Eleven Warriors

"Oh. Great. Just... great."

If your mom was anything like my mom, you were probably drilled at length about the necessity of making a good first impression. Eye contact, hands out of pockets, fingers out of noses, make sure your fly is up — pretty generic and simple stuff, but on the other hand if you're a nine-year-old, making a fart sound with your armpit is just about as good as a handshake, so why stand on formalities?

In other words, there are things that need to be taught, because undoing a first impression, good or bad, takes a lot of time and effort.

So let's say that you're Jim Delany. You aren't super well-acquainted with the Rutgers basketball program because there is basically no reason for you to be. It's a mediocre program at a school known for a slightly better than mediocre football team, and they haven't made the NCAA tourney since 1991. About as under-your-radar as it could possibly get.

But then one day in the (relative) offseason you awaken yourself in your Tibetan bungalow, shaking off your opium-induced stupor as you deeply kiss one of your many comely tea maidens. Flustered at your uninhibited nudity, your manservant enters your bedroom and bows nervously as he hands you a copy of the Columbus Dispatch. "Cables from the most recent happenings around the world, my lord," the young man squeaks.

And that's when you see it: "Rutgers Scarlet Knights fire coach Mike Rice in wake of video scandal."

Furious, you crush your porcelain tea cup and hurl the remnants at the wall. "What now, your high sexiness? What shall be thine power move?"

You look the tea maiden dead in the eye. "My sweet, this is exactly what I'm going to do."

Things are starting to pick back up after a bit of a slow period in the world of recruiting. This means we will see the Buckeyes start scoring more commitments for the 2014 class.

Hubbard became the sixth member of the 2014 class

They did just that this past Friday when Cincinnati (OH) Archbishop Moeller athlete Sam Hubbard gave Urban Meyer his verbal commitment.

The 6-6/225 athlete can play all over the field. He plays safety in high school, but could play any of defensive end, linebacker, safety, and "STAR" at the college level. He has also mentioned there's a chance he could line up some on the offensive side of the ball at tight end.

In addition to his offer from Ohio State, Hubbard held offers from Boston College, Illinois, Louisville, Miami, Miami (OH), Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio, and Stanford.

Hubbard had been committed to Notre Dame to play lacrosse since January of last year, but started to think about playing football after his visit to Ohio State a month ago.

He liked the visit so much that he returned this past Friday and committed to Ohio State on the visit.

We caught up with Sam to get the scoop on his commitment to Ohio State. Keep reading to learn more about the newest Buckeye, Sam Hubbard.

As you know, the NCAA men’s basketball championship game takes place tonight in Atlanta, pitting the Louisville Cardinals of the ACC Big East against TTUN from the B1G.

Can things be worse than a Michigan win tonight? Sure.

With the Buckeyes not involved, many of you are no doubt apathetic and won’t be watching. Others of you will be tuning in and hoping the evening ends with the delicious tears of Wolverine fans.

And there’s a small, misguided portion of you that may even be hoping for a Michigan victory because it would give the Big Ten a major sports championship. If this is you, it is probable that you would make an excellent SEC fan.

What’s good for the conference might be good in some way for Ohio State, but cheering for Michigan is simply too steep a price to pay. Do Browns fans root for the Bengals when their team is out of the race? Do Bengals fans yell “yay AFC North!” (or even “yay AFC!”) when the Steelers win the Super Bowl? I think overwhelmingly not.

Whether Michigan wins or not, their fans will be insufferable in every way. This will, of course, be magnified a hundred fold if Trey Burke and company win it all. I mean, how can you tolerate a group of people cheering “Go Blue!” while their team runs up and down the court wearing those yellow highlighter uniforms?

But there are worse things than Michigan winning a national championship in basketball tonight. As a public service to you, the 11W reader, we present a partial list of those things:

In the four-month buildup to the NFL draft, many hopefuls flock to large sports academies in Florida and the Arizona desert. Football factories have been constructed in the exotic locales with plush weight rooms and top of the line instructors. 

But when it comes to the sport’s most valuable position – quarterback – a different destination is at the top of the list: San Diego. And more specifically, Mission Beach. It is there on a two-mile long sandbar where the NFL’s next crop of quarterbacks is trained by guru George Whitfield, Jr.

It’s also where Braxton Miller spent his holiday break this winter.

No, Miller is not leaving for the NFL. Instead, he felt a private lesson with the guy who’s tutored Ben Roethlisberger, Philip Rivers, Donovan McNabb, Cam Newton and Andrew Luck, among others, was more important than lounging on the couch watching bowl games.

Whitfield, a native of Massillon, runs Whitfield Athletix, a five-employee outfit when you include the two interns. The 35-year-old played collegiately under Jim Tressel at Youngstown State before transferring to Tiffin. He is third all-time in passing yards and touchdowns for the Dragons.

Whitfield spent two seasons at Iowa as a graduate assistant, in 2001 and 2002, and then bounced around the Arena League as a quarterback from 2003 to 2007. But he actually got his start with quarterback lessons in 2004. He’s enjoyed a meteoric rise ever since.

His techniques are unconventional – they include footwork drills in the Pacific Ocean – but the results cannot be disputed. From Pro Bowlers to Heisman Trophy winners to high schoolers, Whitfield’s fingerprints are at every level of the game. 

Whitfield recently talked to Eleven Warriors about Miller’s skillset and potential for greatness, as well as his own affinity for the state of Ohio. 

It's Monday. The men's basketball national championship game is tonight and Louisville is all that stands in the way of Michigan Men reaching a level of smugness not see since the years following the school's split football title in 1997. So, go Cards.

The Big Ten has not won an NCAA championship in the big three sports – football, men's and women's basketball – since 2003 and I, like most Ohio State fans, would be in favor of keeping the B1G drought alive if it means Michigan does not get to cut down the nets.

Things would be different if Michigan State, Purdue, or really, any other Big Ten team not coached by Bo Ryan or Tom Crean was in the final. I'd have no problem pulling for a fellow Rust Belt institution of higher learning against Rick Pitino's Cardinals. But the last thing I want to hear from Wolverine fans for the next decade is the story of how a guard Ohio State didn't feel the need to offer led Michigan to a title.

That's not to say I don't appreciate elements of the Michigan basketball program. John Beilein is, by all accounts, one of the classier coaches in the Big Ten. The anti-Crean, if you will.

And then there's Trey Burke. He's a Columbus kid, so try as I may, I sometimes find it hard to cheer against him when he's not playing the Buckeyes. I know, it's a weakness, but at least I'm coming clean about it.

So, ideally, Trey Burke goes off for 40 points tonight, but Louisville beats the Wolverines on a buzzer-beater. A blowout would be nice, too, but a million Wolverine voices crying out in terror and then suddenly silenced would be perfect.

While we're at it, we should also hope Mitch "White Thunder" McGary has a great night leading him to join teammates Trey Burke, Glen Robinson III and Tim Hardaway Jr. in declaring for the NBA.

In a move that surprised almost no one, Deshaun Thomas announced Friday that he would forgo his senior season at Ohio State for an opportunity to make a living playing the game he loves. 

Too often, fans let emotions cloud their viewpoint on whether or not a player is doing the right thing by leaving college early, throwing out conveniently selfish or lazy declaratives about how the kid should stay to get his degree (as if the school isn't going to let him come back and finish later), when it's no secret just how small the earning window is for professional athletes compared to the real world. 

In Tank's case, statements about how he is making a mistake by leaving Columbus for a chance to play in the NBA have been rare. One reason is because those who truly dig into the details realize Thomas would've likely been better off, professionally speaking, had he bolted after a sophomore campaign that saw him catch fire during Ohio State's march to the Final Four. Another is that, knowing NBA teams draft largely on potential and the aforementioned earning window can be short-lived, most fans understand there is virtually nothing, realistically speaking, that Thomas can do on the court that will drastically improve his draft status. The final inarguable reason for turning pro, among others, is that he's a father of one-year-old Deshaun Jr., and it's a father's job to provide for his son. 

The noted fan response has been refreshing to see because, as it turns out, Deshaun probably did stay one season too long, and there's no question that the scoring machine from Fort Wayne, Indiana, has not only given Ohio State fans all they could ask for on the court, he has also truly blossomed from a kid into a man off of it, under the tutelage of Thad Matta. 

Urban Meyer has upheld and started several new traditions since arriving at Ohio State in November 2011. An Ohioan to the core who cut his teeth at Ohio State as a twenty-something graduate assistant, Meyer understands the importance of the scarlet and gray-clad football program. 

When he was hired, he spoke directly to students, saying they have ownership of the football team. For the second consecutive year, Meyer proved that by inviting the student body to attend practice.

There was one student, however, that probably wishes he would have stayed home. A guest performer, wearing the number 00, took a handoff midway through practice. He had a seam and busted through the defensive line. Then, all of a sudden, David Perkins came out of nowhere and made Andy Katzenmoyer smile and Corby Jones shudder.

Brutus Buckeye was laid out.

G'morning.

It's the day of the Final Four, which, if you're like me, there's little point in watching since it does not directly involve the fortunes of Ohio State athletics. However, Ohio State's big recruiting weekend does directly affect the fortunes of Ohio State football, which I will discuss a bit later in this post.

But first, here's an update on Johnathan Hankins.

 HANKINS NO LONGER A FIRST-ROUND PICK? I was a bit surprised to read that the latest update on NFL Draft-bound Johnathan Hankins has him projected in the second round.

The update comes by way of Mel Kiper Jr, the prominent NFL Draft analyst for ESPN. Originally slated by Kiper as a first-round pick, possibly at the 15th overall spot to the New Orleans Saints, Hankins' draft stock has fallen precipitously in Kiper's eyes. Kiper now has Hankins pegged as the 56th overall. It's a difference of 41 spots in just three months and, for Hankins, possibly the difference of millions of dollars in a rookie contract.

Hankins' slide of 41 spots is greater than anyone else whose draft fortunes have taken a nosedive according to Mel Kiper. Similar free-fallers include Florida State's Bjoern Werner, who has fallen 30 spots, and Wisconsin's Montee Ball, who has fallen 25 spots. Only Florida's Sharrif Floyd has seen his draft stock significantly improve in Kiper's eyes, rising from 31st overall to the San Francisco 49ers to 3rd overall to the Oakland Raiders. That may or may not be a great thing, but the money would improve.

As for why? It's not clear. Hankins did fine at the NFL Combine, except in the 40 and the vertical jump. He did great in agility drills. Hankins opted to not run the 40 at Ohio State's pro day, which may have fueled some skepticism about his conditioning. Is the 40-yard dash that important for defensive tackles?