-  The Ohio University men’s basketball team is still in Athens and will fly out of Parkersburg, West Virginia, later this afternoon to play at Central Michigan Thursday night.  No game time for that contest tomorrow is available, but I’m sure one will be announced shortly.  Because of the postponement the team will stay on the road after CMU and travel to Ball State.

-  Congratulations to Power 105 morning host Robin Barnes for being named the Best Radio Personality/DJ for 2009 in The Athens NEWS.  She’s a pleasure to work with in the morning and keeps me awake in early a.m.

-  Ohio University baseball coach Joe Carbone will be a guest on “The Jim Schaus Show on The Sears Sports Fan” this coming Thursday.

-  On another programming note, we will not air Jim’s show on Feb. 5 or Feb. 26 because of home basketball contests.

-  More to come. 

* January 18th

Ohio’s non-conference win over Tulsa (12-6) looks better every day.  The Golden Hurricane is 2-1 in C-USA play, with its lone loss by one point to Memphis.  Tulsa is one of the best defensive teams in the nation, leading all of D-I programs in 3-point field goal percentage defense.

-  Further evidence that Ohio is thin on the bench this season: The ‘Cats are 262nd in the nation in terms of bench minutes played.  In other words, only 27.6% of Ohio’s minutes this season come from its bench players, the lowest in the MAC.

-  The Ohio-Akron match-up on Tuesday will feature the two most three-point heavy teams in the league.  The Green and White nail nearly seven threes/game while the Zips hit nearly 7.5 threes/game, tops in the MAC.

-  Akron’s visit to The Convo will also mark a former Bobcat coming home.  UA associate head coach Jeff Boals played at Ohio from 1992-95 and was an assistant for one season after his graduation.

-  Senior guard Justin Orr has missed 12 of his last 14 shots from beyond the arc.

-  Speaking of long balls, sophomore Tommy Freeman has recorded a triple in 12 of Ohio’s 16 games.

-  Michael Allen has recorded 46 assists his last eight games after handing out 22 helpers the first eight contests of the 08-09 campaign.  And of those last eight games he’s played at least 30 minutes in seven of them.  An obvious statement but one that is easily overlooked—his recovery from a foot injury suffered in early December has sparked Ohio.

-  I mentioned this on “The Sears Sports Fan” a few weeks ago, and it still holds true.  Ohio is 9-0 in games in which they hold opponents to less than 70 points.  And in all of the ‘Cats’ seven losses, opponents have reached the 70 point plateau.  Essentially, it’s a race to 70 for the Bobcats every time out.

-  DeVaughn Washington has fouled out four times this season, has recorded at least three infractions in all but one contest and is averaging 3.7 fouls/game.  He already has 10 more fouls (59) this season than he had in 32 contests last year (49), granted in 124 minutes of overall action.  Still, when looking at big #1’s overall numbers, his minutes played, points and rebounds are all up.

-  In Ohio football news, I ran in to ‘Cats wide out Brandon Peterson, who said while he has a year of eligibility left to play, he will hang up the cleats and is set to graduate this spring.  One of the nicer student athletes one will ever meet, I’m confident in saying Peterson will go places in life upon graduation.  On the gridiron, he snagged in 16 balls for 245 yards and a touchdown in a loss against Buffalo.  Good luck to him.

-  I’ve had a chance to watch the Alexander High School hoops team out of Albany, Ohio, the last week or so.  Not a huge team with no D-I talent, but the 9-1 Spartans are a ton of fun to watch.  They take on the 9-1 Vinton County Vikings this coming Friday.

-  Last week’s “The Jim Schaus Show on The Sears Sports Fan” is a can’t miss.  Fox Sports senior college basketball writer was a great guest who provided some interesting insight on John Groce.  And it’s always fun when you get to hear from the MAC commissioner himself, Rick Chryst.

-  More to come.

* January 7th

- Citrus H.S. (FL) RB Antoin Scriven visited Ohio this weekend, his prep coach Rik Haines said Monday.

-  Scriven has offers from Boston College, N.C. State, Arizona State, Louisville, Troy, Middle Tennessee, Florida International, Western Michigan and Northern Illinois among others.  According to his head coach Rik Haines, Scriven’s five official visits include Ohio, Western Michigan, Louisville and Troy, and Haines thinks it will come down to Ohio, WMU or Louisville. “Kid is a Nebraska style tailback, only played about 12 quarters this year due to (a) high ankle sprain,” Haines said via e-mail, who added that Scriven rushed for over 4,400 yards in his prep career.

-  With so many high-major offers, one might wonder why what’s the “in” Ohio has with the highly touted tailback. “His connection is that Coach Solich and I are very good friends.  If Coach Solich goes back to a Nebraska style offense this kid is the perfect fit.  I also know some other guys on the staff,” Haines added.  “Also, Frank’s record speaks for itself as while as getting degrees for his players…. He needs to go where there is stability. I think the Louisville coach is
going to be gone, if he doesn’t improve.  Frank is there for the long haul. I have told Antoin he needs to go where there is a commitment to run the ball and graduate.”

-  North Carolina Tech Prep DE Jeffrey Hutchison (6-3, 240, 4.6 40) went on a visit to Athens Monday, said assistant coach Jimmy Biggs.  Hutchison has offers from WMU, Pittsburgh, N.C. Central and Tuskegee with interest from N.C. State.  He recorded 25 tackles and 4 sacks this season and also played TE and OLB.  “He was one of the best players to play here….He would be a great fit up in Ohio,” Biggs said.  “He was a versatile player so we put him at different positions.  He has great hands and great quickness when he plays TE.”

-  St. Anne’s-Belfield H.S. (VA) TE Alex Asher visited Ohio this weekend, said his high school coach John Blake.  According to Rivals.com, Asher committed to Richmond in November.

-  Despite a report from Scout.com saying two-star Glenville H.S. (OH) linebacker Travis Freeman is visiting Athens on Jan. 9, he was in town last weekend.

-  Other recruits on campus this past weekend include Rivals.com 3-star safety Xavier Hughes (Seneca Valley H.S. in MD) and 3-star QB Patrick Nicely (Willoughby South OH).

-  In hoops recruiting news, Ohio has shown increased interest in Waterford high school senior center D.J. Cunningham.  His high school coach Tom Sims—who said Cunningham is a legitimate 6’10.5—told me Monday morning the ‘Cats want to see more film on Cunningham.

-  An erroneous internet report late last week said Cunningham had signed with Wright State, but such is not the case.  Currently Cunningham has a full offer from Buffalo, with redshirt offers from Kent State and Wright State.  Penn State and Detroit are interested as well.  Sims said Minnesota has shown a great amount of interest in Cunningham over the last few weeks as well, and while he wants to stay in the state of Ohio, playing for the Gophers is intriguing.

-  Currently Ohio has no available 2009 scholarships but it appears that has not stopped the Ohio coaching staff from recruiting the area.

-  Armon Bassett will be a guest on “The Sears Sports Fan” this Friday.

-  Gary Trent and Clay Calkins are the scheduled guests Thursday evening for “The Jim Schaus Show on The Sears Sports Fan” from 6-7.  Questions, comments, suggestions—all are welcome to be sent to sports@970wath.com.

-  My belated condolences go out to Bob Lambert and family.  Bob was a longtime member of the WXTQ/WATH Radio Family.  He passed away on New Year’s day after a long battle with cancer.  He will most definitely be missed at the station.

-  Much more to come in what should be a fun Sunday afternoon of hoops inside The Convo.

*  January 4th

-  Here’s a quick football recruiting update roughly a month before national signing day:

Committed
QB- Phillip Bates (transfer)
FB- Tim Edmond
WR- Jeremy Green, Mario Dovell
OL- Skyler Allen, James Davis, John Lechner and Sam Johnson, Kadre Pinder (transfer)

DL- John Taylor

LB- Dan Molls
CB/S- Jamil Shaw

S- Jeremy Green

Needs:

-  Ohio  must get a bigger tailback, preferably at least 200 pounds.  If the ‘Cats can get a solid high school quarterback—possibly Patrick Nicely—they would take him as well.  Nicely would be ideal, because it would allow him a few years under the system before he takes over upon Phillip Bates’ graduation following the 2011 season. 

-  Also, at least one tight end is needed to replenish the system, and based on past players TE’s coach Pete Germano has brought to Athens, fans should expect Ohio to sign a good one. 

-  On the defensive side of the ball, the ‘Cats will probably try to get a pass rushing defensive end and a speedy outside line backer/strong safety type as well.  A CB/WR/ATH type will probably fill a spot or two as well.

-  I would not be surprised if Ohio signs a kicker either despite the lack of an immediate need at the position with R-Fr. Matt Weller set to take over kicking duties in 2009.

-  More to come.  Stay tuned.