Welcome to the Skull Session.
It's always good to see Mike Conley back in Columbus.
Great to have Mike in the building & talking to the team today before practice #GoBucks | #FightToTheEnd pic.twitter.com/P0JDlZLsFr
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) June 23, 2025
Have a good Wednesday.
IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING. Chris Henry Jr. is special. How special? Appear in an Adidas advertisement as a high schooler special.
In a commercial captioned, “Extra! Extra! Read all about it!” the Ohio State wide receiver commit joins LSU wide receiver commit Tristen Keys to promote the adizero Death Adder cleat.
The son of late Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, Henry Jr. has been committed to Ohio State since July 2023. The five-star recruit, ranked as the No. 15 overall prospect in the 2026 class, shut down his recruitment in April. He shared on X that he is “100% locked in and ready to work” for the Buckeyes.
While a knee injury sidelined Henry for the majority of his junior year at Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California), the – my goodness gracious, he is massive – 6-foot-5, 205-pound pass catcher was an elite playmaker in his last complete football season at Withrow High School (Cincinnati), collecting 71 catches for 1,127 yards and 10 touchdowns.
A star on and off the field, Henry has over 55,000 followers on Instagram and will be a desirable brand ambassador before, during and after his senior season – but especially after, as he’ll join an Ohio State wide receiver room with at least two other five-stars: Jeremiah Smith and Quincy Porter.
Gosh, Ohio State is Wide Receiver U, and it’s not close!
WAIT… HE’S GOATED. Smith is a 99 overall in EA Sports College Football 26. If his rating holds until release, and I have little reason to believe it won't, Smith will be the first 99 overall at launch since EA Sports relaunched its college football franchise in 2024.
Smith joins Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams – or, wait, let’s be real, Williams joins Smith – on the standard cover of College Football 26. The pair of pass catchers are also on the deluxe edition cover with Ryan Day, Caleb Downs and more.
A Game 1 starter at Ohio State, Smith led the Buckeyes with 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 16 total touchdowns in 2024. None of his catches were more important than his 56-yard reception to help Ohio State claim its 34-23 win over Notre Dame in the national championship game.
WILL HOWARD JEREMIAH SMITH pic.twitter.com/BSefjsDUIx
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 21, 2025
WHAT’S COLDER THAN COLD? It’s hot outside. Too hot! But you know what’s colder than cold? Ice cold, yes – but also Jayden Fielding draining a 33-yard field goal to seal the Buckeyes’ victory against the Fighting Irish.
JAYDEN FIELDING PUTS IT THRU
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 21, 2025
THATS THE GAME
OHIO STATE ARE NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
CONGRATUALTIONS @OfficialAJHawk #PMSCFPNATTYESPN2 pic.twitter.com/cRZQQUdZAB
Man, that kick will never get old!
HIS TIME TO SHINE. CBS Sports’ Carter Bahns named X-factors for teams poised to make the College Football Playoff in 2025.
For most schools featured in the article, Bahns passed over the obvious choices. That was true for Ohio State, as Bahns didn’t mention Smith, Carnell Tate, Max Klare, Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs or another proven player. Instead, Bahns went with Kenyatta Jackson Jr., a defensive end looking to make his mark after spending three seasons as a backup to Jack Sawyer and JT Tuimoloau.
None of Ohio State's four starting defensive linemen from the national championship squad returned for 2025. Replacing veteran talent in the trenches is one of the toughest tasks in college football roster building, but the Buckeyes are uniquely positioned to attack that challenge head-on. Everything has been building to this moment for Kenyatta Jackson Jr., whom the Ohio State coaches have not been shy about naming a team leader ahead of his starting debut. The former top-100 recruit was one of the defense's top reserves over the last two years, but while the expectation is that he thrives in an expanded role, he is entirely unproven as the leading weapon in the pass rushing scheme.
Jackson has made 31 appearances across three seasons with the Buckeyes and collected 25 tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery.
While none of those stats are notable, Jackson’s 6-foot-6, 258-pound frame and 82-inch wingspan are, as is his athleticism. If Jackson can maximize those attributes in his senior season while lining up opposite of Beau Atkinson, Caden Curry and more, then I do not doubt that we could look to him as the X-factor for the Buckeyes’ 2025 campaign.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Chinatown" - Bleachers.
CUT TO THE CHASE. Have an existential crisis about your place in the vast scale of the Star Wars universe... Diontae Johnson admits he was too cold to enter a game last season... The "Protein Madness" is just getting started... Bobby Sherman, 60s teen idol and singer of hit Little Woman, dies aged 81.
