By: Bill Blanton (Examiner.com) -- When a reference such as “the chosen one” is made, Ohio sports fans immediately start looking for Lebron James. In 2007, many high school football talent evaluators spoke in the same reverence when discussing football greatness regarding a young high school quarterback from Jeannette, PA. That’s a tremendous amount of pressure to live up to when you’re eighteen years old, yet Terrelle Pryor has done just that. Now at the ripe old age of twenty, the only ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Who are the best 20 players on Ohio State's roster right now? This is a venture with no right answers, but I think it's an interesting way to evaluate just how the 2009 Buckeyes are going to come together. A year ago, this was a much easier list to make. Starting with Beanie Wells, Malcolm Jenkins and James Laurinaitis and running through veterans like Marcus Freeman, Brian Robiskie, Brian Hartline, Donald Washington, Alex Boone, etc., you had a ... Read More

From: SeatlePI.com -- St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - The St. Louis Rams have signed linebacker James Laurinaitis, a second-round draft choice in the 2009 NFL Draft, the team announced Wednesday. Terms of the contract were undisclosed. The 6-foot-2, 244-pound Laurinaitis was picked by the Rams after a stellar four-year career at Ohio State. A three-time All-America selection, Laurinaitis won the Ronnie Lott Trophy in 2008, ... Read More

By: MATT MARKEY (ToledoBlade.com) -- COLUMBUS - After humbling losses in high-profile bowl games the past three years, it seemed like the only consensus reached about Ohio State was that its national reputation had been sullied, its armor chinked and its complexion pock-marked and blemished. Buckeye football had been deflated, the media saturation bombing contended, over and over, ad nauseam. But as the 2009 preseason predictions, rankings and polls continue to be rolled out, it looks like not everyone guzzled that Kool-Aid. Ohio State ... Read More

By: JON SPENCER (MansfieldNewsJournal.com) -- LEXINGTON -- Leave it to a Michigan Wolverine to bend the rules. Even though he didn't meet the age requirement, Dominik Crawford, 5, of Madison Township, participated in Friday's session of the two-day Lexington All-American Youth Football Camp masquerad-ing as Lex star and Michigan recruit Courtney Avery. A basketball commitment kept Avery from attending the camp, but his stand-in got plenty of attention. Crawford was decked out in an oversized blue Michigan jersey with "C. Avery" taped ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Walking through the local mall here in the Columbus suburbs today and I saw the new Ohio State jerseys for the first time. Each year, there are five or six numbers put out before the season, representing the best guess at the Buckeyes the fans are most interested in. Last year, it was Beanie Wells (28), James Laurinaitis (33), Malcolm Jenkins (2), Brian Robiskie (80), Todd Boeckman (17) and Marcus Freeman (1). As the year went ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Safety Kurt Coleman, defensive tackle Doug Worthington and tight end Jake Ballard, all seniors, were announced today as the representatives for the Buckeyes at the Big Ten media days on July 27 and 28 in Chicago. And I'm guessing those will be three of your four captains for Ohio State in the fall. The guys who are trusted by Jim Tressel to sit in suits at round tables and field several hours of questions from reporters typically fare ... Read More

By: Andy Zoric (Examiner.com) -- Over at in the Chicago edition of Examiner.com Phil English, Chicago High School Sports Examiner, has a great interview with recent Ohio State commitment Taylor Graham. In the interview ranges from topics about high school playing to personal influences. There is some real insight into the personality behind the man who will eventually be under center at Ohio Stadium. Enrolling at Ohio State will be a homecoming of sorts for Graham. He was born at Ohio State Medical Center while his father ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Brian Rolle was a star of the spring. For two years, the linebacker from Immokalee, Fla., stayed in the background at Ohio State, popping up with some big plays on special teams, but otherwise biding his time with veterans like James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman in front of him. A little undersized at 5-11, but with big-hit ability, it was hard to get a read on him as a person and a player. Here's a read. This ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Brian Rolle was a star of the spring for the Buckeyes. For two years, the linebacker from Immokalee, Fla., stayed in the background at Ohio State, popping up with some big plays on special teams, but otherwise biding his time with veterans like James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman in front of him. A little undersized at 5-foot-11, but with big-hit ability, it was hard to get a read on him as a person ... Read More