Tuesday's Buckeye Bits

Welcome to your Tuesday version of Buckeye Bits, and Happy Valentines Day Buckeye fans! We are in the midst of what can only be described as a sports apocalypse. Fairly meaningless college basketball, NBA games and the NHL are the only things out there to quench your sporting thirst.

Hopefully these links can get you through another cold February day. I know this is the only thing getting me through another horrible February. I hopped on a plane last year to check out the Tribe in Arizona. I highly recommend checking out your team during the Spring some day if you get the chance. Just make sure you bulk up on the sunscreen if you head to warmer climates. I learned that lesson the hard way last year.

Anniversary Of A Legend. As you may or may not know, today is a special day in Buckeye lore. The anniversary of Wayne Woodrow Hayes birthday has been reached. During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football program, Hayes's teams won five national championships (1954, 1957, 1961, 1968, 1970), captured 13 Big Ten Conference titles, and amassed a record of 205–61–10. Woody also sparked a fire under the belly of what is now arguably one the greatest rivalries in all of sports. He would be 99 years old today, having died in 1987. Happy birthday to one of the greatest coaches in history. You will never be forgotten.

Shooty Hoops- The Buckeyes played an inspired and sloppy game against the Spartans last Saturday in Columbus. I realize it's hard to get up for every game on your schedule but this was the Spartans! The Buckeye's have to give a better showing than that. It's performances like this that have me worried about what may happen in March. There are only a handfull of games left on the schedule to work out the kinks.Let's hope Matta and the boys get serious about this season or they will be watching the Final Four on TV in early April. Here's my go to column at the start of the week for OSU Hoops.

'12 5-Star WR/ATH Recruit Stefon Diggs To Announce Decision Today

Diggs has the potential to play instantly

2012 5-star wide receiver/athlete Stefon Diggs is scheduled to announce his college choice on a Washington cable channel at 6 p.m. today.

As of last night, the blue-chip receiver from Olney, Md., apparently hadn’t made up his mind. From what I've gathered; Ohio State, Florida, Auburn, and Maryland are all still in the running. Every single team site for those teams has said that he is going to their school.

The 6'1", 190-pound Diggs is rated as the nation’s No. 10 prospect overall, according to 247Sports.com. He is the lone prospect in the national top 50 that did not sign on national signing day last Wednesday. 

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, on national signing day, told reporters that he still had room for one more signee in the 2012 recruiting class and that he was specifically looking for a speed athlete to help with his spread offense. So he targeted Diggs to fill a need for playmaking speed, as he put it, to be the cherry on top of his highly ranked recruiting class. Of course, that doesn't mean Florida, Maryland, and Auburn can't use him for the same reason.

Mike Farrell of Rivals.com believes that the Terrapins are the team to beat, as of Thursday. In second place? The Florida Gators. If that seems surprising, remember that the nation’s No. 1 prospect this year, receiver Dorial Green-Beckham of Springfield, Mo., chose Missouri over Arkansas, Oklahoma, Alabama and a host of others on National Signing Day.

Hit the jump for video highlights of Diggs, and stay tuned for the latest news on his announcement.

Friday's Buckeye Bits

Good morning Buckeye Nation!  I really wanted to do  that in the Robin Williams "Good Morning Vietnam" voice, but it doesn't really translate well to the written word...

I digress. We are finally starting to see something resembling winter here in Columbus. So imagine a warm September Saturday in the Shoe, surrounded by thousands of your sweatiest friends, and that will take the chill out of this weather.

What, recruiting season's still open? Yep, for players who want to have the spotlight to themselves can't make up their minds in time, there's still time.  Stefon Diggs is one highly rated recruit still on the table, for now. Deciding between Ohio State, Auburn, Florida, and...Maryland? Really, Maryland? Hometown team, for certain, but the Terps don't have a particularly stellar track record for producing either winning teams or lots of high draft picks. Randy White, Boomer Esiason, and Shawne Merriman are the only ones I can think of.

Monday's Buckeye Bits

Good morning Buckeye faithful, and welcome to your Monday edition of the Buckeye Bits. It's National Signing Day week, and that means the last couple of pushes, nudges, and full on shoves from coaches to recruits to sign with their school. As for the Buckeyes, they sit with 23 commitments, and hope to add to that number with a couple of big players.

I personally love the recruiting game. It's an interesting thing to watch a kid toy with coaches and fan bases with a simple tweet or even rumors that are started about said recruit which aren't true. Now all of that comes to the boiling point Wednesday, but might continue on for a couple of the recruits seriously enjoying the recruiting process.

Anyways, on to the Bits.

23 You Say? Not So Fast My Friend. As I mentioned above, the 2012 class stands at 23 commitments, but as we told you yesterday, wide receiver commit Roger Lewis is no longer a verbal to the Buckeyes, after not meeting the entry grade on his test. This opens up another scholarship, yes, but also puts on some serious pressure for Urban Meyer and his staff to lock down a commitment from another receiver. That can come in the form of Stefon Diggs or Davonte Neal.

'12 WR Recruit Roger Lewis Not Expected To Be A Buckeye

Pickerington Central's Roger Lewis

According to the Dispatch, 2012 Buckeye commit Roger Lewis might not be a Buckeye based off of what his high school coach has told the media. According to the coach, Lewis is not expected to sign his national letter of intent to Ohio State on Signing Day, due to not having the requisite pre-enrollment test scores and that he now is exploring other options.

Lewis's coach also stated, Lewis visited Ohio University this weekend, and said he also is considering Marshall and Bowling Green.

That leaves the OSU 2012 class, the first by new coach Urban Meyer, at 22 members, including the six players who enrolled at the start of the winter quarter.

Roger Lewis is a 3-star wide receiver commit, and with the recent struggles at wide receiver, the coaching staff made a priority of trying to get some athletes that can play the receiver position. While losing Lewis is not a huge deal, it does put a bit more pressure on Meyer to land either Davonte Neal or Stefon Diggs.

It sounds like Lewis doesn't have the test scores, and there's no chance anything can change. Especially coming from the coaches mouth, it looks like Lewis's time as a Buckeye commit will end short.