Given what we’ve seen across the state, one can make the case that Ohio high school basketball is in adjustment stage. (Press Pros File Photo)
The latest from those focused on state high school basketball…the push by Ohio State to fulfill Bill Mosiello’s promise to restore Buckeye baseball to sustainable consistency…fan mail from Huntington, West Virginia…and curiosity over which basketball program, UD or OSU, is the most popular?
Maybe Shakespeare jarred a few people with his line about the Ides of March, and those concerned with their recent writing over the state of Ohio basketball in our high schools…and a question over which school, UD or Ohio State, is the most popular college basketball read on Press Pros.
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“Writing for the first time to Press Pros because I like the quality of your product. It’s the best read on the internet for high school sports because you guys aren’t shy about opinions. So…how good is Ohio high school basketball in 2024, and should we expect anything special at the state tournament?” … Jerry Kline
(Ed. Note: I assume you’re referring to the boys tournament, since you mentioned Centerville in your email. To be honest with you I think it’s a vanilla year, and I say that because of the young tournament teams that we’ve witnessed over the past month that aren’t hugely talented, individually, but have become interesting to watch because they’re so well coached. Russia is an exception, in Division IV. Troy Christian was fun to watch. And yes, Centerville was bound to emerge in Div. I in the Southwest because Cincinnati doesn’t have that school this year with the kind of individual that can carry them. All sports tend to go in cycles, and except for a few here and there, I would say we’re living in a flat cycle for a year or so. As for the tournament, I’m calling it a wide-open year.)
“Congratulating the Fort Loramie girls on their latest championship over the weekend, but how do you think this Loramie team would stack up against the 2021 team? Great coverage and articles by Bruce Hooley, BTW. Glad to see him back and working again.” … Denny Besecker
(Ed. Note: That ’21 team is still young enough to come back for a throwdown, if you want that kind of head-to-head comparison. But probably, and I say probably…that ’21 team was a more mature, instinctive team, and from some of the individual personalities that I remember I’d say it was a more confident club. What they did to McDonald in the Finals was hard to forget. And I’ll add this. Carla Siegel probably did her best job of coaching any of her four title teams this year.)
“No one sees more basketball than you guys do, I suppose. I wondered if you thought basketball across the area was down a bit this year? And do you think seven divisions will have any developmental impact? Interested to hear your answer.” … Tim Jerrells
(Ed. Note: To put it this way, there were teams we didn’t see this year because of record. And there some teams that we did see because of their record. Generally, no, I didn’t think the depth of basketball was as good as in other years, and that’s probably a cyclical thing. At least it has been in the past. Will seven divisions have a developmental impact? Typically you get better by playing people that are better than you, right? So how can playing people who look like you, size and talent, make you a better basketball player or team?)
On the first month of Buckeye baseball, the following reader responses….!
“Seriously, I’m puzzled and over why you guys write about college baseball in the middle of winter?” … Jack Lettner
(Ed. Note: Jack, the best answer to your question is that people read about it. While everyone else fights over the same headlines in high school basketball, we have baseball to ourselves and over 200K people across the state have at least once (so far) logged in to check it out. If it wasn’t a worthwhile investment of time and resources we wouldn’t be doing it. BTW, the Saturday afternoon game at West Virginia this past weekend was a sellout (5,000).)
If there wasn’t an interest in reading about it…we wouldn’t invest time and resource in writing about Ohio State baseball. The figures, however, say there is.
“Ohio State must be spending a lot more money on baseball than they used to if they’re traveling all over out West to play non-conference games.” … Jason McKinney
“Is it just my imagination, or is Ohio State actually making baseball a priority with the new coaching staff?” … Doug Blankenship
(Ed. Note: Doug, there’s no question that they’ve upped the budget for travel and recruiting. And there’s no question that they’re playing non-conference talent like Southern Cal, Oklahoma, and Mississippi State that they didn’t play before. And in two years they open in Puerto Rico and then travel for three weeks against the SEC – Florida, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. This was associate AD Shaun Richard’s call when he hired Mosiello, who promised to make the program nationally significant when he came here last year from TCU. And it seems like they’re in a spending mood for everything else, so I’m delighted for baseball?)
“Your story about Marshall baseball and the opening of the new stadium was great. Hope you will come back for more games in the future. A faithful reader from Catlettsburg.” … Ken Triplett
“I’m writing to thank Jeff Gilbert for his story about Marshall University baseball and opening day in the new ballpark. Huntington people read and talked about the outside coverage from a Columbus website. Good time to be a Herd baseball fan.” … Wm. Stewart
(Ed. Note: It’s not exactly a Columbus website, but Press Pros has plenty of history with the Ohio River valley and sports in that area. Thanks for the shout out.)
One reader asks…who’s the most popular college basketball program in Ohio – UD or Ohio State?
“Sonny, or Hal, or Bruce, what college basketball program do you think more people follow in the Buckeye state? Ohio State or the UD Flyers. And which is the most popular on Press Pros?” … Danny Burcham
(Ed. Note: It depends on who wins, pure and simple. Having said that, Ohio State has more border to border appeal in Ohio, where UD has the more rabid regional support. By far UD has the better basketball environment because of its culture and UD Arena. And their pep band is the best in college basketball. They’re just more passionate about basketball at Dayton than at Ohio State, because basketball is UD’s football, compared to Ohio State. And, I hear visiting teams say they hate playing in UD Arena, which I never hear about Ohio State and the Schottenstein Center. Ohio State has the brand, and the shirttail advantage it derives from football fans who notice and show up when they’re good in basketball. But, don’t you think it’s interesting that that the two don’t play in the regular season? Finally, if Anthony Grant were to leave, I don’t think UD would hire one of his assistants as the next head coach.)
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