Eleven Warriors

Buddies!

My paternal grandfather was a steelworker. More specifically, he was a crane operator that guided a giant vat of molten steel down an assembly line to be poured into molds and other vats and who knows what else.

It was a dank, unbearably hot, and potentially dangerous job, but hell, it paid well, and for an early 20-something from rural Kentucky who grew up on a hardscrabble sharecropper's farm, the idea of putting in 25 to 30 years of hard time and then peacing out in relative comfort was not a bad one.

So that's what he did, and by the time Shirley Ginter hit his mid 50's, he knew that he had another 20 years of fishing, whittling, and attending Reds games to look forward to.

Because that was the deal, see: work hard for a long time at one job, get your gold timepiece, and peace out to whatever slice of heaven you've carved out for yourself in the meantime. It's not a bad gig if you can get it; my mom has been a nurse for over 40 years now, my dad a teacher for over 25, and they're hoping for a similar deal once they decide to throw up deuces and retire.

Society is still mostly pretty cool with that (even if in reality those jobs really don't exist with any great abundance anymore), even to the point where we extrapolate this concept to apply to a wide range of jobs, and to a ridiculous degree. Like, say, CEOs. Or senators.

Or football coaches.

Or university presidents.

Gareon Conley

Eleven Warriors' coverage of the upcoming 2013 football season for Ohio State continues this week with another profile of a freshman hoping to have an immediate effect on the football fortunes of the program. In the sixteenth installment of the fifth edition of this now 24-part series, we consider Gareon Conley. Conley, a cornerback prospect from Massillon, is another recruit that Urban Meyer figuratively "flipped" to the Buckeyes. Better yet, he flipped from Michigan in December of last year, having committed to the Wolverines in March 2012. This brief story is retold below.

After retelling Gareon Conley's recruitment and commitment to both Big Ten rivals, I include a breakdown of Gareon Conley's strengths and areas for improvement. Whereas size is becoming the norm at wide receiver at the professional level (something Brady Hoke's staff is trying to duplicate for its program in Ann Arbor), size at cornerback is becoming a must. After discussing his potential to Ohio State football, I include a highlight film for you to watch and conjecture about a possible redshirt year. I mention some miscellaneous things about Gareon Conley you may find interesting before concluding that he is better known. I put him on the board accordingly.

Height: 6-1
Weight: 180lbs
Fake 40: 4.5
High School: Washington High School; Massillon, Ohio

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On July 1st, 2013, Ohio State will finally rid itself of the greatest monster of the 21st century, the man Dave Zirin called "the dark heart of higher education" on national television: Elwood Gordon Gee. Good riddance, I say. Every day since word of the off-the-record comments were heroically leaked to the press during the doldrums of summer (thus maximizing its impact), I have awoken in the morning and immediately asked myself, "When will the Ohio State trustees alleviate this headache?"

Up until yesterday afternoon, my prayers had been ignored. 

President Obama had a 9-11 mastermind right under his nose.

With Gordon Gee on the outs, buddy, let's just say I haven't been this jacked up since the United States got the drop on Osama bin Laden, sent a squad of trained goons into his house, vacated his skull and entombed that SOB's corpse in an unmarked grave at the bottom of the sea.

Does Gordon Gee deserve the same fate as Osama bin Laden? When I stand back and objectively look at the criticism laid at the feet of Ohio State's disgraced leader, it's a question which no longer seems ludicrous as it once did.

Ohio State fans may be inclined to write this abyssal chorus of naysayers off as "internet haterz," but they would be going against such sages as Rick Pitino, Pat Forde and Matt Hayes. I'm sure even Thomas Jefferson, who knew a thing or two about unchecked tyranny, would quake in his knickers at the prospect of a cage match against the aforementioned triumvirate of American intellectual muscle. 

University presidents have the same characteristics as referees – you don’t know their names until they screw up. For much of the nation, that model fits precisely when it comes to Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee.

He’s recognizable from his bow tie and horn-rimmed glasses – an Orville Redenbacher look-a-like. But many only heard about Gee when he had a verbal gaffe. Unfortunate for Ohio State and Gee himself, who will retire July 1, is that he accomplished much during his two stints as the university’s president.

Few could speak, fundraise and inspire students and alumni like Gee. When he spoke, people listened. Oftentimes, they did so with checkbook in hand. In the past year, Ohio State topped the list when it came to growing endowments among the 50 largest university funding pools.

[21 Marine rifles erupt in succession]

E. Gordon Gee is dead; long live E. Gordon Gee!

Gordon Gee is not literally dead, but the haters have gotten the second best thing: his retirement, effective July 1st, 2013. The 69 year-old rainmaker has been serving his second tour of duty as Ohio State's President since October 1st, 2007. While Gee didn't blame his recently exposed off-color jokes about Catholics and the SEC, he did admit "turbulence" often forces focused discussions with family. I have trouble envisioning Ohio State's President being anybody other than Gee. 

At this point, I may have to re-watch this week's Game of Thrones to see if Gordon Gee was in Robb Stark's royal entourage that was so brutally eradicated by Lord Walder Fey. Who was the Ohio State insider that originally dropped a dime on Gordon Gee? At least Robb Stark got to look his killer in the eye before the almighty Roose Bolton eviscerated him.

EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE BASKETBALL REF, ED HIGHTOWER, IS RETIRING. The Big Ten standby announced he will be retiring after the 2013-2014 season. I say "everybody's favorite basketball ref" because who doesn't watch basketball games for their referees?

Ed Hightower refereed his first Big Ten basketball game in 1981. Since then, he's miraculously refereed 12 Final Fours, making self-aggrandizing foul calls every step of the way. 

For basketball fans like me – who watch the game for the referees and look to see where they can senselessly inject drama – we will be losing quite the college basketball icon. Will "TV Teddy" Valentine be up to picking up the slack after this season? Perhaps the NBA's Tony Brothers could drop down a level to help him? Gosh, I worry what will happen to the game without referees. Maybe Ed Hightower will reconsider? If he does, may he referee for another 100 years.

Oh, and you'll want to move on this soon-to-be collector's item.

In the competitive world of recruiting, coaches will fight for any edge their programs can get – whether perceived or real.

The Schott is drab on the inside, but the outside will look nice

Ohio State has been at the forefront of throwing money at any slight disadvantages they identify, as the school usually is. Construction is already well underway for a $19 million basketball practice facility. 

Buckeyes assistant coach Jeff Boals made his debut on Vine with a quick look at the new facility (featuring a Jon Diebler cameo). Construction is expected to be completed within the year, giving head coach Thad Matta a sparkling, new building to showcase for the class of 2014.

It’s been a long process – one that started in 2007, according to athletic director Gene Smith.

“Working with Thad and [former women’s basketball coach] Jim [Foster], it was critical to evaluate what we need to help keep our facilities top-notch,” Smith told Eleven Warriors in December. “It was apparent the Schott needed to be enhanced.”

Apparent to only those on the inside of the program, perhaps – the rest saw it as an arena with modern amenities but lacking the charm of many older college gyms.

It's Tuesday and it's time for the final part of a three part series that takes a look back at the players Urban Meyer and the Ohio State coaching staff signed on February 6th, 2013.

Johnson could start in his freshmen season

Two weeks ago we took a look at the players Ohio State signed on the offensive side of the football. Last week we broke down the defensive linemen OSU signed in the 2013 class.

This week we're going to take an in depth look at the linebackers, defensive backs, and athletes the Buckeyes signed on the defensive side of the football this past February.

The linebackers, defensive backs, and athletes the Buckeyes signed include the like of Trey Johnson, Mike Mitchell, Eli Apple, Cam Burrows, Gareon Conley, Vonn Bell, Jayme Thompson, Darron Lee, and Christopher Worley.

We will talk about these prospect's future at OSU by talking about aspects such as potential for immediate playing time this fall, overall potential, and more.

Join me after the jump to learn about a third of the incoming freshmen class at OSU.

Wanting to switch gears from football a bit as the offseason drags on, I dug into Ohio State hoops history with the intention of running the same Mount Buckmore series I created for football last summer. In case you missed it, I took a stab at building an OSU football Mount Rushmore, by decade, starting with the 60's, and on through the 70's, 80's, 90's and 00's. 

The debates were fun so I initially thought taking the same approach with hoops was a no-brainer but with the yearly basketball rosters so small in comparison to football, the competition for one of four spots, by decade, simply didn't look to present enough arguments to make the endeavor worthwhile. 

As an alternate vehicle to look back on past Buckeye basketball greats - comparing and contrasting along the way - I decided to create two teams. 

Because Ohio State basketball wasn't much to sneeze at before 1960 (apologies to a handful of squads during the late-30's to mid-40's plus Robin Freeman and Frank Howard), I elected to start there, giving each team 26 years worth of players to choose from. Team Scarlet's roster would be built from guys playing anywhere from 1960-1986 while Team Gray's squad would be comprised of ballers spanning the 1987 to 2013 seasons. 

Today, I unveil my 10-man roster for Team Scarlet. Next Tuesday, I'll have Team Gray ready for your arguments and maybe even get into how a game might unfold if the two squads were to meet head to head. 

Elizabeth Gee was just 46 when breast cancer killed her. She left behind an adopted teenage daughter as well as a grieving husband, who had barely been Ohio State's president for a year when she passed 22 years ago this December.

Elwood Gordon Gee and Elizabeth had been married 22 years earlier in Utah. They've now been apart as long as they were together.

The Gees had each other through college, law school and his rapid ascent into academia that saw him become West Virginia University's president at the age of 37, Colorado's at 41 and Ohio State's at 46. Suddenly, he was a young widower in Columbus, a town he barely knew.

And the town overwhelmed him with comfort during the most challenging time of his life. It rallied around Gee in 1991 and quickly calibrated his unique character with its idiosyncratic culture through the unwanted vehicle of his own personal tragedy. Elizabeth quickly became everyone's shared loss.

Gee was forever changed by this reception. Not just by losing his wife, but by Ohio State's impact on him during that difficult time. It shaped the way he still carries himself today when attending to the affairs of advancing his beloved institution.