Eleven Warriors

Gene Smith is now in his eighth year as the director of athletics at Ohio State. Manning the largest department in the country with deep pockets and plentiful resources sounds easy, but the Buckeyes are not immune to problems. 

That was evident two years ago. But now Ohio State is positioned for annual success in football and men’s basketball, while several Olympic sports continue to finish near the top of the Big Ten.

Smith has seen it all during his seven years in Columbus – a Rose Bowl win, two Final Fours, the stunning fall of a coaching legend and his own status questioned. He sat down with Eleven Warriors recently to discuss the ever-evolving state of college athletics, night games in Ohio Stadium, Twitter and much more.

The 2013 NFL Draft came and went with only three Buckeyes – defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, defensive end John Simon and tackle Reid Fragel – selected, but several other members of Urban Meyer's first Ohio State team quickly signed undrafted free agent deals with teams around the league soon after the draft ended.

Jake Stoneburner, Zach Boren, Travis Howard, Orhian Johnson, Nathan Williams, Etienne Sabino, and Garrett Goebel all earned NFL camp invitations by signing contracts Saturday night. As anyone that's seen Hard Knocks can tell you, making a team as an undrafted free agent is tough sledding, but it can be done. Just ask Arian Foster, Wes Welker or Antonio Gates.

Reid Fragel had an unconventional four seasons in Columbus, entering as a tight end and leaving as an All-Big Ten right tackle. He based the decision on his NFL future, and after being selected by Cincinnati with the 34th pick of the 7th and final round of the draft (240th overall), it appears Fragel made the right decision.

John Simon is headed to Baltimore. 

The Ravens selected Simon with the 32nd pick of the 4th round, 129th overall, where he'll join a crowded group of backers that includes Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, and others.

Simon told the Ravens he was ready to get to work, saying "They're just a tough, hard-nosed team and I feel that's how I play the game. I'm just excited to be part of the organization and look forward to getting to practice."

Last night brought the good news that Johnathan Hankins is a New York Giant, selected by the team in the 2nd round of the NFL Draft. Unless you happen to be a Redskin, Cowboy or Eagle fan, this is great news. Hankins is going to a great organization and will have an opportunity to learn from some of the best, including Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka, Shaun Rogers and other proven vets.

Today, the draft concludes with rounds four through seven. Buckeyes still on the board include:

• DE/OLB John Simon - Projected to go in the fourth round
• OT Reid Fragel - Projected to go in the fourth or fifth rounds
• TE Jake Stoneburner - Projected to go in the sixth or seventh rounds
• DE/OLB Nathan Williams - Projected to maybe go in the seventh round

Look for other Buckeyes, including Zach Boren, Etienne Sabino, Travis Howard, Orhian Johnson and Garrett Goebel to receive phone calls before Monday with undrafted free agent offers.

TV: NFL Network - 12:00 p.m. ET

College football's offseason is chugging along. August will be here before too long, though spring has only just begun in the Midwest and we still have to suffer summer before a long-sweltering summer has put a bead of sweat now on your battered brow.

Alas, today we'll start with the NFL Draft. Hopefully, you don't mind.

 B1G LIFE. B1G STAGE. B1G SECOND DAY DRAFT SELECTIONS. The Big Ten has been maligned in recent years for the overall quality of football it puts on the field of play and on your televisions. We can qualify this in various ways, but denying it is hard. Arguably the best conference of the 1990s (and, perhaps, unarguably the deepest), the Big Ten is better known for Legends and Leaders than many legends or leaders on the gridiron right now. If not for the Cowboys selecting Wisconsin guard Travis Frederick at 31st overall, with one pick to spare on Thursday, the B1G could've been without a first-round NFL Draft selection for the first time in ages.

The conference fared much better on Friday. Our own Johnathan Hankins found a home in the Big Apple, selected by the New York Giants in the second round (49th overall). The first Big Ten selection of the second round was Kawann Short, to the Carolina Panthers as the 44th overall pick.

It kind of grew from there. Michigan State's Le'Veon Bell was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers as the 48th overall pick, right before Hankins. Montee Ball was chosen by the Denver Broncos with the 58th overall pick. Illinois' Hugh Thornton and Penn State's Jordan Hill were selected back-to-back by the Colts and Seahawks, respectively, with the 86th and 87th overall picks.

Here are some other notable selections from Friday night.

He waited an extra day, but Johnathan Hankins is now on firm footing in the NFL. The man affectionately known as "Big Hank" is now Giant Hank, and he's headed to New York. The Giants drafted Hankins in the second round with the 49th overall pick. 

An All-Big Ten selection, Hankins finished the 2012 season with 55 total tackles, including four tackles for loss and one sack. He had a career-high 10 tackles twice, against California and UAB.

Over his three-year career, Hankins had 138 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and five sacks. He appeared in 38 games and started 25.

No Buckeyes were taken in last night's first round of the NFL Draft, but tonight figures to be a little different. Mammoth Ohio State defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins is projected to go somewhere in the second round tonight, while defensive end John Simon could go in the third round as an outside linebacker.

If Simon slides out of the third round, he'll certainly go early tomorrow, when the draft resumes with fourth-round selections.

The first round was heavy on both sides of the trench with offensive and defensive linemen snapped up like they were endangered species. If that trend continues, Reid Fragel may slide up into a third round selection, but that's a bit of a long shot. Still, GO REID!

TV: NFL Network, ESPN2 - 6:30 p.m. ET

It has been a week since we last talked Buckeye recruiting and while not much has changed since then, a couple of things that have changed over the last week and one of them is quite big, possibly bringing some more clarity to the quarterback recruiting situation.

Does Watson still plan to visit other schools?

Urban Meyer and his staff have been hitting the road hard during this contact and evaluation period, all aimed at trying to improve relationships with the players they're recruiting to Ohio State, and developing new ones as the radar blips to highlight new possible recruits.

Another big-time Ohio State target who had committed to another school a couple of months ago earlier may be back on the market for the Buckeyes after he decommitted earlier this week.

Finally to round things out, one of the Buckeyes' top targets on the offensive side of the ball has set a date for his decision.

We'll touch on all of that and more in this week's edition of the Ohio State Football Recruiting Notebook. Buckle up for safety, boys and girls; it could get bumpy.

Around the Oval is Eleven Warriors' weekly love letter to Ohio State sports that don't get the coverage they should.

The Ohio State men's tennis team, fuled by a decade of supremacy, hosted Purdue in the second round of the Big Ten tournament in Columbus today and coasted to a 4-0 victory over the Boilers. The top-seeded Buckeyes will face the winner of No. 4 Illinois and No. 5 Northwestern in the tournament semis Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Varsity Tennis Courts.

The tournament is being played on OSU's home courts, so you can probably imagine how it will play out, but we don't want to get ahead of ourselves.

In their last regular season matchup, the Ohio State men's tennis team traveled to Ann Arbor to face their closest challengers in the conference standings, Michigan. 

Much like many of their other opponents this year, the Wolverines simply couldn't match the skill and power of this Buckeye lineup. Ohio State swept the doubles again, thanks in part to Blaz Rola and Kevin Metka winning, 8-3, to finish an undefeated campaign in the third doubles slot. 

It only took three singles matches to grab the victory: wins for Chris Diaz, Rola and Connor Smith ensured that the other three matches didn't finish as the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines, 4-0, to clinch the regular-season Big Ten championship.