Own the group chat with The Weekender, highlighting the biggest stories in college sports, standout writing from Eleven Warriors, and a glance at what's next.
It's the End of the World (or Maybe Not)
Two NIL bombs hit the college sports world over the long NFL Draft weekend leading to exactly what you might think would happen: two sides formed up on Twitter and smarmily quote-tweeted each other.
Thursday night, Miami guard Isaiah Wong's agent said the quiet part out loud, telling ESPN his client would enter the transfer portal if Wong's family doesn't “feel that the NIL numbers meet their expectations.”
Wong, a two-time All-ACC player and fresh off leading the Hurricanes to the Elite Eight, had just seen billionaire Miami booster John Ruiz welcome transfer guard Nigel Pack from Kansas State with an $800,000 deal, and hey, figured that we are now in fact talking about free agency in the open.
Saturday, word broke that Pittsburgh wide receiver Jordan Addison was considering a transfer to USC. Addison is the reigning Biletnikoff winner, sending minor shockwaves out within the college football world, but there's more drama: ESPN's Pete Thamel said a Pitt source believes USC is engaged in tampering.
Never mind that Wong backed off his intention to enter the portal, or that Addison indicated he might remain at Pitt, college sports at the moment are wildly different than what most of us are used to.
The headlines and complaints from coaches will only get louder, so you can bet we'll have some sort of standard guidance and regulations soon. Until then, buckle up, and never forget that Mark Emmert and the NCAA saw this coming for nearly a decade, yet did nothing to get ahead of it.
Big Noon Urban
Urban Meyer is headed back to Fox Sports according to a report from Richard Dietsch of The Athletic.
Six months out from the Jacksonville Jaguars ending Meyer's first NFL season just 13 games in, he's set to return to the same network where he spent two years as a studio analyst after leaving Ohio State.
The thinking at Fox Sports, via network sources, is that they don’t view Meyer’s failure at the NFL level as an impediment to his returning to Fox. They know that the hire will be pilloried on social media. Meyer also had a 10-month broadcasting tenure at ESPN in 2011 which ended when he took the Ohio State job.
A deal has not been completed with Fox at the moment but is heading that way. Fox Sports declined comment on Saturday.
Meyer's NFL stint was anything but great, but his work at Fox, particularly on the network's “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show was informative and often entertaining, particularly when he roasted Michigan.
For Those About to March, We Salute You
For the first time in three years, Ohio State held public drum major tryouts at Lincoln Tower Field with junior Austin Bowman and senior Dalton Cararo selected to lead The Ohio State University Marching Band once again in 2022-23.
Bowman, a junior, returns as head drum major, while Cararo, a senior from Gahanna, was selected to serve a second year as assistant drum major.
We come across a lot of headshot photos here at Eleven Warriors, but we have to say that these are two of the more outstanding headshots we've ever seen.
“I’m really excited to have Austin and Dalton back for another year,” said Dr. Christopher Hoch, director of marching and athletic bands at Ohio State. “They were a tremendous team last year, and I know they’re going to be a tremendous team leading the band once again in 2022.”
Fun Gahanna fact: Dalton is the fourth drum major from the Columbus suburb in the last 30 years, joining head drum majors Brian Berendts (1992-93), Karl Neudorfer (1994-95), and Konner Barr (2018-19).
ICYMI
Brian Hartline Had Himself a Thursday Night
To college football coaches, beyond being a celebration of the accomplishments of your players, the NFL Draft is a giant recruiting promo, and you couldn't have written a better one for Ohio State passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline.
What's TreVeyon Henderson's Ceiling? We're About to Find Out
270 in a single game. 1,248 on the year. Freshman records obliterated. TreVeyon Henderson's 2022 season was one for the ages. What's TVH 2.0 going to look like?
Malaki Branham's NBA Departure Throws a Wrench
Ohio State has been planning for the potential departure of Malaki Branham for the past couple of months, but now that it's official, that plan will be put to the test.
What's Next
- Baseball: Wednesday, 6p @ Kent State; Friday 4p @ Northwestern; Saturday 3p @ Northwestern
- Men's Lacrosse: Wednesday, TBA vs. Rutgers (B1G semifinals)
- Softball: Friday, 6p @ Maryland; Saturday 2p @ Maryland
- Men's Tennis: Friday, TBA – NCAA Regional
- Football: September 3, TBA vs. Notre Dame
