Podcast – @Bucknuts247 Beat Writer @SteveHelwagen on Kenny & JT Show / @OhioStateFB

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State football right now, go to the hotline, bring in the outstanding Buckeyes Beat reporter

at Bucnuts.com, Steve Hellwagon. Steve, thanks for making time for us today. How are you,

my friend? I'm doing great, guys. What's happening? Well, a lot happening in the Buckeyes

state, and we wanted to talk some Buckeyes football with you before we get to spring

practice. Tell us about the pro day that went down this week. How many Buckeyes were involved?

Who looked good? Who maybe didn't do as much or as well with all of that? Yeah, it's kind

of interesting. It was almost anti-climactic because a lot of the guys who did not run

forties at the NFL Combine didn't run them at the pro day either. So I don't know if they're

doing them in private workouts for people with their agent and their training staff or

what they're doing, but you know, several of the guys who didn't run them in Indianapolis

didn't end up running them at the pro day here on Wednesday. Lorenzo Stiles, he ran

a 4-2-7-40 at the Combine Outstanding Time for Safety. His arm was in a swing, so he

didn't work out. He had a correction for his shoulder, which is people who remember

took him out of the Miami game shoulder injury, kind of a recurring injury. They got it

cleaned up, and he thinks he'll be ready to go by July 1st. So it shouldn't interfere

with him helping a team this year. And of course, Sonny Stiles, he rested on his laurels.

He had nothing else to show people after tearing up the Combine, so he didn't work out at

all. But you know, it was interesting. Carnell Tate was out there catching passes from

Julian Sain and Tavian St. Claire, so were the tight ends, Mack Claire and Wilkaz Merrick.

And Kaden McDonald went through all the defensive line drills. He just didn't run a 40. So,

and I don't know that the defensive tackle, it's all that important how fast he runs a

40 yard dash. But at any rate, that's the nutshell that there wasn't a lot of new stuff

per se, but we at least got to touch base with some of these guys. And I think they're

all looking forward to getting out the Pittsburgh for the draft in late April. Steve, why would

a guy like Carnell Tate not be timed in a 40 yard dash?

You know, that's a good question. You know, I think a 452 at the Combine, and he's in

the 200 pound range. So, you know, if you pro rate that out, I think most people would

like to see him in the 445 range, you know, as a as a wide receiver. And yet, he said

that he thinks sometimes that can get overvalued a little bit, you know, just put his tape on

and you see how good a receiver he is. He has game speed. He gets behind defenses with

no problems. So, you know, I don't know. I'm not Drew Rosenhaus, his power agent who,

you know, who allegedly counseled him not to play in those three meaningless late season

games when maybe he was dinged up a little bit, but at any rate, yeah, it's interesting

why he didn't didn't choose to run one in Columbus after not running one or after running

what he ran in Indianapolis. I mean, you couldn't do much worse than a 452. So, I don't know

why he didn't didn't put it out there.

It's amazing to me such success at the wide receiver position at Ohio State that the

number two would go probably a little bit higher now because of the success that we've

seen in Jackson, Smith and Jigma. If Jeremiah Smith was coming out, we all agree. He's probably

the best player in the country, but Carnell Tate could be the number one wide receiver

taken off the board, don't you think? Yeah, it is a real battle. Our guys, we work with

24 seven sports and it's owned by CBS. So the guys at CBS Sports dot com, they do kind

of like dueling a mock drafts, like four or five guys. And it's funny. One guy will

have sunny styles going first at number three. The next guy will have Carnell Tate going

first at number three. I mean, and then another one will have our Valarice going first at

number three. It's kind of like whoever ends up with those picks three through 10 is going

to have to decide what they want. And generally they can find it at Ohio State if that's what

they're looking for. So I am real interested to see how this all shakes out. Who's going

to get the bragging rights on draft night to be the first buck I off this board because

it is a fierce battle between those three guys as well as the safety Caleb Downs. For

you ordinarily, you know, we talk about it that a safety is usually a dime a dozen and

you wouldn't necessarily spend the top five pick on a safety. But I think I'd make

an exception this one time for Caleb Downs. He's had a great college career. And I think

his skillset really, really translates to the to the NFL. One more thing I want to add

about sunny styles. I asked him, I said, you know, you, you, you tear it up at the combine

and now your phone's blowing up and social media is going crazy and he gets PN and NFL

network are going nuts and everything. I mean, how did that change your life? He said,

you know, I think I did pretty well with all the testing and, you know, according to

all the benchmarks did really well. He said, but I am most proud of the fact that when

I sat in the meetings with the coaches from the different teams, I was able to show

them who I am and more importantly show them the game of football that he's used to playing

on a film or on a whiteboard or whatever. And he says, I think I ate that. So to him,

it's just as important as running that great 40 time and all the other stuff. Yeah, great

stuff character right there. The teams are absolutely going to love along with the

on the field performance. You can do it at Alabama and Ohio State, right? Steve, that

speaks volumes, doesn't it? I would say Caleb Downs, no doubt, you know, to, to be

a started every game you ever played. The 13 or 14 games at Alabama as a freshman was

in the playoff all three of his years, you know, and then of course one, the national

championship for the Ohio State in the sophomore year. So he's an accomplished player, no doubt.

And, you know, I saw Mike Doth, the Canton native at the, at the, the other day. And I

just asked, you know, thumbs up, thumbs down on Caleb Downs as a guy that, that, you know,

who knows? He's been there and he put both thumbs in the air. So I take that as a good

health, keeping seal of approval. And again, the play that I always come back with Tyler

Sargent, the great tight end from Penn State. Penn State was driving Game at Columbus in

2024. And it's third and eight and down, stopped him for in the flat for like a five yard

gain. And they had to punt the ball. And that may have preserved that win for Ohio State.

So yeah, I look at it that this is a guy when the money's on the line. He's going to give

his best. All right, Steve. Let's go from the guys that are no longer with the Ohio State

Buckais, moving on to the NFL with the guys who are trying to earn starting spots for this

coming season. So Ohio State football team, spring practice underway. What can you tell

us there? Well, they are wrapping up their second week of spring football right now.

They may have a practice together, definitely having a practice tomorrow. And then next

Saturday will be their student appreciation practice where there are a lot of the students

to come in and watch practice and have some events kind of staged around the students.

So that's always kind of a neat thing that those events are coming up in the spring

game. I think on April the 18th, they've already got tickets available for that at the stadium.

But I think it's been a very good spring so far. You've got the new coordinator on offense

Arthur Smith has really made a big impression on everybody so far. We were talking to

Carson Hinsman, the returning center the other day. And one, he says the native Wisconsin,

he wants Arthur Smith to introduce him to Aaron Rogers who he coached this past year

with the Steelers. So that'll be a great thing. But he said the other thing is he is really

pounded the nail on violence. So I think that is a good sign for this offensive line to

get back to to the nuts and bolts of things and being a strong unit up front and run blocking

and past protecting and and doing their job. So yeah, I'm interested to see what this

dreams like to do in the fall. Steve Helwag and Buck Nuts dot com breaking out of

Buck. I was going to ask you a couple of questions about basketball in their minute.

But I want to continue on this path because I can't remember the last time. Maybe it was

Jeremiah Smith. I was this excited or heard so much about an incoming freshman, maybe

Marvin Harrison Jr. What can you tell us about legend Bay? I mean, everybody, there's

so much buzz going around around. Do we even know what position he would play if he becomes

when he comes to Ohio State? Well, he's the kind of guy that reminds some people of

Curtis Samuel, who was an outstanding running back one year and then played kind of a H back

or a slot type receiver the following year. And he's a guy that you can do a lot of

things with. You can hand the ball off to him in the back of the older. You can throw

the little screen pass out to him and get him in traffic or in space like Travegan Henderson

and let him weave through the traffic. And then you can also throw the ball to him down

the field as well. He is just a quick, elusive type player with that low center of gravity.

And I think people are excited that he's a piece that the new offensive coordinator,

Arthur Smith and Ryan Day can use as kind of a utility player and move him around and

make it hard on opposing defenses to match up. So yeah, I think that's the excitement

there. Again, just a true freshman. So you do have to kind of tipper your excitement.

Just a little bit, you know, that you don't put too much on a true freshman. I mean,

Jeremiah Smith is the exception rather than the rule to perhaps a guy that come in and

be one of the best players on your team as a true freshman is pretty amazing. But again,

he is a different kind of dude. He was again an iron buck guy this off season along with

the fellow Whiteout Brandon Ninnis back up linebacker Garrett Stover in the safety.

Jalen McLean has started last year for the first time. Those were the four guys who

came through the workouts with the highest marks and didn't miss any dates and everything

else. So those are the guys they're looking at to really kind of lead this team.

Steve, when your name is legend, you have to perform, don't you? Yeah, no doubt.

That's that whoever thought of that name 18 or 19 years ago. That's that's kind of crazy

that names somebody legend Bay, but that's the kid's name. And I think TV and social media

and everybody's going to have a lot of fun with that over the next four years.

All right, Steve, before we let you go basketball season is over for both the boy or the men

and the women. I should say at Ohio State, let's start with the men. The fall out there,

now that we've had a little bit of time to think about this past year, what are people

saying about where this program is headed with the men? Yeah, I think I talked to you guys

right after the game last Thursday. I was down there in Greenville. And I think in the

days that have since come and gone, I think a lot of the unhappiness and the ranker has

kind of subsided and people are going on and watching the tournament. And I think you

have to understand that again, that game, you just had that game in a silo by itself losing

a game in the manner that they did, you wouldn't get overly excited about it, but you stack

it on the pile of all the disappointments and everything that's happened in the last

13 years. It's just like what are we asking this fan base to get through here to put

up with, you know, these type of unfulfilling finishes year after year after year. So they

need to have a breakthrough and get to the sweet 16. If you want to say that's what Jake

people has got to do to keep his job next year, then I guess you could say that. But I

think he'll definitely be back. And I think that Juni Mowgli for sure and Mari Bynum will

be back. And then after that, they're going to have to build a roster, perhaps around

those two guys. Devon Royal, I think there's some question there. He's going into a senior

year. And he've also recruited a wing into the Thompson, the McDonald's, all American that

can take a lot of his minutes. So will his pay justify his minutes and will he get the

amount of minutes he wants to market himself as a professional player? Those are two big

questions. I think we got going forward with, you know, Ohio State. If he doesn't come

back that frees up some cap space to go get a good ball player, you know, perhaps at another

position. But it's going to be interesting to see what direction it all all comes out

and the portal will open right after the national championship game for two weeks. And I expect

we'll see some Ohio guys enter, Ohio State guys enter it and Ohio State will go after

some guys they want very, very hard. Man, wouldn't that be something if Devon Royal ends

up getting himself into the portal and it opens your right April 7th. And I was reading

an article that said Devon Royal was trying to recruit Dalin Swain. Fantastic forward

that left Xavier went down to Texas. Who knows what's going to happen with that kid

next. It might be the NBA, but you're letting these these talented basketball players from

the state of Ohio and he's a Columbus kid. And you let him get away from the program. Steve,

how can they get better athletes and get or attract better players into the portal? Let

alone losing guys like a Devon Royal, a former Mr. Basketball in the state of Ohio.

Yeah, I've been asked a lot about Dalin Swain. It was a definite miss for Ohio State

a few years back when Holton was the head coach. They didn't push for him quite as hard

as they probably needed to. I don't know if they could prefer Devon Royal over Dalin

Swain, but I don't know that it was an either or but Dalin Swain and Devon played on the

same travel team. Devon was a pick central and Dalin was a Columbus epicenter. So they

were in different leagues. And for whatever reason, there was a disconnect there and he ended

up going to Xavier originally with Sean Miller. And of course, Sean Miller onto Texas and

he brings Dalin Swain with him. And he just had a breakout year in the SEC in the Texas.

And you're right. I think you'll have the option to enter the NBA. The biggest question

I always had with him was three point shooting. And it sounds like he's really, really

worked hard to improve on that. And maybe that was Holton's major misgiving a few years

ago that he wasn't going to be a guy that could stretch defenses because he really hadn't

shown it in travel or in high school. He didn't have to. He was the biggest best athlete

on the court and could go right to the rack a lot of times. And that's been most of his

game. But I love him. I think he's going to be wherever he ends up. He's going to be

a good player. And you know, for Texas to say they're probably hoping for one more trip

around the sun with him and see how that goes. But yeah, I agree with you. I think if

there's great players in Ohio, Ohio State's got to keep him at home. And there are a few

in the pipeline coming up. There's a really good player out of Cincinnati, Ian Mercer, who

was a sophomore this year. He was on the state championship team at Cincinnati, Princeton.

And the sky's the limit for him. He's kind of a six four, six, five guard who can do

it all. So I don't know. He's quite as big or as strong as Dearing Peterson coming

out of Kenton, you know, this past year, but a similar type player, I guess.

Steve, what about the women's program? They lost a Notre Dame at home the other day. Now

Notre Dame today went out and beat Vanderbilt, the number two, 67, 64. That's the final I'm

looking at on my phone right now. As Hannah Hedoggle, I think almost had a quadruple

double in that game for Notre Dame. Yeah, I know. Right. So pretty impressive. But still

the the women's team was a higher seed than the men's team and they got bounced. And

I helped me with the coach's name. I always screw it up. So I'm not even going to try.

Kevin, Kevin MacGuff is the coach there. He's been there over a decade and, you know,

he did have the elite eight three years ago, but the three years since then they've hosted

the first weekend and failed to get out of the first weekend all three times beaten by

a lower seed. And that can't happen. I mean, I guess since they've gone to campus sites

in the women's tournament, however many years ago, 10, 15 years ago, whenever it was, they

are the first team to fail to get out three years in a row. Wow. So yeah, it's it's not

good. And yet they've got the nucleus pretty much everybody coming back in Jolani Cambridge

41 points in that game against Notre Dame. I mean, she did her part. It's the supporting

cast and everybody else who really let them down. And Hannah Hadago had a game nearly a triple

double against a higher state, like 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight steals. That'd be quite

a triple double to come back with 10 steals on that. You said almost a quadruple double

a day. I watched her in person. I believe it. She took over the game for Notre Dame last

week. It was really fun watching those two players go at it. So yeah, I'm, you know,

as long as Jolani Cambridge is at a higher state, they've got a chance to do something, but

their job this year and the off season is to go out and surround here with a couple more

really, really good players. Hannah Hadago today 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 steals in

that way. She got there this time, Steve. Yeah, it is crazy. Well, a lot to talk about

always. And they beat. Who did they beat? They beat Vande Vanderbilt. Yeah. Vanderbilt.

Okay. Who did it? Who did they play next? Would it be Connecticut or I'm not sure. Yeah,

I don't see a bracket. I just stem looking at a box score right now. But when you have a

player like that, she gives you a chance against anybody. So we'll see how that ends up

playing out. They were a lot of fun. We've probably got four more just like it tonight. So

can't wait to get it going here in a little bit. No doubt. Enjoy those. We enjoy having you on

with us throughout the year. Steve, thanks so much for the time as always. We'll talk again

soon. All right. All right. Take care.