Good article, thanks.  Both seem like "good character" guys.  Look forward to seeing them on the court next year.

Appearances can be deceiving when reporters and editors don't do their jobs.

Offutt and Smith, in reality, have character question marks over their heads due to their track records. Groce should probably have one on his forehead after choosing to bring Armon Bassett and Jon Smith to campus.

The article wasn't a bad idea, it was just poorly executed. Asking Offutt, Smith and Groce about these particular issues and devoting a couple of paragraphs to that would have made all the difference. The best possible outcome for everybody at this point would be for them to excel on and off the court. I hope that's exactly what happens. But what a disservice it was to trot out a puff piece with no mention whatsoever of key pieces of information.

First off, with Offutt there's nothing too bad. It's just that he's on his third college hoops program now (not sure how the reporter missed that), and one of his former coaches at Wright State publicly questioned Offutt's work ethic when he ditched them to come here. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that's unusual:

www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/wright-state-university-raiders/transfer-from-osu-to-leave-wright-state-666138.html

Given Bassett's issues in Athens (not attending class, assaulting a bar bouncer, known as a heavy partier, inconsistent effort on the court), the whole being-on-your-third-program thing is a potential red flag. I don't expect similar problems from Offutt, but expecting great things from him might be a bit of a stretch (he also reportedly had two knee surgeries in high school).

With Jon Smith, I think Groce could be setting an unfortunate tone for the program. Smith was investigated for an alleged sexual assault along with three other Billikens players right after he quit the Saint Louis University program last Spring. Charges were not filed, and Smith has every right to go on with his life, but Groce had a choice. Ben Roethlisberger was not charged either, but organizations can read between the lines and mete out reasonable punishments when adequate proof to indict does not exist but judgment and character are highly questionable. The Steelers and the NFL did that. Saint Louis University did that to the other players involved. Meanwhile, Jon Smith is viewed by some in the Saint Louis area as the most culpable person in the incident, but he skated to Athens and now gets doting, uncritical coverage by so-called journalists. To be fair, there are also people in Saint Louis who think the alleged victim was entirely to blame, and I'd say the incident's in a somewhat ethically gray area.

If you want credible accounts of what happened, read these links:

blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/11/slu_basketball_sexual_assault_kwamain_mitchell_willie_reed.php

www.scribd.com/doc/42690639/SLU-Basketball-Police-Report

What's also disturbing is that somebody on this board posted something about Smith's behavior when he visited OU while being recruited out of high school. It was nonspecific but implied some kind of devious action. The post was made before the data crash - I don't remember by who, possibly Wanamaker.

I filed a public records request with the Saint Louis police way back last summer on the alleged sexual assault, but nothing was released until a couple of months ago and the Saint Louis press put it up right away.

Obviously, both guys have some question marks, but that's a different story. This was about how they fit in with the team even though they can't play this year. It seems to me both of them have been pretty good teammates to this point.

Nice......why couldn't they put Smith in a Billiken jersey in that article......no that big O-H-I-O stands out pretty good or bad whichever way ya wanta put it......ah....most readers will skim the article and think that's an OSU jersey.

      Walter Offutt,    Very well mannered and polite kid,  Baggage/ Trouble Maker he is NOT.  Walter transfers from Ohio State to Wright State because of lack of playing time.  Then Coach Brownell of Wright State leaves the program for a bigger job and leave's his new commit Walter Offutt.  It happens everywhere in college basketball, coaches move on and so does recruits. If Brownell was still at Wright State,  Walter Offutt would still be there. Ohio is very lucky to have a player the caliber of  Walter Offutt and I'm glad he chose Ohio over Indiana, Welcome Walter Offutt to the Bobcat Family, I can't wait to see you run the Convo floor next season.



     Talk is cheap, People get kicks out of posting negative things and digging up dirt,   I urge people to stay after a home game and take the time to meet these Players face to face, Players like coming out of the locker room and shaking hands with the fans, signing autographs, and telling you whats going on in their lives.


     Meet the person before you judge them.  Is that really asking to much ?

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Dennis "Gman"   "DON'T   FLINCH"


 

I think I made it quite clear that the premise for the article as a neutral piece about the two transfers was fine. It was the failure to briefly mention Smith's off-court incident in Saint Louis and Offutt being on his third program that was lame.

As evidenced by KC Bobcat's post ("Both seem like 'good character' guys"), people who follow the Bobcats can easily come away with a sugar-coated impression. I'd like to think that OUr program's better off if its supporters have facts in hand.  

Ryan, do you honestly think that being the target of a rape investigation in which "pulling a train" on a tipsy coed was discussed, condoms were hidden and players were suspended is a "little" negative? You want to dog me instead of thinking about Groce's thought process? Why not dog Mike Coleman, who just posted a minor pot bust of a former player? You compare me to Carl Monday, but he's a national joke who went to Can't State while I'm an award-winning writer who went to Ohio University. Maybe you should worry more about protecting data.



 

Putnam, your post was totally unnecessary and off base. First off, I didnt know that transferring to another school  was looked down upon and if you do so, you must have "character issues". Another thing, why should the athens news have to disclose legal issues that are totally pointless to the story at hand?  Calling police stations for criminal reports on future athletes is somewhat disturbing.  You must have a whole lot of free time...I just cant wait to do a full-on police investigation after I get home from work. Your attack on these transfer athletes and coach Groce seems almost personal.  Im guessing Jon Smith and yourself are not the best of friends.

I seem to remember some lacrosse players at Duke being accused of sexual assault as well.  How'd that turn out?

Who knows what happened with Big Ben either?  Isn't it just as likely that the girl in question wanted to have some fun, and then got pissed off when he didn't return a text message later on?  I have no idea if he did something wrong or not.  I'm just saying it is certainly possible.  Those kids at Duke were ridiculed, only to be found innocent.  All because some stripper decided to turn into a money grubbing ho bag. 

Also see Sterger, Jen.

OK, Hocking. I guess I'll try to defend myself since you've chosen to attack me rather than reflect on the implications of the information I provided.

1. Three of your five total posts on this board have been "homer no likey criticism" posts. Just for the record.

2. In terms of reading comprehension, yours isn't that good. I never said transfers are inherently bad. As for news judgment, I have it and you don't. It's my profession, and I've learned a thing or two at Scripps and working in three states. A real article doesn't neglect to mention that Offutt's on his third program and that Smith was the target of a rape investigation during the time that Groce brought him here.

3. You know nothing about my responsibilities and time constraints or the lack thereof. You'd be surprised how easily truth can be acquired with minimal effort. I'm sure all of your free time is spent on higher pursuits.

Ozcat, I've read the Roethlisberger police report from Georgia in its entirety. Ditto with the Jon Smith investigation. I'm familiar with the Duke lacrosse scandal details. The Jen Sterger/Favre thing is just stupid IMO. Each situation is different, but the Roethlisberger thing is similar enough to draw a comparison. Anyhow, it's Groce's thought process that matters.

Hocking, it's not personal. I know Groce very slightly, but not really. People mostly say good things about him. Saw Jon Smith at Kroger once if that counts.

I guess I'm just a throwback to a time when there was more integrity and putting facts on the table or calling bullshit was considered a good thing. Groce blathering about John Wooden and off-court player development in that article was more proof that up is down and left is right on Richland Avenue these days.


   

You guys, the guy who wrote the story is a sophomore journalism student who has a blog on foxsportsohio.com covering Ohio Bobcats basketball and football. I see him at all the men's games that I cover and film.

He' s a friend of mine and he knows what he's talking about. He's one of the most talented student journalists I know and volunteers almost all of his time to it. He has written for many sources and I love his stuff.

I thought the article was good and I enjoyed it. 

OK, I'll ask publicly, anyone care to divulge to me the true identity of Mr. Putnam Field.  You've made me very curious, mcbin.