In a surprise turn of events, Indian Head (Lackey), Maryland, corner back Darrell Givens has switched his verbal commitment from Ohio State to the Penn State Nittany Lions, after attending the NIKE Camp in State College, Pennsylvania earlier today.

Givens, who committed to the Buckeyes after the April 19 Spring Game, decided to play for Joe Pa in Happy Valley, citing a chance to play earlier as his reason for the switch. Another factor that may have been an influence on his decision was that Lackey QB/S Malcolm Willis committed to the Nittany Lions recently. Givens also closed the book on his commitment, as Penn State will be his final choice.

The impact this has on the Buckeyes is that it hurts to lose a player of Givens’ caliber, but it gives the staff the opportunity to offer another player in the secondary such as EJ Banks from Montour, PA or Glenville’s Mike Edwards. Some Buckeye fans feel it’s not worth taking Givens because he is scared of the competition in the very talented secondary at OSU, and while I agree, I also feel this is a big hit to the program, but not one that cannot be salvaged (Vlad Emilien and Brandon McGee). DTI wants your opinion on Givens’ switch from a very strong OSU program to a unstable PSU program.

With Kosta Koufos officially heading off from Columbus to pursue NBA (or Greek League) dreams, Thad Matta loses his fourth player in the last two years to the professional ranks, after just playing one season in Columbus for the Buckeyes. With Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., Daequan Cook, and now Koufos departing from school after just one year, Thad Matta’s recruiting strategy of targeting high profile recruits may not be working out according to plan. While some OSU fans love the fact that Matta has put the school on the map in terms of basketball prestige, others feel that this is not the proper way to build a program up to the elite status OSU Basketball fans desire. This dilemma raises the question: Would you rather have one-and-done stars or less-talented players who will stay for three or four years at Ohio State?

I for one feel that a mixture of both star-studded talent and team-oriented players is the best possible scenario for the Buckeyes, but we all know the world is not perfect. Players make immature decisions to leave before they are ready to play professional basketaball and some players become stars on the court earlier than expected. Coach Matta, for one, knew that Greg Oden and Kosta Koufos, both who were highly touted recruits coming out of high school, were most likely gone after one year, but certainly did not think he would be without Daequan Cook and Mike Conley Jr. for at least three seasons in “The Schott”. Players like Conley and Cook, who make that decision to leave early are drastically effecting the way Ohio State basketball operates year in and year out and has made fans call for a new way to go about recruiting players.

Many OSU fans now want Coach Matta to target players who plan to wear the Scarlet and Gray for at least three seasons before turning pro. While the Buckeye faithful could most likely deal with a two-year stay from a star player, I do not know if they could handle being teased by another contending tournament team this season, only to see 2-3 star players leave after the year is up. If the Buckeyes made the Elite 8 this season with all freshman, sophomores, and juniors on the roster, they would be poised to make a championship run in 2009-2010 with every player returning right? Well, it’s actually wrong and this season could be deja vu of the 2006-2007 season, where the Buckeyes were national runners-up and lost their 3 youngest stars, only to start rebuilding the program again in ‘07-’08 and missing out on the NCAA Tournament (make what you will of a NIT championship). If the Buckeyes have a successful run this season, BJ Mullens, Evan Turner, and another player (maybe William Buford) could all decide they are ready for NBA stardom and bring Matta’s Buckeyes back to square one, crushing the hopes of Buckeye fans for a long, elustrious run of title contending seasons for the program.

Whether you feel the Buckeyes should keep going after the Oden’s, Koufos’s and Mullens’s or start targeting more David Lighty’s is irrelevant. The issue at hand here is that college basketball needs to change. Yes, progress was made by the NBA adopting the one-year rule, but that rule needs to have players playing in the NCAA ranks for longer. When thinking hard about the possible solutions for this problem, I came up with one of my own. Use the MLB draft rules. Basically, in baseball a prospect must either leave after high school, after 2 years at a junior or community college, or after 3 years at a four year university. Simply, a player must either make the decision to leave immediately after high school or play three years at college (they can go for four) before signing with a MLB team. I would propose that the NBA adopt a similar rule where a player must either leave from high school or go to college for at least two seasons. The reasons I say two and not three is because this would be more likely to fly with the NBAPA (players association) in a new collective bargaining agreement than adding a third season of NCAA requirement. I feel the NBA would need to give high school players a better evaluation system of their draft stock so they can make the most educated decision on their future and this would allow the Jonathan Bender’s and Kwame Brown’s to maybe play in college for a mere two seasons to polish their game and actually play instead of riding the pine for one of the league’s worst teams. This system would also improve college basketball as the talent pool would be stronger than ever. Imagine the possibility of this starting line up: PG Mike Conley, SG Daequan Cook, SF David Lighty, PF Kosta Koufous, and C Greg Oden. With Hunter, Diebler, Turner, Terwilliger, Lauderdale, and Hill coming off the bench this past season the Buckeyes would have certainly been a heavy contender to win in San Antonio. Overall, with my new proposal for eligibility rules, college basketball AND the NBA would both become stronger and the problems OSU has faced the last few seasons of “one and done” stars that bring a program back to square one by leaving early, would be eliminated.

What’s your opinion on Coach Matta’s recruiting strategy? What do you think the college basketball eligibility rules should be? What do you think about the leave high school now or play two years of college basketball proposal?

The kick-off time for one of the most anticipated regular season match ups in recent memory was announced earlier this week. The highly-touted OSU-USC football game has been scheduled for an 8:00 PM start on ABC. The two teams will square off in the Los Angeles Coliseum on September 13th later this year

For OSU to reach its 3rd consecutive National Championship game, they will have to persevere under the lights, with 3 of their games already scheduled for night games.

Only 3 kick-off times have been announced, all being 8 o’clock starts, but here is a look at the upcoming season’s schedule:

• August 30 - Youngstown St.
• September 6 - Ohio
• September 13 - @ USC 8:00 ABC
  
• September 20 - Troy University
• September 27 - Minnesota
• October 4 - @ Wisconsin 8:00
  
• October 11 - Purdue
• October 18 - @ Michigan State
• October 25 - Penn State 8:00
  
• November 1 - Bye Week
• November 8 - @ Northwestern
• November 15 - @ Illinois
• November 22 - Michigan

Yes, the 2008 draft just happened LAST WEEKEND, but OSU fans can get excited about the possibilities of some of their Buckeyes playing on Sundays in the future, right? Here’s a look at how the 2009 draft’s first may turn out (order based on prediction of finish in 2008-2009 season):

1. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS- Matt Stafford, QB, Georgia- with Brody Croyle not proving to anyone that he is the franchise quarter back for the Chiefs, Herm Edwards and co. select the best QB prospect on the board in early entry Matt Stafford. Stafford has progressed nicely in his two seasons at Georgia and may be poised to take the Bull Dogs on a run to the National Championship in Miami this season.

2. ST. LOUIS RAMS- Michael Oher, OT, Ole Miss- After missing out on a franchise left tackle in this year’s draft, the Rams finally fill the void that will be left by Orlando Pace with Oher, a big lineman who projects to be a top 5 pick next season.

3. ATLANTA FALCONS- Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech- Some people feel Crabtree is a product of Coach Mike Leach’s system, but this kid has skills. He’s tall, long, and athletic and is capable of making the big play happen. The Falcons drafted Matt Ryan and signed Michael Turner, and now, all they need is a big play threat at receiver to complete their offense.

4. MIAMI DOLPHINS- Fili Moala, DT, USC- The dolphins started their rebuilding plan on offense this year and with a slight improvement in 2008-2009 will need to build up their defense. Moala is a guy who was over-shadowed by Sedrick Ellis last season, but will certainly make his impact felt for the Trojans this year.

5. CHICAGO BEARS- Tim Tebow, QB, Florida- The Bears luck did not turn out so well with former Gator Rex Grossman, so they turn their attention to a new Gator in Tebow. The Heisman Trophy winner could play right away in Chicago and will make plays with his legs and his arm in the Windy City.

6. DENVER BRONCOS- James Laurinaitis, LB, Ohio State- The Broncos are looking to solidify their defense and a MLB spot that has been left vacant by Al Wilson. The “Little Animal” fits perfectly into what Shannahan is trying to do and would be a solid addition in Mile High.

7. DETROIT LIONS- Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech- This speedy pass rusher will give the Lions something to be excited about on the defensive front as thier only pass rusher last season,Shaun Rogers, was recently traded to the Browns. Johnson is a bit under-sized but his fundamental skills as an end and raw athleticism should be enough for him to make the transition to the pro game.

8. SAN FRANCISCO 49ers- Andre Smith, OT, Alabama- Smith and Joe Staley would make up the best young offensive line book-ends in the league and would help Frank Gore and Alex Smith tremendously. The Niners could go QB here in a guy like Sam Bradford or Hunter Cantwell (if his stock rises this season), but they have more pressing needs.

9. OAKLAND RAIDERS- Al Woods, DT, LSU- Woods is an ideal fit for the Raiders and would step right into Warren Sapp’s place. A tackle who can raise havoc in the opponents back-field is hard to find and Woods is that type of player. Just like Moala at USC, Woods was overshadowed by Glenn Dorsey this past season, but should break out into his own this year.

10. CINCINATTI BENGALS- Sen’Derrick Marks, DT, Auburn- The Bengals lost out on Sedrick Ellis in this year’s draft and have not filled their biggest defensive need up the middle. A linebacker could be a pick here if Laurinaitis is on the board, but Marks teaming up with college teammate Pat Sims in “the jungle” could be a nice future in the front for the Bengals.

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Earlier today, Pickerington Central linebacker, Zach Boren committed to The Ohio State Buckeyes, in a move that was much anticipated since brother Justin announced his intentions to transfer to OSU from Michigan last week. Boren informed Jim Tressel and staff about his decision to become a Buckeye this morning, becoming the 14th member of the Ohio State recruiting class of 2009.

Boren, who had over 180 tackles and 3 interceptions during his junior season, was being recruited as a linebacker, but could line up at fullback for the Buckeyes as well. He joins Dorian Bell, Storm Klein, and Jordan Whiting to make up the linebacking corps for the class of 2009 that will only add at most one more player to the position, if any at all. There is also the possibility that Zach will be playing for the baseball Buckeyes, as he is a stand out on the diamond for Pickerington Central as well as on the gridiron.

Boren’s commitment is important to the Buckeyes future plans because he brings versatility to both the linebacker and fullback position, giving the coaching staff a variety of options. At 6′1″ 240 lbs. Boren most likely projects as a middle linebacker, but is certainly big enough to compete with Adam Homan, Jermil Martin, and others at the fullback position as soon as he arrives on campus. Boren has said in the past he will most likely graduate early and participate in spring practice with the team next season. Another significant effect of the younger Boren’s commitment is that he will not be lining up against the Buckeyes for another Big Ten program, especially Michigan, where his father Mike and brother Justin both played at (of course Justin is now a Buckeye!).

All in all, this is a nice pick up for the Buckeyes and while Zach is not the more touted Boren, he certainly has the opportunity to make his own name playing for the Scarlet and Gray. Stay tuned to DTI as the Buckeyes Recruiting Class for 2009 continues to grow.

After initially declaring for the draft earlier this month, Kosta Koufos has officially decided to turn pro and not return to The Ohio State University men’s basketball team. Kosta averaged 14.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game during his star studded freshman year. Kosta let his intentions be known earlier tonight with an interview with The Canton Repository.

Everybody who played basketball when they were younger dreams of this day when you can make it your job…God blessed me with this talent and I’m just trying to make the best of it.

Koufos stated he will be hiring an agent very soon and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of playing professionally in Greece.

Koufos’ mother also issued a statement along with her son:

We got good communication from a lot of places … and he has decided if he wants to do this, he wants to do it with 100 percent effort and it’s difficult to do the preparation that needs to take place and be a student.

Her statement indicates Kosta will be dropping out of OSU’s current spring quarter because it coincides with the NBA rookie workouts in preparation for the NBA Draft. This could potentially cripple OSU’s APR even more, which could result in more NCAA sanctions and punishments. (scholarship losses)

In the 2006 and 2007 NFL Draft combined , Ohio State sent 17 players to football’s “next level” including A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter, Donte Whitner, Santonio Holmes, Nick Mangold, Teddy Ginn Jr., Anthony Gonzalez, Quinn Pitcock, Troy Smith and Antonio Pittman. On Saturday’s (’08) draft however, with potential first-day and first-round picks LB James Laurinaitis, CB Malcolm Jenkins, OL Alex Boone, WR Brian Robiskie and LB Marcus Freeman all electing to complete their senior year of eligibility at OSU, the normal laundry list of scarlet and gray gridiron go-getters suiting up in one of 32 new uniforms was limited to only three.

Though the number might be exponentially smaller than most Central Ohioans are used to seeing 0n that Saturday afternoon in late April, like many of the players listed above and just as the ones who have come before them, DE/LB Vernon Gholston, OL Kirk Barton and LB Larry Grant all have the potential to make a difference on Sunday

*Vernon Gholston- (Selected by the New York Jets) Round 1, 6th Overall-

With a freakish body (6-4 258) suited for either standing up at linebacker or planted down in the three-point stance at the next level, the former Big Ten Defensive Linemen of the Year looks to make a smooth transition to the professional level in ‘08. Over the past two years at Ohio State, Gholston’s 23 sacks have give him more than any other D1 talent in that time period.

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Here is Version 2.0 of DTI’s predictions of who will fill out the Buckeyes class of 2009. With 13 verbals on board, the Bucks are likely just over the halfway mark in terms on the number of recruits they will take in the class.

Quarterback

Needs: 0-1

Analysis: As this class continues to grow it is looking more and more likely that the Buckeyes will not take a QB in this class. With Pryor, Bauserman, Henton, and baseball player and walk-on Ross Oltorik all on board after this season there really is no room for a quarterback in the class of 2009. Look for things to change, though, if Antonio Henton decides to transfer before the recruiting season is over.

Prediction: The Buckeyes do not take a quarterback in this class, even if Henton leaves. I feel that Bauserman proved he could be a capable #2 to Pryor in the spring game and may even have a shot at the back up gig this season. If Henton leaves I feel we will address the need of QB in the class of 2010 (we will take one in this class regardless) rather than 2009. Remember Orhian Johnson, a safety from Florida, was being recruited as a QB in many places and could be a viable emergency option as well.

Running Back

Needs: 3 (2 Rb and 1 FB)

Analysis: With Jordan Hall already giving his verbal pledge, the Bucks will most likely look to land only one more running back in this class. Beanie Wells is most likely gone after this season and Maurice Wells graduates, leaving Brandon Saine and Boom Herron as the only two scholarship backs on the roster after the 2008 season. The Buckeyes have targeted two Florida backs to fill out this class: big bruising back, Carlos Hyde, an original native of Cincinnati, and Jaamal Berry, a smaller, shiftier back, from the Miami area. Berry came to the OSU Spring game and loved what he saw, but will it be enough for him to jump on what could be the last scholarship available to a tail back?

Prediction: Look for either Hyde or Berry to be the other back OSU takes in this class along with Jordan Hall and FB Adam Homan. The staff has though to have wanted one smaller, faster back and one bruiser (like Beanie) in this class all along. Hall fits the former mold and in my gut I think Hyde will fit the latter mold and become the Bucks’ second back in this class.

Wide Receiver

Needs: 3

Analysis: With Chris Fields already signed in the class, the Buckeyes will look for two more receivers to join Fields in this class. Duron Carter and James Jackson are the top two candidates, while Shaquelle Evans from California has stated he will definitely take one of his officials to Ohio State. Marlon Brown is a long shot at this point and it is questionable whether Kraig Appleton from Illinois will get an offer. This receiving class could end up with a few guys who weren’t primary choices due to others turning down offers.

Predictions: The Buckeyes finish this class with 3 receivers. I think they end up with Fields, Jackson, and either Carter or Appleton. I feel that Evans will stay on the West coast and my gut tells me Carter will end up elsewhere. Appleton will probably receive an offer if Carter turns his down and could end up in Columbus. If that plan fails, look for a guy like Pickerington Central’s Pat White to get an offer and play for OSU.

Tight End

Needs: 1

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