Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri.

“I think the biggest thing they’re doing is chasing greatness right now, being the best player they can be in college football,” Johnson said. “That’s what they want. Win a national championship. Beat the 'Team Up North.' Those are all great goals to chase. ... You’re a three-year player and go to the NFL. You might think you’re ready. But when you’ve got four years under your belt, you’ve got your toolbox ready to go. Every day, we’re working on the small pieces to make them elite players.”

The Buckeyes’ defensive line should be among the best in America in 2024.

Even still, Johnson will coach like he has something to prove.

“I’m not chasing money," he said. "I’m not chasing anything. I’m chasing greatness with my players. They have a chance to be really special, and that’s what’s important.”

Oh, and even at 72 years old, Johnson has no plans to retire. When he does, he'll be real with his fellow coaches, his players and Buckeye Nation.

“Every year it’s asked,” he said. “I’ve been really honest and truthful about that. I’m not going to recruit a guy and bring him here and then take off. That’s just not part of my DNA. That’s not my character.”

And that's why he's THE GOAT! ... THE GOAT!

 TIME TO FLEX THE MUSCLE? For decades, Ohio State has been a major player in the Big Ten. Now, its home city wants to attract one of the league’s premier events.

According to Nathan Baird of cleveland.com, Columbus has submitted a bid to host the 2025 and/or 2026 Big Ten men’s basketball tournament at Nationwide Arena.

The conference accepted bids for the 2025-28 men’s and women’s tournaments with a deadline of last October. Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told Baird that at least five other cities have submitted proposals for the current bid cycle:

  • Chicago and Indianapolis, both consistent hosts throughout the men’s and women’s tournament histories;
  • Minneapolis, which hosted the past two women’s tournaments and the 2024 men’s tournament;
  • Detroit, which like Columbus would be a prospective first-time host;
  • and Las Vegas, which reflects the conference’s westward expansion as Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington join later this year.

Smith said he and the Big Ten's other 17 athletic directors have not yet discussed the potential sites. Scott Markley, the conference’s vice president for strategic communications, told Baird that the Big Ten will recommend a site to the athletic directors after it assesses the six RFPs (requests for proposals). The conference's Council of Presidents/Chancellors makes the final decision.

Columbus has hosted the Big Ten baseball tournament nine times and conference championship events that rotate through the member schools. However, Columbus has never hosted one of the league’s three marquee events in football, men’s basketball, or women’s basketball. The same can be said for Cleveland and Cincinnati, two of the state's other prominent cities.

Smith believes Columbus is better positioned than ever to host such an event.

“It’s a great city,” he said. “We’ve got the hotels now. When we first bid on the women’s Final Four, we didn’t really have all the hotels, and then the Hilton went up. ... I just think we’re ready now to host these types of things.”

Sports Business Journal’s second annual ranking of the best sports cities for event hosting placed Columbus 10th. Potential competitor cities for hosting the Big Ten tournaments, Las Vegas and Indianapolis, ranked second and fifth.

The Big Ten considers Indianapolis a natural site for the conference's championship events due to its central geographic location and the compact footprint around its arenas, with clustered hotels and restaurants.

CEO and president of the Greater Columbus Sports Commission, Linda Logan, said Columbus could make a similar assertion thanks to improvements in the Arena District surrounding Nationwide.

“The fact that the city has grown more hotel products makes it more attractive,” Logan said. “We’re also very collaborative as a community, so there are a lot of things for people to do who may have not been to Columbus in a long time.”

Oh, yeah. It's all coming together.

In all seriousness, Columbus has Nationwide Arena, a 19,500-seat basketball venue, and the Schottenstein Center, a 19,000-seat basketball venue. Which cities in the Big Ten footprint have facilities that can match that? The number is lowwwww.

Bring the Big Ten Tournament to Columbus, and let this city come out to support!

 GET READ FOR ROUND 2. Brace yourselves, Buckeye Nation. Another development company has placed the Bier Stube in its crosshairs.

On Tuesday, Harbor Bay Ventures proposed a high-rise apartment building at North High Street and West Ninth Avenue, a few blocks from Ohio State’s campus and the current site of multiple small businesses, including the Bier Stube. The storied dive bar – a favorite among Buckeyes students and alumni – is one of the last 20th-century holdouts in an area under rapid development.

Bier Stube
The property of the Bier Stube is a planned site for redevelopment. (Brooke LaValley/Columbus Dispatch)

According to Harbor Bay's proposal, the developer would replace the Bier Stube, 14-0 Express carryout, Portofino’s Pizza and Yau’s Chinese Bistro with a 15-story, 219-unit tower made of mass timber.

Harbor Bay has also acquired the 13 rental properties west of the site on West Ninth Avenue. In its conceptual application to the University Impact District Review Board, the developer proposed that the 15-story building would ensure “the preservation of those units.”

Preservation is an ironic word choice for a developer who wishes to end the preservation of campus culture!

Harbor Bay's conceptual renderings show studios, two-bedroom, three-bedroom and four-bedroom units in the proposed high-rise. The developer would market the apartments to Ohio State students. The building could serve up to 500 tenants.

The proposal is the second such pitch to remove the Bier Stube (and its surrounding properties) in recent years. In March 2023, Buckeye Real Estate earned approval from the University Area Commission to build a six-story, 95-unit building there. However, the proposal never earned approval from Columbus City Council.

According to its website, Harbor Bay’s Ohio debut opened to renters in 2022, a mid-rise V-shaped complex across from the West Side Market in Cleveland. The developer touts the building as “America’s largest mass timber project.” Studio apartments currently start at $1,510, a super reasonable price for broke college students!

All of that said, I have a message for Harbor Bay – one I am sure we can all agree on: SAVE THE STUBE.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “Never Say Never” - The Fray.

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