Oller: Taking cue from Ohio State athletes, I plan to remain at The Dispatch ... for now
Dispatch Nation, I’M BACK!!!
I never left, mind you, but figured now is a good time to reaffirm my commitment to writing columns for Ohio’s Greatest Home Newspaper. You know, like the Ohio State athletes who recently opted to bypass the transfer portal and remain in the program. Twitter/X was ablaze with declarations of status quo.
Felix Okpara: I’m BACK!
Bruce Thornton: I’m BACK!
Devin Royal: I’m BACK!
Roddy Gayle Jr.: I’m, er, NEVER MIND!
Cotie McMahon: Is she back?
Denzel Burke could have turned pro. Instead, he is BACK!
TreVeyon Henderson is BACK!
None of them left – even Gayle is still here, until he signs elsewhere – but they felt the need to post their allegiance to the Buckeyes, because fans get nervous not knowing if players claiming to bleed scarlet and gray are considering switching colors.
I remember when it was news when college players left, not when they stayed, but the times they are a changin.’ The transfer portal, which allows athletes to gain immediate eligibility at their next schools, combined with name, image and likeness, which impacts the portal, have made the college landscape almost unrecognizable. You need a scorecard to keep up with who stayed, who left, who might stay and who might leave. Keep an eraser handy.
The Dispatch actually maintains a transfer portal tracker that updates whenever an OSU football or basketball player opts to test the transfer waters. The tracker spins so fast that, like Quint’s fishing reel in “Jaws,” our football and basketball beat reporters have to pour water on it to keep the thing from overheating.
Dispatch writer staying put (for better or worse)
But enough about college kids. This is my announcement.
“I’m grateful and blessed to announce I am 100% committed to running it back with my Dispatch colleagues. Can’t wait to get started. With my returning writers and editors, we will strive to make each edition better than the next, both digitally and in print. If that means hand-delivering your paper to your doorstep, and not just tossing it onto the driveway or into your flower bed, then that’s what I commit to do (not really, but it’s the thought that counts). Thank you for the love and support, and even the crank emails and letters, which prove that you’re reading. It's been an incredible journey. Lastly, I want to thank my family and my NIL collective (aka THE Gannett) for making it worth my while to stay put and not go looking for better benefits packages out there.”
Sincerely, Me.
Psst, don’t tell anyone, but I often wonder if athletes who stay do so based on loyalty or large bills? We pretty much know why the biggest names leave – cha-ching – but what is keeping the squatters in the fold? You have to believe it’s not based solely on how much The Foundation and the 1870 Society can bankroll them. Those two collectives are responsible for helping keep OSU talent like Burke from leaving, either to other schools offering more cash or to the NFL, and also for luring outside talent to the Shoe and the Schott. Hello, Meechie Johnson.
The Foundation’s gravitational pull on the football and basketball programs grows stronger each day. Like the Death Star.
In February, a federal judge in Tennessee granted a preliminary injunction that blocked NCAA rules restricting collectives or other third-party organizations from reaching agreements with high school recruits and players in the transfer portal prior to their enrollment at a university.
Court decision gives collectives more power
In light of the court decision, Ohio State restructured its NIL guidelines to specify that collectives that operate as independent entities can contact athletes during the recruiting or transfer process. In the old days, we called them boosters carrying envelopes of cash.
Brian Schottenstein, co-founder of The Foundation, explained of OSU's updated guidelines, “It's a big change. It makes us even more powerful, because we now can actually do deals with recruits and transfer portal players.”
The Empire Strikes Back, eh?
Collectives aren’t all bad. They funnel money to athletes, which is fair play as TV networks and athletic departments get rich off the talent. And in many cases, charitable organizations benefit from partnering with collectives that channel money to athletes as they promote "goodwill" functions, although I still prefer charity work to be volunteer, not paid. Collectives are simply filling the monetary space the schools left blank by failing to do more to compensate athletes. Collectives also pad athletes' pockets to help keep the best from bolting via not-so-free agency.
But enough about money. We’re here to talk about love, loyalty and commitment to winning. I want to believe athletes who stay are motivated by more than the almighty dollar. I want to believe The Brotherhood is a blood oath. I want to believe Emeka Egbuka is not making more than me. Yet.
Today, we celebrate the ones who planted their flags in the furrow ground of Columbus instead of running off to, say, Florida State.
J.T. Tuimoloau is BACK. Devin Brown is BACK (for now). Welcome home, boys. It's like you never left.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Bruce Thornton staying, Roddy Gayle Jr. going as Ohio State adjusts
