Eleven Warriors

I also write for "Damnation!" and "Johnny Reb"

Sometime in December of 2010, Luke and I decided that maybe we should try and get a podcast started for Eleven Warriors. I mean, hey, all the cool kids were doing it, and it seemed to be a logical step for a website that was starting to really take off. Luke has and had way more experience and knowledge of podcasts than I did and do, so his overall goals were something along the lines of a combination of Edward R. Murrow and Jordan, Jesse, Go! whereas my personal goal was just to make fart jokes and trick people into listening to them.

In any case, a Dubcast was born, and from the outset it was a pretty big learning process. Interviewing people over the phone or through Skype about college sports is a weird (and fun) experience, but I'd like to think that over time we've gotten better and have been able to earn the listeners that we have today.

Unfortunately this week Luke had a scheduling conflict and I'm still fighting off whatever kind of disease turns your snot some combination of brown and yellow, so instead of your regularly scheduled Dubcast we bring to you a blast from the past as I subjected myself to "The Detail," our second episode ever which we broadcast to the internet on December 23rd, 2010. I jotted down some Exclusive Commentary Notes. Follow along and enjoy!

0:33 Horrible radio voice me attempts to sound suave in a misguided stab at appealing to da ladies but instead I end up actually sounding like Brady Hoke whispering sweet nothings into an Arby's drive through speaker because I'm using my 250 dollar laptop's embedded mic.

1:24 Our first guest, 11W's own Alex Gleitman, is apparently doing great. Luke jokes about the apparent awfulness of Kent State academics in the process of asking a Darrell Hazell question. I cackle like an idiot in the background.

3:25 I comment about Hazell being hard to replace, because, you know, it's difficult to replace assistant coaches sometimes. Thank God Ohio State never went through anything like that ever again.

5:04 Luke makes a backhanded slam on Nick Siciliano, which I will get and laugh about about 4 hours after we stop recording.

Michigan State, who takes on Penn State tonight at 6:30pm EST, heads to Columbus this Saturday in a showdown of the top two teams in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes, following an exciting victory over Purdue last night, look to extend their win streak to seven games. The Spartans, recovering from a few hiccups in conference play, hope to climb into the top ten and narrow the gap in the B1G standings, depending on how their game with Penn State goes.

It should be a great game. If, however, it proves to be a dud... you can always hop back on here and try to decide which of these four Tom Izzo pictures is your favorite. Or, perhaps you can check them out now, as I doubt it will come to that.

To help you get hyped, and know who to watch for, Pete Rossman of The Only Colors joins us to talk about the Spartans and the game on Saturday. 

What are three things you would tell someone who hasn't watched the Spartans this year, to give them an idea of this team so far?

Rebounding on both ends.  That should be no surprise given Izzo's leadership, but last year's soap opera of a team seemed to let so many boards slip away.

The second is the smoothness of the offense; it's leaps and bounds beyond where I thought it'd be this season.  Everyone knows that Draymond Green is a Swiss Army knife of a player, but Derrick Nix does a great job out of the post in not only finishing, but finding the open man on the perimeter. 

The third would be how quick some of the freshmen have picked up Izzo's style of man-to-man and help defense.  Branden Dawson looked lost for the first half of the B1G season, but has strung together 2-3 great games. Brandan Kearney only plays his 6-8 minutes a game, but it seems like he always has 2-3 smart decisions and/or hustle plays in that time.

Everett Withers courted Marcus at UNC and wanted him at OSU

If you would have tried to put pen to paper two months ago and make a prediction as to how Ohio State's 2012 recruiting class would wind up, it likely would have been a far cry from the results we saw on signing day.

Sure, you might have been able to pencil in Adolphus Washington or Se'Von Pittman as Buckeyes, but the majority of the class are players that were not on the Buckeye radar on November 26th.

Perhaps no player was more "off the radar" for Buckeye fans, and most of college football fans than Jamal Marcus from Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina. Honestly, his obscurity doesn't make a lot of sense, because when you combine his list of scholarship offers with his spectacular highlight tape, you'd imagine that Marcus would have been one of the most sought after LB prospects in the class of 2012.

With offers from Ohio State, Auburn, Florida, Notre Dame, USC and more, it's hard to imagine you'd go unnoticed, but he did - at least to the average fan. Heck, even his future head coach says he had only first heard of him two weeks ago (which might be hyperbole, since Marcus was offered by Ohio State in early December, about a week after Meyer's hiring.) Because of his lack of hype, Jamal finds himself as a three-star prospect according to most of the recruiting agencies, but again - that highlight tape and the offer list speaks of a much more highly regarded prospect than people will admit to.

Now, two months after his first conversation with the current Buckeye staff, the 6'2", 230 pound QB-chasing linebacker finds himself signed, sealed and delivered to Ohio State, ready to make his mark on the Buckeye program if the chance presents itself. With purported 4.6 speed, Marcus will bring tenacity and lateral quickness to a Buckeye linebacking group that was thin and at times underwhelming in 2011. 

I had a chance to have a conversation with Jamal last night, and it's easy to see that he fits the bill as to what Urban and the coaches are looking for: he's respectful, polite and intense. His competitive fire was unmistakable, even on the telephone. He's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder from the perceived lack of recognition, and that fuel will keep his fire burning through his time in Columbus in my opinion. 

Join us after the jump for more on my conversation with Jamal Marcus, 2012 Ohio State Buckeye signee.

It was a long road, but Decker is a Buckeye

It's funny how things can change in a matter of weeks, days, and even hours in the world of recruiting. One minute a recruit can be "solid" to a school he's been pledged to for months, the next minute he can pull the rug right out from under you and go a completely different direction.

Taylor Decker (6-8/315) was a young man who was not set on change. Despite growing up a Buckeye fan in the Dayton area and being highly regarded as one of the top tackles in the state, Decker was not offered a scholarship by Jim Bollman and the old regime, thus deciding to commit to Notre Dame in spring of 2011. Decker appeared to be all set on the Irish, even when Urban Meyer got hired at Ohio State, claiming there was a "very slim chance" he would flip his verbal pledge if the Bucks did offer.

Something funny then happened, as shortly after we spoke with Decker in late November, Urban Meyer hired Notre Dame assistants Tim Hinton and Ed Warinner. As recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame and an Ohioan, Hinton had a strong bond with Taylor, as did Warinner who was set to be his position coach in South Bend.

Hinton and Warinner joined Meyer's pursuit of Decker, resulting in an official visit which concluded with a verbal commitment, the 20th in the class of 2012. Getting a tackle was a big need as there were none in the class at the time, and together, Hinton, Warinner, and Meyer pulled the biggest win for Ohio State's recruiting efforts at that point.

We got the chance to sit down with Decker, now that he signed, sealed, and delivered, to discuss what went into his decision of switching from Notre Dame to Ohio State, how it feels to have this process complete, whether or not he will enroll early, and much more. Join us after the jump to catch up with the biggest member in the new group of Buckeyes, Taylor Decker.

The Ohio State Buckeyes, looking to extend their four game winning streak, head to Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers this Saturday at 2pm EST. After a rocky start in conference play, the Badgers look to add to their own winning streak, currently at six games. 

While these programs typically wouldn't consider Saturdays in February to be nearly as exciting as their autumn counterparts, what could be more fun than this? It's just first place in the Big Ten Conference at stake, pitting recently emerged, multi-sport, psuedo-rivals against each other. No big deal. 

This week, Phil Mitten of Bucky's 5th Quarter joins me to discuss Badgers hoops, the game this weekend and the possibility of Bo Ryan producing some GIF-worthy moments.

For those that haven't watched much Wisconsin basketball this year, what are three things you would tell them about the Badgers, to give them an idea of this team and the season it's had so far?

First of all, you will see the same slow pace that you've come to expect from Wisconsin, a byproduct of deliberate offense and UW's signature team defense. Bo Ryan has let Jordan Taylor push more fast break opportunities in the last couple of weeks, but the Badgers are still dead last in the nation with an average of fewer than 59 possessions per-game.

Secondly, the Badgers live and die by the 3-pointer. Their margin of victory when shooting >35% from deep is more than 24 points. When shooting <35%, the team is 4-5, with three of those wins coming in the last five games.

Which leads us to my third point: the schedule. Ohio State may be the toughest test of the season, but Wisconsin will not be intimidated. Of the team's five losses, only the loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor was a blowout, and a strange home loss to Iowa is the only real outlier. During its current winning streak, Wisconsin has found a way to win five close games, regardless of poor shooting, and will likely make sure this one goes down to the wire.

Dodson finally "comes home" to Ohio State

Kyle Dodson grew up always wanting to become a an Ohio State Buckeye. That dream appeared to fade fast though, as Jim Tressel and Jim Bollman slow played the Cleveland Heights star, forcing his hand a bit early which lead to the 6-6/300 offensive tackle making a verbal pledge to Bret Bielema and the Wisconsin Badgers.

Ever since I spoke to Dodson the night he committed to Wisconsin, I always felt there was a possibility Ohio State could get back in the hunt. While he continued to say throughout the summer and during his football season that he was solid to the Badgers, many began to speculate that might not really be the case, and I thought that once the dust settled with the OSU coaching situation that Dodson would easily be a Buckeye. What I didn't realize was it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought.

Dodson began to take visits, including trips to Auburn, USC, and Michigan State, in addition to those to Wisconsin and Ohio State. While it looked good for the Bucks in December, talk of the USC visit being a home run started to circulate and as recently as last night, chatter was flying high that Dodson was going to be a Trojan.

Those reports started to subdue as Dodson's 12:15 PM EST announcement drew near, but viewed of the Cleveland Heights press conference were delayed again, as the infamous Meg made her decision to attend Stanford over OSU for lacrosse and some of Dodson's teammates made speeches and their commitments before Cleveland Heights head coach Jeff Rotsky introduced his prize lineman, who eventually announced for Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes, in what may have been one of the coolest ways of all time to announce such a decision.

We caught up with Dodson a little while ago to get his feelings now that things are official, see how close he was to committing to USC, talk about Sunday's trip to campus, and more. Join us after the jump to catch up with the newest Buckeye, Kyle Dodson.

Munger was at OSU's Junior Day last weekend

Jeremy brought you the scoop on one Shaker Heights star player earlier today, but tonight we caught up with another, in the form of DL/OL Donovan Munger.

Munger, standing at 6-3/280, starred on both sides of the line for Shaker Heights this past season, playing left tackle, defensive tackle, and defensive end. Despite his team's poor record, Munger stood out to college coaches across the country and already has a nice list of offers, and is regarded as one of the top players in the state of Ohio for the recruiting class of 2013.

Munger was one of the players in town last weekend for Junior Day at Ohio State, and got to take in the Buckeyes' win on the hardwood over Michigan. The trip was sort of a "dream come true" for the two-way star, as he grew up in the Cleveland area rooting for Ohio State throughout his whole life.

We got the chance to sit down with the super junior to discuss his visit to Ohio State, where things stand with his recruitment, what position he'll play in college and much more. Join us after the jump to catch up with one of Ohio's best for 2013, Donovan Munger.

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.