Welcome to the Skull Session.
Ohio State's artistic swimming team took third at the 2026 U.S. Collegiate Championships, but I am still a proud son!
Ohio State's artistic swimming squad took third place at the U.S. Collegiate Championships. https://t.co/s5Lr2ZykPk
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) March 29, 2026
Have a good Monday.
ALWAYS AND FOREVER. Jeremiah Smith has been at Ohio State for two seasons, and he’s already one of the all-time greats. One, because he’s an elite talent. And two, because he’s an elite person.
When asked about his offseason, the transfer portal and any offers he may have received, Smith didn’t hesitate.
“I was always going to be at Ohio State,” he said.
Jeremiah Smith on his transfer portal offers this offseason: I knew especially at the end of (the Cotton Bowl) that a certain program was going to come at me very hard. Not gonna say no names, I think everybody here knows who it was. But I wasnt goin nowhere. pic.twitter.com/3bydijP8DG
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) March 28, 2026
The offers were, I’m sure, plenty.
There was even an offer from — well, You Know Who.
“I knew, especially at the end of (the Cotton Bowl), that a certain program was going to come at me very hard," Smith said. "But I’m not going to say names. I think everybody here knows who it was. But I wasn’t goin’ nowhere.”
That’s king behavior from Jeremiah.
He will always and forever be a Buckeye!
DO-OR-DIE. Last week, I wrote about the sacrifices Brandon Inniss made this winter to become an Iron Buckeye. I also wrote about why he made them.
“There’s a rule that if you’re going on the Buckeye Cruise, you can’t be an Iron Buckeye,” Inniss said. “I was solely focused on being an Iron Buckeye and being one of the hardest workers on the team. I’m glad I was able to hit that goal.”
He added, “A captain last year doesn’t mean anything to the new guys, honestly. I wanted them to know how hard I work and that comes with being an Iron Buckeye. They know the Iron Buckeyes are the hardest workers in the facility.”
Jeremiah Smith, a four-time Iron Buckeye and the first freshman in program history to earn the accolade, knows what hard works look like and prides himself on being the hardest-working player on the team. That said, no player is more qualified to describe the strides Inniss has made this offseason — and even Smith has been impressed.
“This year he’s gonna be the guy. He’s gonna be the one taking that leap this year, and we owe it to him. He’s been here for years. He know he gotta come in and put the work in as well, but it’s do or die for him. This could determine if he’d be a first-round draft pick, so he knows what’s at stake.”
That’s correct.
He does.
“I got one year left, and Imma do everything I can to be a first-round draft pick,” Inniss said last week. “I need to be more explosive. I need to have all the production I can. When I have the ball in my hands, I got to catch everything. I got to create a lot of separation and be dominant on the perimeter.”
Smith will push him. So will transfers Devin McCuin and Kyle Parker, several returners and freshmen Chris Henry Jr., Jerquaden Guilford and Brock Boyd.
“When you look at (the receiver room) top to bottom, what it does, it provides a group that has true competitive depth,” Cortez Hankton said on Saturday. “That’s all you want because you never know how it’s gonna unfold during the season. You never know what can happen in certain situations. You have multiple guys who can do multiple things. It allows you to truly put three really elite guys on the football field.”
What’s the old proverb?
The cream rises to the top?
This fall, Inniss doesn’t just have to prove he belongs there — he has to prove he can stay there. In a room loaded with talent and no shortage of hungry receivers, the margin for error is gone. He skipped the cruise. He chased Iron Buckeye status. He embraced the grind.
Now comes the part that matters most.
It’s do or die.
WELCOME, COACH HANKTON. It took one press conference for me to buy into Cortez Hankton.
The new Ohio State assistant — who called himself “blessed” to coach Jeremiah Smith and said his time with the Buckeyes has already been “better than I would have ever imagined” — comes across as humble and grounded. Maybe I’m wrong (I don’t think I am), but that presence showed immediately in his first media appearance.
The clearest example came when he brought up Kyren Lacy while congratulating Kyle Parker for losing his black stripe. A former LSU receiver, Lacy died earlier this year at 24 in an apparent suicide during a police pursuit in Texas. He had been dealing with legal issues stemming from a fatal car accident in Louisiana months prior.
“Let me say this because I think it’s important. I truly enjoy using this game as a platform to develop young men,” he said. “Kyle Parker, he got his black stripe taken off (on Saturday). That’s a big deal. When I step in between these white lines, I think about the guys that I’ve coached before, and a guy like Kyren Lacy, who’s like my son. And so when I walk out here, I wanna make sure I honor his name, and I do whatever I can to help every individual in that room.
“And to see KP, who was like a brother to Kyren, take that black stripe off, man, it was really just fun and heartwarming to watch. Because I know that dude would be smiling for him. I can see them dancing in the corner and celebrating. It’s days like today that truly let you take the perspective of being thankful and grateful to be in this position and to coach this job.”
That’s not coachspeak. That’s perspective.
And if that’s who Cortez Hankton during his first months on the job, Ohio State’s receiver room is in very good hands.
I LOVE YOU, MAINE. Jermaine Mathews Jr. has an infectious personality — and smile.
As I rewatched Ohio State’s press conferences from last week, I couldn’t help but notice the ear-to-ear grin Mathews had when someone asked him about receiving his first pair of Gold Pants.
“I love them so bad,” Mathews said. “I need me another one.”
Yes, you do, Jermaine.
Yes, you do.
Ohio State’s creative team posted images from the program’s Gold Pants ceremony on Tuesday. You could see how much it meant to Ryan Day and his players to participate in the tradition Francis Schmidt started so long ago. I hope to see Day, Mathews and the 2026 Buckeyes to celebrate again a year from now!
SONG OF THE DAY. "Gold On The Ceiling" - The Black Keys.
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