Caleb Troop

*  June 29th

-  Back in Athens for the rest of the summer.  Went from a 110 heat index in St. Louis, to mid-80 degree low-humidity weather in Athens.  Gotta love it.

-  The Athens News reporter Jim Phillips will be a guest on “The Sears Sports Fan” on 970 WATH-AM tonight to discuss his article in today’s edition of the paper about the increase in funding for Ohio athletics.

-  A belated congratulations to Ohio hoops coach John Groce and his wife, Allison, on the birth of their baby boy, Camden.

-  Speaking of hoops, Providence transfer Alex Kellogg is the lone new Bobcat not on campus.  He will arrive for the second summer school session at Ohio University in late July.

-  Best of wishes to Jimmy Smith, my former partner on “The Sports Fan” at WATH and WXTQ, who left the station last week.  I learned my way around not only a microphone but also the city of Athens because of Jimmy.

-  Ohio and Temple must play a basketball game in The Convo during either the 2009-10 season or the 2010-11 season if this quote from the Kalamazoo Gazette is accurate regarding Western Michigan’s schedule.  “The Temple game is a result of…a mandate by the Mid-American Conference that its football-only member play the rest of the league home and away in hoops by 2011.”

-  Stay tuned for more, including some new Ohio football material within the coming weeks.

*  June 19th

-  The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports Desmond Kenner has signed with Frank Solich and the ‘Cats.  Kenner (6-3, 331) appears as if he could play on the offensive or defensive side—but probably would be well suited as a run stopper.  He could add some much needed depth along the interior D-line this fall for Ohio.

-  As for Compton College defensive lineman Branden Warner (6-3, 295): insidesocal.com reports he will sign with New Mexico State after entertaining an offer from Ohio.  Warner is a Scout.com four-star recruit and Rivals.com three-star prospect who had several BCS offers.

-  UCONN will be sporting new uniforms come Sept. 5 at Peden Stadium.

-  As first reported on WXTQ/WATH by my partner Brian Boesch, Ohio outfielder Gauntlett Eldemire has a stress fracture in his foot which all but ends his summer plans.  He was in the midst of a tryout with the Team USA Collegiate squad and was set to lace ‘em up for the Southern Ohio Copperheads in Athens the rest of the summer.  He is out 6-8 weeks.

-  The entire 2009 Ohio hoops recruiting class—John Groce’s first with the Bobcats—is on campus.

 

* June 15th

-  Brian Boesch passes me along the following: Ohio baseball slugger Gauntlett Eldemire has been invited to try out for the 2009 Team USA Collegiate Baseball team.  He’s one of 41 invited.  How easy it is to forget the junior-to-be raked up impressive numbers last year (.313/21/56 in 49 starts; 1 error in center field).

-  Ohio football’s contest at North Texas on Sept. 12 will kick off at 7 p.m. ET, according to UNT’s website.

 

* June 9th

-  Ohio University A.D. Jim Schaus is celebrating his 49th birthday today.

-  Missouri agreed to a home-and-home with Miami (OH) in football for 2010 and 2012 in Oxford.  Ohio tried to reach a guarantee game with the Tigers, but a deal could not be made.  Head coach Gary Pinkel once coached in the MAC for a decade at Toledo.

-  As reported on WATH-AM Monday, Ohio redshirt-freshman wide receiver Serggio Judkins has been dismissed for a violation of team rules, according to Ohio University Director of Media Relations Jason Corriher.

-  On Tuesday I caught up with Ohio hoops coach John Groce.  Here are a few news items from our conversation.

-  Groce’s wife, Allison, is due with the couples’ second child at the end of the month.

-  Frankie Dobbs has signed with Bryant and former Ohio coach Tim O’Shea.  Stacey Waters signed with Division II Wayne State back home in Detroit.

-  For all those hyped up on the number of stars given out to recruits from recruiting sites Rivals.com and Scout.com: remember, Steven Coleman was a two-star recruit, Waters a three-star prospect, according to Rivals.  It’s an inexact science.

-  Groce on the changes of the MAC tournament:  “We were aware there was some debate on it over the course of the last month or two,” Groce said.  “I think it’s a great thing that all 12 teams continue to have the opportunity to participate…certainly we’ll make the most of that opportunity and look forward to participate in it.” 

-  He added: “I like the fact that all 12 teams are still in it.  That was the most important thing to me…I’m one of those guys that tries the very best I can not to try to control the things I can’t control….my second go around we’ll see at the conclusion how we feel about this format.”

-  When asked if he would have like to see the tournament stay the way it has been, Groce was non-committal.  He did note how impressed he was with the event in Cleveland last year, saying it “reeked of big time basketball”.

-  On the departure of assistant coach Jamall Walker, who is leaving to become the Director of Basketball Operations at Arizona: “I’m excited for Jamall that he’s working first and foremost for a guy that I respect and a personal friend (new Wildcats coach Sean Miller).  I know Jamall will do well.”  Groce said there were “no issues at all” with Walker’s decision to leave.  “I don’t think it was necessarily the easiest decision for him in the world,” Groce added.

-  Expect a decision within the next few weeks for Walker’s replacement.  Two names that have popped up include former Depaul assistant Ramon Williams and former Georgia assistant Desmond Oliver.

-  There really was no update on injured center Zach Nagtzaam. “Zach is going to continue to be at the university and be a part of our team in some capacity as we enter the fall.  At this point, we are pursuing continued evaluation of his medical condition with his knee.  I feel bad for him.  He’s really fought through the knee surgery before I arrived,” Groce said.  “We’re kind of trying to get a pulse right now—a definitive answer on his knee and its status.  Our doctors and trainers are still working on that.”

-  Nagtzaam was seen with a cast on his right arm earlier this week.  Coach Groce said he did not know much at all about the injury, but said he heard Nagtzaam may have hurt it playing in a pick-up game at Ping.

-  The freshman hoopsters (Reggie Keely, Ivo Baltic, Marquis Horne, D.J. Cooper, James Kinney) move-in on June 18th.  Groce said every freshman qualified and will arrive on campus this summer.

-  No updates on the possible future professional careers for Jerome Tillman, Mike Allen and Justin Orr.  All three will graduate this weekend.

-  Ohio will have eight or nine home non-conference games in 2009-10, Groce said.  The schedule is still one game away from being completed.  The ‘Cats hosted five non-conference regular season games in 08-09.

-  The Bobcats’ locker room will be renovated this summer.  New signage, carpet, and furniture will be installed with construction starting at the end of spring quarter.  Groce said there are ongoing discussions about other Convo renovations, including possibly installing new lighting inside the Dome on Richland.

-  In case you missed it, John Rhodes was a guest on “The Sears Sports Fan” on Monday.  Click here to listen.

* June 8th

-  Akron A.D. Mack Rhoades is a finalist for another A.D. job.  Months after just missing the Rutgers gig in February, Rhoades is a candidate for the vacancy at Houston.  He is rumored to be a candidate at Marshall, too.

-  Congrats on the Emmy nominations to Ohio Director of Multimedia Marking Evan Shaw.  Obviously, very well deserved.  His pre-game video for the Miami (OH) basketball game on Feb. 26 didn’t help the ‘Cats land recruit Kyryl Natyazhko, but it did help 7,231 fans enjoy an ideal game-day atmosphere and give them reason to return in 2009-10.

-  Ohio baseball slugger Marc Krauss will be an in-studio guest on “The Sears Sports Fan” with Brian Boesch and me on Wednesday.

-  John Rhodes will be a guest on “The Sears Sports Fan” tonight at the top of the hour.

 

* June 5th

-  Recently, in a joint release, Ohio State and Michigan announced they will no longer print media guides.  Director of Media Relations Jason Corriher says Ohio University will terminate printing of media guides after the 2009-2010 school year.  Makes sense.  Saves money, saves paper.

-  If you’ve missed the “Sears Sports Fan” lately, be sure to catch up.  On Tuesday, Ohio University Associate A.D. for External Operations Dan Hauser came in-studio to talk about the coffee table book he co-authored entitled “Sports Uniforms and Equipment: 1840-1949 (Available at any major book store or Amazon.com).  We discussed the early years of football, why it is called a “gridiron”, and much more.

-  On Wednesday, Allie LaForce filled in admirably for me on the show.  Listen to her thoughts on the women’s basketball team and much more.

-  Ohio baseball slugger and soon-to-be MLB Draft pick Marc Krauss will join Brian and me in-studio next Wednesday, 24 hours after the his named will be called by one major league team.

-  As predicted last night, Lakers in 7.  Brian’s got Magic in 6.

-  In a recent blog, the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Elton Alexander thinks the MAC basketball tournament will not be altered when the school presidents vote on the issue Monday.  “So far, according to sources, the MAC men’s coaches and MAC athletic directors have voted 12-0 (coaches) and 10-2 (ADs) to keep the same format.”

Filed under: 2009 Bobcat Blog, June '09 Blog Notes |