Buckeye House Call

I moved to Columbus, Ohio from New York in 1979 (age 13) and I knew very little about the tradition of Ohio State. It didn’t take very long for me to realize that in order to fit in, I had to become an Ohio State fan so that is exactly what I did.  It took another 8 years for me to truly learn exactly what being “a Buckeye” was all about.

In 1987, I began a friendship that has lasted until today. As I got to know Chris Stahl, I learned that his grandfather had been a “coach” at Ohio State and that he and his family were very patriotic Buckeye fans. They began inviting me to go to Football games with them and that experience was very different from the games I had attended previously. Grandpa Stahl worked the time-clock at the Horseshoe and Chris and his parents had 4 seats near the 45 yard line on B-deck. The seats were right behind Ann Hayes and Head Basketball Coaches Gary Williams and Randy Ayers and many other “VIP’s”.  I realized that Grandpa Stahl was one of those “VIP’s” and in 8 years of knowing and speaking to the man, I also learned what “being a Buckeye” truly meant.

Sometimes there are articles I look forward to writing. Unfortunately, this is not one of them. I had planned to share the excitement of senior day, discuss William Buford’s great career and summarize an exciting Buckeye victory against Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badgers. Today I will share my observations on Jared Sullinger’s lack of effectiveness over the past few weeks and a void in team leadership that we desperately need him to fill after losing our third game in five attempts.

Much of the criticism has fallen on the shoulders of senior Buford for his tendency to take bad shots, force passes, an inability at times to knock down the open jumper and overall lack of senior leadership. While the criticism is fair, he is not the only reason this team continues to struggle. As a team, the Buckeyes are suffering from poor shot selection, missed free throws, lazy defense and too many turnovers.

Each Sunday at 8:30am Eastern we recap the prior week's work of the newly formed Buckeye Bloggers Network - a group of six Ohio State blogs, all with the same goal in mind - providing free content to Buckeye Nation. Here's the best-of for the week ending 26 February 2012:

This week's Roundtable focuses squarely on our lone senior going into Senior Day on Sunday afternoon - William Buford. BHC's Carrie Janello put together a great tribute to Buford on Friday afternoon, and we've decided to take it a step further in this week's edition of BHC Roundtable. The premise is simple: we throw a few questions out on the table and see where it goes.

This week's lineup:

Ian Cuevas (InsideTheShoe)   |  Rich Crowe (OSU fan)

Carrie Janello (BHC)  |  Grant Edgell (BHC)

What do you think has been Buford's biggest hurdle this season as far as providing consistent performances throughout his senior season?

Ian: William Buford's biggest hurdle this season has been William Buford. I personally believe that Willie B. truly psyches himself out to the point where he thinks he must 100% dominate top tier teams, or the fans/media will rip him apart.

While some of that may be true, it's true of any other player and he shouldn't try and burden himself to that point. We've seen Buford at his best but it's been mostly against lower-tier teams. I'm hoping once the NCAA Tournament rolls around we can see a fire being lit under him, which is why I think it's important that Ohio State fans show their support for our senior at the Wisconsin game.

Carrie: Buford's personality is that of a wallflower. He's shy, not very showy, and very uncomfortable in the leadership position. He seems better suited in a supporting role and really misses a David Lighty-style player. As the only senior, expectations for leading the team were placed 100% on his shoulders by the coaches and the fans. When we have played well-prepared teams, his teammates look to him for direction and/or a boost, causing him further pressure and angst. He obviously takes the responsibility of being a senior seriously but lacks the self-confidence to deliver consistent performances. His biggest hurdle is confidence in his own ability to lead the team.

The face of the the 2011-12 Ohio State men's basketball team is 6'9" sophomore big man Jared Sullinger. Nobody would argue that. That will change for one afternoon this Sunday when Senior Day honors William Buford as the Buckeyes' only senior on the roster before they face the Wisconsin Badgers at 4pm Eastern at the Jerome Schottenstein Center. Many feel as though Jared Sullinger will also take his services to the next level after this season concludes, and that would come as no surprise. But all of our attention shouldn't simply focus on Buford and Sully on Sunday - this could very well be the last time we see DeShaun Thoman take the Value City Arena court wearing our beloved Scarlet and Gray.

This Sunday at 4:00pm Eastern Ohio State will host the Wisconsin Badgers in William Buford's final home game as a Buckeye. It's Senior Night for him, but a night for the team to continue building momentum heading into the postseason after a Tuesday night blowout of Ilinois at the Schott.

Ohio State knocked off the Badgers at their place earlier this month, and now look to sweep the two-game series as #15 Wisconsin comes in having won 8 of their last 11. We caught up with Andrew Coppens of the MadTown Badgers blog to get the perspective from the other side heading into Sunday's big match-up.

As The Ohio State University Men’s Basketball team prepares for their last home game of the season against Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badgers, they are also preparing to celebrate Senior Day …. Or as it will be known this year: William Buford Day. The lone senior has taken quite a bit of heat this season from Buckeye Nation, and I am no exception to that. But as he prepares to step onto the court for his last game at the Schott, he deserves a proper tribute. I am not just talking about a tribute to a four-year starter but a lifelong Buckeye.

When he came to The Ohio State University as a freshman, he was a McDonald’s All-American and an Ohio Mr. Basketball. He was already being compared to Buckeye great Jim Jackson and had a ton of potential. Just nine games into his freshman season, Buford was added to the starting line-up; he has started all but one game since, and on his Senior Day, he will break the all-time record number of career starts. He has played in 134 games, averaging 32.4 minutes per game. In total, he has sported a Scarlet and Gray jersey for 4,337 minutes over the last four years, not including the remaining games of the 2011-12 season. Think about that total for a minute. That is incredible!