Explanation of the points system: two top ten lists were compiled, one for the community based upon comments and votes, the other based upon the resumes of the players mentioned on the thread. First on a list = ten points, second = nine, and so on.
10. Terry Glenn, 1993-1995 WR, 4 points
Glenn starts off this list as someone who had one of the most dominating receiving performances ever in a season for Ohio State, in 1995. After walking on and making just 15 combined receptions in 1993 and 1994, Glenn would go off for a then-buckeye record (Boston is the only one to top it, in 1998) 1,411 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns, a number no Ohio State receiver since has come within two scores of reaching. His ability to “shock” a defense is best exhibited with his record-setting performance against Pitt:
For his abilities Glenn was awarded an All-american selection and Ohio State’s only Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best wide receiver.
9. Terrelle Pryor, 2008-2010 QB, 5 points
Pryor’s great feet always set up for his big arm. After hitting the scene as a highly-touted freshman, Pryor would become just the third buckeye quarterback to finish 3-0 career against that team from up North and would guide the buckeyes to BCS Bowl wins in 2009 (Rose Bowl against Oregon) and 2010 (Sugar Bowl against Arkansas).
A career 61% passer, TP holds the buckeye record for passing touchdowns with 57 and is fifth in terms of yards at 6,177. He ran for an additional 2,164 yards and 17 scores.
7(t). Kelsey Mitchell, 2014-present Guard, 6 points
In the first six CA’s, there wasn’t even an honorable mention given to a person outside the realm of football or men’s basketball. That streak is broken on this list by three different athletes, the first of which is current Ohio State women’s basketball upcoming junior Kelsey Mitchell.
Mitchell is a thrilling scorer, and she does it in a variety of ways. In the 2014-2015 season, Kelsey became the first freshman ever to lead the nation in points with 873 of them at a ludicrous rate of 24.9 a game. She set an NCAA record in made three with 127, but that wasn’t even half of her Big Ten record scoring performance. She also led the team in both assists and steals. She was named a first-team All-american by the USBWA and co-Big Ten Player of the Year.
Mitchell would get even better for this season’s sweet sixteen run. She broke her own school record with 889 points at a pace of 26.1 PPG, and would be named a first-team All-american for a second time. The other accolade Mitchell holds is the woman who reached 1,000 points the fastest in Big Ten history.
7(t). Logan Stieber, 2011-2015 141 pounder, 6 points
More people have been on the moon than have won four national titles... To think that this little kid from a small farm town in Monroeville, Ohio, did what he did, is pretty awesome, pretty amazing. I'm so happy for him and his family, and they believed early on in the process of us getting to the point we are.
Ohio State Head Wrestling Coach Tom Ryan
Only three other people in the history of NCAA wrestling did what Logan Stieber did his four years in a Scarlet and Gray unitard. Every single one of his four years he won the national title in his weight class. Every single year. He finished with an incredible 119-3 career record, winning his final 50 matches.
Stieber was a driving force behind Ohio State’s only team wrestling national championship in the 2014-2015 season, and for his performance he was given the Dan Hodge Trophy as the nation’s best wrestler.
6. Chris Gamble, 2001-2003 WR/CB, 7 points
Chris Gamble was not only twice named first-team All-Big Ten at corner with his 7 career interceptions, he also played receiver (primarily in 2002 when he had 499 of his 577 receiving yards), returned kicks and returned punts. And while he never caught a touchdown, Gamble’s 15.2 yards per reception show an ability to make plays offensively for a primarily defensive player. He did, however, house one on the ground.
Chris was named the Team MVP of the 2002 championship season, and his lead-taking pick six against the Nittany Lions that year stands as a key play in that year.
5. Jon Diebler, 2007-2011 Guard, 10 points
I had to actively resist putting this knockdown shooter’s name as “threebler.”
I think it might be best to just go ahead and list the three-point shooting records Jon Diebler set for Ohio State. So here they are: Most career three pointers attempted (900), most three pointers attempted in a season (276, 2009-2010), most three pointers attempted in a game (14, done three times), most three pointers made in a career (374), most three pointers made in a season (116, 2009-2010), most three pointers made in a game (10 against Penn State on March 1st, 2011), highest three-point field goal percentage in a season (50.2% in 2010-2011), and highest three-point field goal percentage in a game with a minimum of five attempts (5-5 against Indiana on December 31st, 2010).
I’m assuming I can sufficiently move on now.
4. Chic Harley, 1919-1917 and 1919 QB, 14 points
You deserve your victory, you fought brilliantly. You boys gave a grand exhibition of football strategy and while I am sorry, dreadfully sorry, that we lost, I want to congratulate you. And you, Mr. Harley, I believe, are one of the finest little machines I have ever seen.
Famed *ichigan head coach Fielding Yost following Ohio State’s first win over the skunks in 1919
I’m not convinced that if there had been a heisman when Harley played, he wouldn’t have won it three times. It takes a special kind of player to be so game-changing, so game-breaking, so electric that they need a bigger stadium to hold all the people that want to see him. Chic is the stuff of legend at The Ohio State University. And I say legend because there isn’t much to catalogue what he did. The results are there: his number is retired, he was a three-time All-american, and the team went 21-1-1 in his days playing. But the only stats I could find on Harley, outside of kicking stats, was that he scored 23 career touchdowns in 23 games. But from the accounts I have heard of Chic he definitely deserves this spot on the list.
3. Braxton Miller, 2011-2013, 2015 QB/WR, 16 points
XBrax had an ability to create whenever the ball was in his capable hands, and he was versatile enough to have impact at almost any skill position on the field. After winning the starting job at quarterback as a freshman, Miller would finish his sophomore and junior seasons with back to back years over 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing, with a combined 39 touchdowns through the air and 25 more on the ground. His 13 rushing touchdowns in 2012 is an Ohio State quarterback record. These highly productive years were enough to garner nods as the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in both campaigns.
Miller would miss 2014 with an injury before returning with 340 receiving yards, 261 rushing yards, and 4 total touchdowns in 2015 as a converted wideout.
2. Jesse Owens, 1935-1936 Sprinter/Hurdler/Jumper, 18 points
"I always loved running – it was something you could do by yourself and under your own power. You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs."
Jesse Owens
Before sending an impulse through Hitler’s heart, Jesse Owens was a bullet that electrified collegiate opponents at Ohio State for two years. Jesse did twice what no track and field athlete has done before or since at the NCAA national championships, and that is win not one, not two, not three, but four individual gold medals (Xavier Carter of LSU won four golds in 2006, but two of the events were relays). He took these four golds in the same four events in back to back years, the 100 yard dash, the 220 yard dash, long jump, and the 220 yard low hurdles.
Owens’s greatest feat came at the 1936 Big Ten championships, however, where he set or tied four different world records -- all in a span of forty-five minutes. He tied the record in the 100 yard dash with a time of 9.4 seconds, broke the mark for the 220 yard dash at a pace of 20.3, became the first to break 23 seconds on the 220 yard low hurdles with a time of 22.6 seconds, and capped it all off with a long jump record that would stand for 25 years with a distance of 26 feet, 8 and 1/4 inches.
1. Ted Ginn Jr., 2004-2006 WR, 19 points
In my young, humble, objective opinion, photographed above is the return man in the history of buckeye football. He brought back a combination of six punts (the Ohio State and Big Ten record) and two kicks all the way to the endzone, and he didn’t always have a lot of help from his blockers:
Not to be forgotten is Ginn’s receiving prowess. He wrapped up in Columbus just 57 yards short of 2,000 catching the football with 15 of his 59 receptions going for scores. In 2006 he was named first-team All-Big Ten at receiver. Throw in three rushing scores and one through the air on a trick play, Ginn scored a total of five different ways while playing at Ohio State.
Honorable Mentions: Maurice Clarett (3 points), Joey Galloway (3 points), Zeke Elliott (2 points), Santonio Holmes (1 point)
Sources include sports-reference.com, buckeyefansonly.com, jesseowens.com, the basketball leader's press release, and the football leader's wikipedia page
Per the request of Meek, the top three from my previous three CA’s:
1. Orlando Pace
2. Jerry Lucas
3. John Hicks
Buckeyes with "Little Man Syndrome"
1(t). Archie Griffin
1(t). Antoine Winfield
3(t). Troy Smith
3(t). Jay Burson
1. Cornelius Greene, Archie Griffin, and Pete Johnson
2. Troy Smith, Anthony Gonzalez, Santonio Holmes, and Ted Ginn Jr.
3. Jack Tatum and Mike Sensibaugh
