Welcome to Monday. We're fresh off a huge recruiting weekend with Ohio State hosting the Nike Football Training Camp (NFTC) and the Elite 11 quarterback competition, so we'll try to catch you up on the metric ton of news those events generated.
Four-star quarterback Brandon Harris, stopped by Ohio State to take an unofficial visit Friday before shining during the Elite 11 competition and liked what he saw. It won't be easy pulling him away from Texas A&M and LSU, but the fact that his Twitter banner is now an 11W photo has to mean good things, right?
Toledo Central Catholic quarterback DeShone Kizer performed well, too, capturing the "golden ticket" to the Elite 11 final Saturday. Kizer does not have an Ohio State offer at this point, but remains open to school, despite competing offers from Alabama, LSU, Tennessee and others.
Sunday's NFTC saw players of all positions compete for invites to The Opening, with two future Buckeyes capturing MVP honors at their positions. Kyle Berger of St. Ignatius was named MVP of the linebacker group, while Damon Webb of Detroit's Cass Tech – considered the best player in the state of Michigan – was judged to be tops among defensive backs. For their efforts, both were awarded golden tickets, as was fellow Ohio State commit Dylan Thompson, for his work on the defensive line.
You can catch up on Jeremy and Miles' full camp report here.
Da'Shawn Hand, the nation's top prospect in the eyes of some, was also in town, accompanying teammate Tim Settles. We caught up with both to discuss their trips to Columbus. Hand has moved on, but Settle, a 2015 prospect is in play for the Buckeyes.
For more video, see our interviews with Ohio State commits Dante Booker and Damon Webb, in addition to our interviews with camp wide receiver MVP Montae Nicholson and tackle Sterling Jenkins.
TIM TEBOW IN COLUMBUS! TIM TEBOW IN COLUMBUS! Saturday morning, Ohio State cornerbacks coach (and internet legend), Kerry Coombs, posted a photo of Tim Tebow at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Tebow, sporting orange shirts, didn't get the dress code memo, but we'll forgive him.
The former Florida quarterback was in town to hang out with good friend Urban Meyer, and take in a little bit of the Memorial Tournament held in nearby Dublin.
With no pro career to speak of, the obvious question is whether Tim Tebow will ultimately join Ohio State's staff in some capacity. Someone that we trust told us that if Tebow wants to enter coaching, there's a position on the staff waiting for him. It would be an entry level position like video coordinator, but it's a foot in the door (and Ohio State does have a history of making video coordinators into quarterback coaches).
Should that happen, would you be able to live with it? Would ESPN collapse onto itself and suck all of the energy out of the sporting universe?
HELLO, JOHNS HOPKINS. LET'S SHARE RESEARCH. Saturday, Inside Lacrosse seemed to confirm a long-standing rumor that noted research institution, and men's lacrosse powerhouse, Johns Hopkins would announce plans to join the Big Ten.
Multiple sources have told Inside Lacrosse that Johns Hopkins will on Monday announce its intentions to join the Big Ten as an affiliate member in men's and women's lacrosse. By extension, the announcement keys the formation of Big Ten men's and women's lacrosse as league-sponsored sports for the first time.
The announcement will bring to fruition a several-month process to find a conference home for JHU's men's lacrosse program, which has played as an independent for 130 years. The Big Ten emerged as a target for the Blue Jays after Maryland and Rutgers announced their departure from the ACC and Big East, respectively, and intentions to join the Big Ten. That would make five men's lacrosse programs along with Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, one short of the required six for an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.
This is significant for a few reasons. Hopkins would join Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers, giving the Big Ten the six teams it needs to hold intra-conference competition. The Big Ten was already planning to start a women's league in 2014, with Northwestern being the sixth, and Hopkins could begin play next season.
Hopkins is also a national power, having won nine men's NCAA tournament championships in the last 30 years. Add in an emerging Ohio State, and a traditionally solid Maryland program and you have the makings of a pretty strong league.
Johns Hopkins is an elite academic institution, too. Their addition means the CIC just got stronger, which, as Jim Delany will gladly tell you, is very important.
Finally, the move is great news for the BTN. Remember, the Big Ten is launching a hockey league this season and adding a men's and women's lacrosse league will only mean more inventory for the network. The fact that hockey and lacrosse are each growing rapidly only helps.
Just wait. The Gee cloud will pass soon enough. HAS GORDON GEE APOLOGIZED TO YOU YET?
After apologizing to the AP, the SEC, faculty, staff and students, and, ughh, Bret Bielema, for remarks that made international headlines last week, Ohio State's president apologized to the rest of the Big Ten Sunday:
In a statement Sunday, Gordon Gee says he apologized for his "misguided attempt at humor" before the university's Athletic Council in December. He says the Big Ten universities are "some of this country's most highly accomplished research institutions" and he's honored to lead a Big Ten school.
I used to think that Gee had the safest job at Ohio State. He's loved for his leadership, fundraising, charity work, and, at times, his quirky sense of humor. But, he's in hot water here – not the getting fired soon type of hot water, but certainly the "you've been warned" variety of hot water.
Gee fancies himself as a comedian of sorts. If you've ever seen him work a pep rally, you know what I mean. He's going to have to tone down his routine and be damned sure that he doesn't crack at events that keep audio.
This will go away soon, Gee licking his wounds and surviving, but the absolute worst part of it is that Gee had to issue an apology to Bret Bielema. Bret Bielema. I mean, this is a guy, when asked about the scandal at Penn State, said, "Guess it's a good time to be a Badger fan."
YOU GO, GIRLS. If you missed it, Ohio State's women's rowing team captured the program's first NCAA title Sunday, topping Cal and Princeton. As Johnny pointed out yesterday, this is, oddly enough, the first NCAA women's championship that Ohio State has ever won, with the championships coming in events that are not officially sanctioned by the NCAA (synchronized swimming, for instance).
How does one win an NCAA championship in rowing, you ask?
OSU women's rowing coach Andy Teitelbaum on his crews' effort in winning school's first national title today: "They rowed their brains out."
— Tim May (@TIM_MAYsports) June 2, 2013
We won't pretend to cover women's rowing, or even to know the first thing about it, but we salute you, nonetheless, ladies, on a job well done.
Gordon Gee even took time out of his apology tour to congratulate the team.
WELCOME THE NEW BROS. 11W GLOBALCORP (Ltd., GmbH) is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to its recruiting staff.
Mike Young – you may have met him yesterday – will be our point man for college basketball recruiting, particularly as it relates to the Buckeyes. Thad Matta has an elite program and we plan to provide the coverage this program deserves.
Mike has experience with the Lantern, BuckeyeTV, and even a stint at ESPN, where Scott Van Pelt complimented his facial hair once. You can follow him on Twitter at @MYoung11W.
Joining Mike, is Jordan Wagner, a sophomore at Ohio State. Jordan will play Star for us, providing run support (football recruiting), while also tracking players off the line (basketball recruiting).
He observes National Signing Day as a holiday but also knows what's up on the AAU front. You can follow him on Twitter at @JWagner11W.
Welcome, gents. Now, hurry up with Citro's coffee and donuts.
ETC. Don't let his sanctimonious grandstanding fool you, Bret Bielema is still Bret Bielema... Longhorn big money is starting to get restless... Pac-12 commissions weird investigation into whether an official violated ethics standards by offering a technical foul bounty for Arizona's Sean Miller... You have a few more hours to enter or vote in Photoshop Phriday... A cheat sheet for meat eaters... 40 motion picture cinimagraphs (all good, but Natural Born Killers may take the prize)... Just ordered 10 of these for 11W HQ.
