Eleven Warriors

The WWL reports 13 OSU juniors have filed paperwork with the NFL advisory committee to help evaluate where they might be taken in next year's draft.

The thought of this used to spook much of Buckeye Nation but now most everyone realizes this is just the natural progression for a top flight athlete attending a football factory.

Personally, I've always felt strongly that if a player feels they are ready and/or the committee has given favorable feedback then the player should turn pro. I'm all for loyalty and such but the bottom line is that people go to college to prepare for their future and if a player gets feedback indicating where they'll be selected and they are okay with that then you should give them your blessing.

What's important is that this year's junior crop appears focused on the task at hand, at least that's the way Malcolm Jenkins tells it:

"We took it upon ourselves to say, 'Look, we're not going to think about this, we're not going to talk about it until the time comes.' And that's after the game," Jenkins said. "We're just going to focus on this game right now."

As the article states, 25 Buckeyes have turned pro early since 1992. So what do you think? Do you have a problem with players leaving early in hopes of establishing themselves in the NFL?

Ohio State 5-3, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

December 16, 2007 12:00 PM ET ------ The Schott Columbus, Oh.

Pres. College 1-10, Indep. Roster | Schedule

Opponents: Presbyterian College (PC) is playing their first season as a Division I program and is in the midst of an eleven game road trip. PC is not good at 1-10, but I'm sure they will pose a stiff test for the struggling Buckeyes. The Blue Hose, yes that's right the Blue Hose, come in scoring 58.4 points a game and shoot only 41 percent from the floor, with almost half of their shots coming from behind the arc (264 of 549 attempts).

Key Players: PC has three players averaging in double figures and 9 players who play more than 10 minutes a game. Pat Kiscaden (#25 6'3" Sr.) leads the team with 10.6 points, but doesn't do much else. Brian Bostic (#23 6'3" Sr.) and Al'Lonzo Coleman (#34 6'7" Fr.) are right behind him at 10.5 and 10.1 respectively. Coleman also leads the team in rebounds, steals, blocks, FG's and FT's made.

Travis Sligh (#42 6'4" Jr.) and Josh Johnson (#22 6'3" Fr.) are the only other players who chip in with more than 5 a game.

Notes: PC is located in Clinton, SC and has an enrollment of 1200 students... It cost 33,930 dollars to attend PC for a year... PC is coached by Gregg Nibbert, who has compiled a 328-216 record in his 18 seasons.

Buckeye Breakdown: By Saturday at noon, our eyes should be recovered from the bleeding we endured on Monday night. This season has been hard to stomach and any type of struggle against PC will send the Schott's older crowd heading for the exits earlier than their normal eight minute mark.

Sadly, the Buckeyes come in with similar shooting numbers, scoring 65.4 points and shooting only 42.6 percent per contest. Ohio State continues to get out hustled, rebounded and pushed around. I was bummed we didn't see any man to man defense last game. In Thad's first three years, OSU's in-your-grill defense was a catalyst for the offensive end and I think the match up zone doesn't channel enough intensity. Ohio State used the 3/4 court press after made buckets, but even that had limited effectiveness.

Key Players: The lone bright spot in Monday's scoring was Evan Turner, who made the most of his first start, by scoring 13 points and recording five turnovers. He looked confident shooting the ball, but was a bit careless with the rock. Jamar Butler once again scored all of his point from 3point land and didn't even attempt a 2 point shot. I know Jamar is a quiet leader, however he has to start penetrating more and needs to increase his vocal communication.

David Lighty has now fallen below the 10 point average after his four point performance against Coppin St. Kosta Koufos was benched for the last 12+ minutes of the game for being soft inside. He and Othello Hunter combined for a mere 14 points and 5 rebounds (none by Koufos) against a team that played no one over 6'7".

Surprisingly, Ohio State's other newbies have struggled to get going. P.J. Hill provided a spark last game in his first extended time, but Jon Diebler continues his shooting woes, while Dallas Lauderdale and Eric Wallace simply aren't playing much.

Ohio State has to seize their opportunity Saturday to calm the mild panic going on in Buckeye Nation, but Thad is still the coach and he will work endlessly to make sure this team makes the tournament. I just want a few players to step up, so I can have something to write about before the Cleveland State game.

Notes: Walter Outfitt, a guard recruit for the 2008 season, suffered a season ending knee injury. This is the second time he torn knee ligaments, getting injured his sophomore season... Ohio State has failed to score 60 points in 4 of their last 5 games

Folks around Columbus already knew. But now the rest of the nation is figuring it out. Michael Redd is a damn good basketball player.

Through the first 7 years of his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks, Redd's scoring average increased every year. Though this season his scoring average is down slightly from last year (26.7 points per game in 2006-07 to 24.1 ppg in 2007), his assist and rebound per game averages are up significantly (2.3 assists per game in 2006-07 to 3.6 apg in 2007 & 3.7 rebounds per game in 2006-07 to 5.5 rpg in 2007).

Redd came into this season with a newfound attitude towards his play. Redd attributed his new outlook to playing with Team USA over the summer in the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas. He says he learned a lot from his Team USA teammates on how to be a leader and how to win. He studied Jason Kidd's passing, Kobe Bryant's defensive skills, and the overall team's winning expectations. Redd tried to bring the same skills and attitude he learned from his Team USA teammates to his Bucks teammates. But Redd realized his expectations for the Bucks needed to start with himself.

So in the off-season, Redd hired a personal trainer. Although still a prolific scorer, he wanted to be an all-around player. Redd's hire paid off. Redd is now at 7% body fat, where he was once around 19%, and his numbers for this season don't lie (see above). But more importantly, his leadership on the floor is molding a young crop of talent (Mo Williams, Andrew Bogut, Yi Jianlian, Charlie Villanueva, Charlie Bell, etc.) that could some day develop into an Eastern Conference power.

The Milwaukee Bucks have played 21 of their 82 games so far. Although they are only 9-12 for the season, the Bucks are currently sitting in the 9th position in the Eastern Conference standings. If Michael Redd has anything to do with it, expect the Bucks to make the playoffs. And if he gets more support from his teammates, expect them to win.

The Bucks may not be in the class of the Celtics, Pistons, Heat, Cavs, etc. in the East. But they could very well move up the ladder in coming years.

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Notable quotes:

"Most shooters need to find a rhythm, but [Michael] is ready right away. His [shooting] is something we did not have last year. He's one of the few guys that I've seen in coaching, in over 30 years, where guys are just so happy that he is shooting the ball." - Team USA (and Duke University) coach Mike Krzyzewski

"What we just saw is exactly the kind of stuff we've needed in international play." - USA Basketball scouting director and former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich (after watching Redd draining some 3's, hitting step-back jumpers, and taking it to the hole for easy lay-ups in a Team USA practice)

I've scored a lot of points, but now I've got to make my teammates better, show more leadership and take more responsibility for the team's success." - Michael Redd

I came across this pic of Woody and Jimmy Crum the other day and thought it might be fun to have a little caption contest.

I know we've spoiled you but no prizes on this one, just a little chance to show some creativity and prove once again that you're funnier than the 11W payroll. If I hear crickets, I'm going to blame you guys for not being funny enough to play so step it up.

Of course, I've got nothin' other than the obligatory "No, first they throw the beads THEN we pop the hoods!"

OSU v. Michigan Game Moving To Thanksgiving Weekend This news is a bit stale but the Big Ten presidents recently agreed to extend the football season. The agreement adds a bye week to create a 13 week schedule. Consequently, The Game moves to Thanksgiving weekend beginning 2009.

The agreement was met with mixed emotions by the coaches. Tressel is not in favor of the move because he likes the fact his staff and players get to be home for Thanksgiving under the current schedule while others argue the extra week is needed because the Big Ten is the only conference to play 12 straight weeks.

Personally, I'm not sure it's a big deal based on the fact it's happened before and the last time was when Tressel fulfilled his promise back in 2001. What about you guys?

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Oden Still Rules Bored on his long rehab, Greg continues to blog it up. Lately, he's been hawking free copies of his College Hoops 2K8 video game by way of a Q & A contest. His latest question was WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE UPSET IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL HISTORY? His answer:

I know alot of people might agree or disagree with me on this one but i think the biggest upset was Florida over Ohio State in the 2007 NCAA championship game.

Priceless.

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Laurinaitis Named FirstTeam AP All-American James Laurinaitis made it two straight First Team selections becoming the 36th Buckeye to repeat. Vern Baby Vern and Malcolm Jenkins picked up Second Team honors.

By now, I'm sure everyone's seen the supposedly photoshopped pic of Tim Tebow sportin' some jorts but props to loserswithsocks for taking it to another level with this beauty.

I think it's safe to say Tennessee fans ain't to sweet on the man they refer to as "Timbag".

Speaking of dudes that probably wear jean shorts, Les Miles announced he had a chat with key Michigan elitists last Friday. Amazingly, he declared he is not a candidate and that he instead was trying to help Michigan in their search for a head coach "just as any loyal alumnus might do".

After this annoucement, I'm strangely convinced he'll end up taking the job. Or maybe not. Either way, I'm starting to think he's got a crush on the media spotlight Curt Schilling would be proud of.

Most of the nation's high school football seasons have come to an end, except for Pennsylvania, who finally ends their two month playoff session this weekend. Since the last installment of Buckeye Seedlings, Tressel has continued to build upon his stellar recruiting group by landing Willie Mobley of Eden Prairie, MN. After leading his team to the 5A state championship, Mobley squashed Tim Brewster's dream of turning him into a tight end and gave the Vest his 15th verbal commitment.

Ohio State's main remaining target, Terrelle Pryor is guiding his team to the state title game this weekend, after a 41-21 victory last week. Pryor was his usual self, running for 158 yards, passing for 142 and returning an interception for a 100 yard TD. He became the first player in Western Pennsylvania history to run and pass for over 4,000 career yards, those are some sick numbers my friends and if Tressel has this conversation with him, I am going to look into a PSL at the BCS title games.

This past weekend, Ohio State hosted another group of targets/commits, including a couple of potential steals. Josh Jenkins is currently a soft verbal to West Virginia and is rated as one of the top linemen nationally. Jenkins is fresh off his second consecutive West Virginia state title and appreciated the chance to check out Cbus's ladies at the Lil' Wayne concert.

Another potential theft is Keith Wells, a defensive end out of Georgia. He has given a verbal to Florida State, but wanted to check out Ohio State just to be sure. Wells may have to act fast, the Buckeyes are probably going to give only 3 or 4 more scholarships and I'm sure two of them are reserved for Jenkins and Pyror.

Week 14's Buckeye NFLer of the Week is Matt Wilhelm of the San Diego Chargers. Matt chipped in with 10 tackles (7 solo) and also picked off Vince Young in the 2nd half as the Chargers came back from being down 14 points in the 4th quarter to beat the Tennessee Titans 23-17 in OT.

This is the 2nd time this season Wilhelm was given the 11W Buckeye NFLer of the Week. 2007 has become a breakout year for the 5th year pro. After missing 2 games to injury, Matt is 2nd on the Chargers in tackles. He has also registered 2 interceptions so far this year.

Anthony Gonzalez of the Indianapolis Colts was a close runner-up. Gonzo had 6 catches for 134 yards, including TD catches of 57 and 44 yards as the Colts routed the Baltimore Ravens 44-20.

The importance of the Chargers' victory in the standings gave Wilhelm's Week 14 effort the edge.

After wasting the last 2 hours of my life watching Ohio State slug it out with Coppin State, I feel an overwhelming need to keep this brief.

The Buckeyes returned from their 9 day layoff with a new starting lineup as Evan Turner replaced Jon Diebler and led OSU with 13 points in the 47-39 victory over the lowly Eagles. Turner recorded 3 steals and shot 3/4 from downtown in support of Jamar Butler.

Trailing 33-31 at the 10:37 mark, Butler hit a 3 pointer to give OSU a lead it wouldn't relinquish as the Buckeyes closed the game on a 16-6 run. Butler totaled 13 points, 6 assists and 3 steals on the night.

The fact that a 16-6 run was even needed is reason enough for me to wonder aloud just how much better this team is going to get. As predicted, Matta used the layoff to work on the 3/4 court press but it didn't lead to many easy opportunities. Of course, they didn't have many chances to set it up making only 18 shots.

Without any easy buckets, the offense again lacked movement as evidenced by 22 of the 41 field goal attemps coming from behind the arc. Eight different Buckeyes attempted a three pointer including Jon Diebler who went 0/3 lowering his 3FG% to 15% on the season (7/45).

On the inside, Othello Hunter (6) and Kosta Koufos (8) combined to shoot 58% from the floor but managed only 14 points as neither got to the line. Koufos was at his passive best notching 0 rebounds in 24 minutes. He spent some time on the pine in the second half in favor of Matt Turdwiggler. To his credit, Matt his a big 3 to put OSU ahead 39-34 with about 6 minutes to play.

Overall, it was another lackluster performance as this year's squad kept with tradition getting outrebounded 29-19 including a 12-4 disadvantage on the offensive glass. They also committed 13 turnovers, 5 by Turner. David Lighty continued to struggle after a 1/5 night totaling 4 points.

Ohio State 4-3, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

December 10, 2007 8:00 PM ET ------ The Schott Columbus, Oh.

Coppin St. 3-6, 0-1 MEAC Roster | Schedule

Opponent: Coppin St. comes into Columbus in the midst of a four game losing streak and should pose no threat to an Ohio State team that needs a win. The Eagles are returning 4 starters and 8 letter winners from last year's 12-20 team, but obviously those players don't possess the same skill level Ohio State has seen recently. Coppin State has played 7 of their first 9 on the road and will play their next 8 away from home.

The Eagles struggle to shoot the ball from the floor, connecting on only 40 percent of their shots, becoming worse from the 3point line at 32 percent. Coppin St. scores an average of 63.5 points a game and lose by a 26 point margin. There really is nothing this team is doing well thus far and writing any more about overall team play would be a waste of our time.

Key Players: Tywain McKee (#22 6'2" Sr.) is the only potential scoring threat, but his recent ankle injury could limit his action. He is scoring 18.2 a game and also leads the team in steals at 2 per contest. The Eagles don't have another player averaging in double digits, but do have 9 others that average at least 10 minutes a game. Robert Pressey (#40 6'7" Sr.) and A'Daeron Duncan (#23 6'6" Jr.) are the next leading scorers, each chipping in over 9 points a game.

Other key contributors to Coppin St.'s loss will be Antwan Harrison (#33 6'3" Sr.), Eddie Hayden (#31 6'6" Fr.) and Julian Conyers (#32 6'6" Sr.). Harrison is scoring 6.3 points and Heyden is a local Cbus product (Reynoldsburg) earning 5.5 per contest. Vincent Goldberry (#11 5'11" Fr.) leads the team in minutes at 34.5, but only scores 4.8 a game due to his horrible 30 percent FG percentage. He also leads the team in assists (2.8) and turnovers (2.4).

Notes: Coppin St. is located in Baltimore, MD. and has an enrollment of 4,189 students... They are coached by Ron "Fang" Mitchell in his 22nd season at the school, going 345-287... Coppin St. lost to Kent by 23 and to Xavier by 49.

Buckeye Breakdown: Thankfully for Thad's boys, they took a back seat this week after the BCS announcement. Ohio State is playing their first game in 9 days, taking a few on the chin against 3 highly ranked opponents in an eleven day span before that. Thad knew exactly what he was doing when he created this schedule, the kids finished finals last week and there was no restrictions on practice time, with plenty of things to work on.

Ohio State freshmen have accounted for 44 percent of the Buckeyes scoring thus far and that helps explain their 2nd half collapses in the last three losses. The Baby Buckeyes have seen their overall FG percentage drop to 42.4, which is why they are only scoring 68 points per tilt. Their 3point shooting is at a dismal 32 percent and OSU's free throw woes continue at 66 percent.

I expected a dip in scoring and shooting during the recent stretch of games and the next three should allow the Buckeyes to get their stroke back, but it is the unveiling of Thad's famous man to man defense that I am anticipating most. Ohio State has had to rely on a match up zone to start the season, as their man up fundamentals were slow to develop. Thad does not like to play zone and the defensive pressure should be turned way up, including a three-quarters court press, for tonight's game.

Key Players: Ohio State has 4 games before Christmas and since no one wants to play consistently, I have decided to turn this into a wish list for the Holiday season.

I am still driving the Othello Hunter bandwagon, but he has only scored in double figures three times and reached 10 rebounds once. He needs a string of double-doubles to get his confidence going, because Ohio State desperately needs his inside presence heading into conference play

I want to see Kosta dominate in the paint and reach 20 points at least twice. At times Kosta has looked soft, especially against North Carolina and he is going to have a distinct height advantage against weaker opponents. He needs to pitch a tent in the lane and take the ball up strong EVERY time. He still leads the team at 16 points and 7.6 rebounds a game.

Hopefully Jon Diebler has rediscovered his shooting touch. To his credit he has not forced his jumper and continues to be aggressive on offense, but his shot simply has not fallen. Do you think Diebler has ever gone through a seven game stretch where he shot 21 percent from the floor and 17 percent from beyond the arc? I hope he spent the last week shooting 3's and explodes for 15 of them before Christmas.

I wish for David Lighty to continue his recent double digit scoring and drive the basket with a little more control. After his forgettable performance in New York, Lighty has averaged 11 points and 6 boards over the last three. I'm sure he will be excited to see a return to man defense and should be able to leak out on turnovers, creating a few more easy buckets for D-Light.

Matt Turdwiggler, please just start playing. I want to ditch the nickname, but I can not except 0 points in each of Ohio State's 3 losses and a measly 18 points, 13 rebounds on the season.

If Ohio State can make my Christmas wishes come true and Jamar Butler continues to lead the other less heralded newbies, Thad's team should be able to win 6 out of their next 8, with Florida and at Illinois being the 2 biggest obstacles.

Notes: The Schott spent $500,000 to upgrade lighting features and the scorer's table... Matta is 36-7 against nonconference opponents... Ohio State's schedule strength is ranked 6th toughest thus far.