Eleven Warriors

Burke is averaging 14.1 pts and 5.0 assists as a rookie

As you know, the Buckeyes take to the homecourt Sunday afternoon for a showdown against the Maize and Blue with 1st place in the conference standings on the line. The series has been extremely kind to Ohio State since Thad arrived in Columbus as the Buckeyes have posted a stellar 14-2 mark over the last 16 contests.

This year presents Michigan's best chance yet to finally figure out the Buckeyes with the backcourt of Columbus native Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. leading the charge. 

In prep for the Sunday tip, Dylan Burkhardt, orchestrator of the must read UMHoops.com, exchanged Q&A with me in an effort help fans get an educated glimpse at the respective dark sides. Let's see what Dylan has to say about the hated Wolverines. 

Trey Burke is the only true point guard on Michigan’s roster and Michigan fans don’t like to think about what this team would look like without him. Burke has not only run the team effectively, he’s Michigan’s second leading scorer and has been a playmaker in big games rather than just a game manager.

Burke is scoring 14.1 points per game while handing out five assists and grabbing almost four rebounds in a team high 34.9 minutes per night. On a team that features a sophomore scorer that was on many preseason All-Big Ten teams, Burke has emerged as the most important player on Michigan’s roster. Freshman moments have few and far between and he’s stepped up in big games, outplaying Jordan Taylor and scoring 20 points on 11 shots versus Michigan State.

Based on what you've seen, for one season only, would you take Burke or Craft to run your offense and why?

That’s a tough question. They are very different styles of point guards and seem to be better fits for their respective teams.

When you look at Michigan’s roster, it needs a shot taker or a high usage player that can create his own shot and create for others. Darius Morris took 25% of Michigan’s shots while he was on the floor last season and players like Stu Douglass or Zack Novak aren’t going to start attempting five or six more shots per game, it’s not their role. Tim Hardaway Jr. is really the only other player that’s comfortable in that high usage role in the Michigan offense. Burke has essentially shouldered the offensive workload and has proven extremely comfortable as the focal point of the Wolverine offense.

When you look at Ohio State, there are an abundance of high usage guys that need shots. You have Jared Sullinger in the post, Will Buford on the wing and Deshaun Thomas attacking the basket. There are only so many shots to go around and all of these guys need the ball in good spots. Aaron Craft is the perfect player for this role. He makes his teammates better and makes everyone else on the floor better. For comparison, Burke takes 25.6% of Michigan’s shots while he’s on the floor while Craft takes 13.6% of Ohio State’s shots.

This isn’t to say that Burke doesn’t make his teammates better, his assist rate is actually higher than Craft’s, or that Craft can’t score the ball, he has a higher offensive rating on the year. I’d also give the nod to Craft as the better defender at this point but Burke is plenty proficient on that end as well.

The debate will go on and on given the fact that Ohio State didn’t recruit Burke and it will be fun to watch both players go head to head.

Quan Muhammad just picked up an offer from OSU

Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, New Jersey (no relation to this guy), has been a national powerhouse in football for as long as I can remember. Growing up as a kid, I used to hear about the great players that went there, such as Ryan Grant, Matt Simms, Mike Teel, Brian Toal, Justin Trattou, and Corey Wootton, among others.

As good as some of those teams from the 90's and early 2000's were, and as talented as those players I just mentioned still are, the 2011 Don Bosco team may be the best there ever was. The reigning high school national champions feature an all-star cast of athletes, including seniors in the infamous Yuri Wright who just committed to Colorado, Elijah Shumate who is headed to Notre Dame, and maybe the best, Darius Hamilton, who appeared headed to Rutgers, but now with Greg Schiano's departure, Florida, Cal, and Miami (FL) are back in the mix.

The seniors that lead that Bosco team to a national championship were special, but it is a junior that may be the most talented player on the roster. That player is the one of the nation's top rated defensive end prospects in the class of 2013, Alquadin "Quan" Muhammad. 

Standing at 6-4/230, Muhammad already has the size to play at the next level. He hopes to put on more weight and be a force at defensive end in college, but also says he likes being able to drop back and play some outside linebacker too with his athleticism. This tackle machine will most likely be playing in next year's US Army All-American Bowl, and will have many eyes on him from the start of his senior season.

We got the chance to sit down with Quan to discuss how his junior season went, how his recruitment is going so far, what his timetable for a decision is and much more. Join us after the jump to learn more about 2013 star, Quan Muhammad.

Norwell's last haircut: August 2010

There was a time, way back during the first half of Jim Tressel's tenure in Columbus, when Ohio State was known for having fearsome, dominant lines. It was one of those lines, in fact, that powered the Buckeye rushing attack to an upset over a formidable Miami front in the 2003 National Championship.

But then something happened. Five-star recruits stopped living up to their billing and the unit was exposed as out of shape and slow, first against the Florida Gators in the 2007 championship game and then a year later against LSU.

What had once been a strength of the team was routinely exposed against faster SEC defensive lines and things needed fixed and in a hurry.

2008 was supposed to solve that. The two Jims were bringing in the "Brew Crew", three of the top offensive line recruits in the nation, in the form of tackles Mike Adams and J.B. Shugarts and center Michael Brewster.

While there were some aggravations along the way in the form of suspensions and false starts, the group largely performed up to expectations. The trio combined for 109 starts and left Columbus with two BCS bowl wins and several all-conference and all-American nods.

Now, a new era begins, both in terms of contributors on the line and coaching. New offensive line coach Ed Warinner must still deal with a recruiting approach that somehow thought it would be okay to sign just five offensive linemen total in the 2010 and 2011 classes, but the cupboard isn't completely bare. Two honorable mention All-Big Ten selections are returning and the new staff brings the hope that somehow, this time, things will be better.

Good morning, fellow citizens of Buckeye Nation! 

Somehow, a random sidenote about my In-N-Out craving last week sparked one of the greatest comment-reactions I've ever seen on a Friday Skull Session. In fact, it may have even rivaled the reaction to the news that a special delivery, by the name of Urban, was Columbus-bound.

So, if you must know, I'd give up Ohio State's 2012 season bowl game for some jalapeño poppers from Jack In The Box right now. You're all thinking "Yuck, Jack?! How could you, Elika?!" I know, I know... but I'm a sucker for things that have jalapeños, are stuffed with cheese, deep-fried, or come with a side of ranch. You could pretty much do all those things to a tennis shoe, and I'd eat it. I wish I was joking (and, if my mom is reading this, she's officially ready to disown me)... but, few things in life can beat an option that fulfills all four of those requirements. (Even without a side of ranch, Urban Meyer is definitely one of them.) 

And, as we always do (eventually...), let's get to it.

THE SENIOR BOWL-FOUR. The 2012 Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL kicks off tomorrow at 4pm EST. Ohio State will be well represented in the game with four players participating (Wisconsin has the most players in the game, with five), including: Mike Adams, DeVier Posey, Dan "Boom" Herron and Mike Brewster. 

For Adams, Posey and Herron this game will allow them to showcase their skills that they had to sideline for much of the season this year (five, ten and six games, respectively). Posey, who needed it most of all, has had a pretty good week down in Mobile. Here's a brief interview with Posey from the Senior Bowl yesterday, where he discusses a variety of issues, including his trouble at Ohio State. If you prefer reading, to listening, there's this interview as well. Many Buckeye fans aren't too pleased with Posey, given his hand in the recent violations, but it's nice to hear his thoughts on the whole situation and where his head is at now.

Adams in particular has really turned some heads, particularly with the way he carries his massive size on the field. Here's an interview with Adams, if you're really getting into the spirit of Friday, and putting off your work until Monday.

For a more in-depth look at how these guys have fared throughout the week, check out Alex's post on the Senior Bowl. To see the results of all these practices and workouts, tune in tomorrow.

The #1 Google Image Result for "joe mcknight heisman", lol

Long before Twitter (which is hilarious to imagine the primitive lives we all lived before the mico-blogging service blew up), when Pete Carroll was at the height of his powers, I remember logging onto the internet one day and seeing the college football realm aflame with news of a highly touted running back from Louisiana heading to LA to play for Carroll. After a vicious recruiting battle, The Trojans had found the person to fill Reggie Bush's magical tap-dancing shoes. Joe McKnight, as recruitniks told it, was destined to pick up Heisman trophy at some point in his collegiate career. 

"That bastard!" I thought, as I envisioned Pete Carroll laughing at the rest of college football while surfing naked with two USC co-eds in the Pacific on a Wednesday morning during the off-season. This, of course, came on the heels of Florida wrapping Ohio State up in chicken wire and a $30 area rug from a Boca Raton Wal-Mart and tossing Alex Boone & Co. into the Gulf of Mexico after winning the 2006-2007 national title. The nation had yet to realize the Six Finebaum-headed SEC krakken Ohio State had awoken, and I was naive enough to believe Pete Carroll was one of only a few college football coaches gaming the system. (Everything in that last paragraph hurts my soul to type.)

The mailbag is overflowing with the goods

In case you don't know, our forums have become pretty popular over the last two months. They provide our readers and staff members another great opportunity to interact and discuss issues both regarding Ohio State and the rest of the world in general on other platforms than what is published on the site. If you haven't checked them out, I suggest you begin to do so.

While all of our staff members try to do our best to answer your questions inside our articles, your blog posts, and the forums, we can't always be everywhere at once. That is why, in lieu of the weekly 11W Recruiting Notebook, I wanted to give you all a chance to ask me whatever your heart desired as we stand less then a week until National Signing Day.

I couldn't get to all of your questions, but I promised I did my best. If there is something you wanted to ask, but didn't get around to submitting it or even if you have a new question pop into your head, please feel free to post in the comments section below, and I promise I will do my best to answer it. I hope to do this again, at least once a month, so hope you all enjoy it.

Enough of my rambling. Join us after the jump for the inaugural 11W Recruiting Mailbag.

The Urban Meyer recruiting process explained.

The Ohio State Men's Basketball Team this past week delivered the force of a thousand suns in laying waste to B1G cellar dwellers Nebrasketball and Penn State. Wednesday night's action went roughly as follows:

"Sorry, Penn State. We know you've had a tough week and all but, um, we got you this 24 point loss. We forgot to get a gift receipt. Sorry about that."

With the tyrannous empire of northern ill contempt looming on the horizon, Aaron Craft seems finally to be returning to form and who knows, maybe we could soon be watching a renaissance of The WB.

Alas, that's not why many of you are here. That's not why even those amongst us (present company included) that don't eat, sleep, and breathe recruiting have a purpose for the next week. National Signing day looms ominously with but a week to go for Urban Meyer to continue to make head coaches around the country both lose sleep and require weekly consultations with Dr. Paul Weston.

In order to get the straight dope and get you covered on all things recruiting, we welcome back 11W's Senior Editor and Director of Scouting/Recruiting, Alex Gleitman. While we certainly care about the future of the program and love to celebrate little victories as much as the next, Johnny nor myself are anything close to what you could call recruiting experts. After having taped this edition of the podcast, both of us were infinitely better for it. You will be too for having listened.

The blow-by-blow for this week is as follows:

• 0:37 - We rehash the Penn State game. It was such a thorough de-pants-ing, that well, it was kind of boring at times. That's still awesome sometime. We explain what the keys were, why Jared Sullinger is sometimes being forgotten/under appreciated, and also look briefly back at the cornpocalypse that was this past Saturday's game with Bill Nebrasky (roughly around the 4:18 mark). We also look ahead to the Michigan affair that will be anything but casual nor cordial.
• 7:39 - Alex gets on the horn with us and delivers a primer for recruiting devotees and casual Buckeye fans alike. If you want to own the water cooler on national signing day, listen to this segment. Seriously, do it. Amongst the topics broached:
• 8:13 - What did Urban Meyer's transition into the OSU recruiting sphere look like? Were there any trepidations about guys already locked up by Fickell, et al.? Did Meyer seriously consider pulling any scholarship offers or are any guys still on the fringe at all?
• 9:42 - What's the health of the Glenville pipeline post-Jim Tressel? Does Meyer have any new pipelines/relationships with power programs in the state on the horizon?
• 11:41 - A meta overview of Meyer's recruiting strategy as a whole, including how it compares to Tressel/Fickell before him and just what exactly a 'committable offer' is now that Urban Meyer's administration is in full gear.
• 13:50 - Who are some of the big names still on the horizon that could be added to this 2012 recruiting class? Alex also mentions an interview soon to hit 11W you won't want to miss.
• 18:10 - Which of the guys in this class could be the best of the bunch, regardless of what some of the traditional authorities think?
• 20:24 - Just how well will the entirety of the class fit into Urban Meyer's system?
• 21:38 - And can any of these guys be immediate difference makers and see the field in year one?
• 23:49 - Our wildly popular-ish, new-ish segment "Ask Us Anything" returns with four questions from actual commenters/readers. We cover everything from how the recruiting numbers add up to whether one has to have attended the university to be able to claim "true Buckeye fandom". You won't want to miss this. 

If you have any questions, OSU related or just hilarious real life queries apropos of nothing, shoot us an e-mail. You could find your question read allowed and answered on air.

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Our intro music today comes courtesy of White Rabbits' new single from their forthcoming album, "Milk Famous", titled "Heavy Metal". It's not available for purchase, but you can get it free courtesy of the band (don't say we never gave you anything). The post-guest transitional piece is The Men's next single, "Open Your Heart", from an also yet to be released record. The final number is the new tune from another unreleased record (notice a trend here?) by Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen, titled "Saint Nothing". Neither of those two are purchasable yet, however, you can probably find them easily digestible (and probably free) by doing a simple Google search. If you'd still like to help the site, I'd encourage this week, in lieu of buying some great mp3s, to donate using the button in the upper right hand corner. If you enjoyed the podcast, tip us just a couple of bucks, and when the site has a full-time beat writer, the kind of info we'll have will be even better.