Ryan Shazier Emerging

Glorious

This season has been a rollercoaster ride from the beginning. It was apparent OSU wasn't really going to contend this year but I, along with many of you, tried to convince myself that this team had a chance to contend. After all this was Ohio St. and we still had the athletic cream of the crop in the big ten.

Unfortunately, many of those top athletes were suspended for more than half the season and our starting quarterback bolted for the NFL to hold a clipboard. It was OK I told myself. We had one of the top-rated quarterbacks coming in to replace him and a slew of young talent itching to see the field and become the next set of stars in Columbus.

The defense always played with a chip on its' shoulder and the running backs went almost 5 deep heading into the Akron game. It all sounded great in my head and looked even better on paper. Unfortunately that’s not how things have played out this year. This team has been extremely tough to watch at times. Beginning the year with Akron served as a temporary cloak as to what OSU really was. Things went downhill in a hurry after that opening game and culminated with the disaster in South Beach.

Basketball Recruiting Update - Lenzelle Smith, Jr. + Robbie Hummel's Injury

Time to see what he can do

Lenzelle Smith, Jr.

Lucky player #4 in our adventure through player profiles of all newcomers to the basketball team is Lenzelle Smith, Jr. Lenzelle is the third highest ranked recruit in this class, according to ESPN, along with having the coolest first name in the class (according to me). In my last player preview, I gushed over Aaron Craft because he is what many pundits would call a "true" point guard, in that he is a great distributor of the ball, and also he is a great defender, thus making him exactly the type of player I want running my team. Lenzelle Smith, Jr. is essentially the exact opposite type of point guard that Aaron Craft is.

Basketball Recruiting Update

Instead of the ITS Top 25, we look at some basketball recruiting. Hopefully the poll will be up tomorrow.

 It has been awhile, but the next installment of our series detailing Ohio State's new additions to the basketball team is finally up. Before I get into this article, I do want to mention that Ohio State already has three commits for the 2011. Since these guys are just beginning their senior seasons in high school, I won't go into their stats. But I will say this: All three players (LaQuinton Ross, Shannon Scott, and Sam Thompson) are 4 Star, ESPNU 100 recruits.

Thad Matta is burning up the recruiting trails again, and legally (looking at you, Calipari). The guy is simply one of the top coaches in the country, and I don't think I would take anybody over him right now. I know what argument some fans will make..."John Calipari has vacated more Final Fours than most coaches will ever get to." This is true, and call me old fashioned, but I love a guy who runs a clean program and does nothing but win. It wasn't long ago that Jim O'brien ran this program into the ground, committed some violations himself, and then sued the school. So appreciate Coach Matta while he is here.