Scarlet Sunrise: Ohio State signee Craig Young is already an inspirational story

Good morning, Ohio State fans, and welcome to the Scarlet Sunrise! Football will always be our focus, but every day we’ll cover news, notes and analysis from across Buckeyes sports. Join us each morning to get caught up on everything you missed in the world of Ohio State football, recruiting, basketball and more.

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Craig Young’s brush with death

If you read one thing today, make it this outstanding story on Craig Young by Lettermen Row contributor John Brice. The story looks at Young’s rough journey to Ohio State from Fort Wayne, including the time two years ago he was shot three times while having dinner with a friend.

“I was really wrong place, wrong time,” Young told Lettermen Row during a visit this month to his hometown. “Friend’s house, somebody drove by, shot up the house, and I got shot in my hand, leg and elbow. I had surgery on my [left] hand.

“I was scared I was going to die, really. I was just scared I was going to die. I really was just thinking about, I was scared to see death. Somebody that’s living don’t really know how death is. I don’t know how death was.”

The story looks at Young’s recovery, the challenge Urban Meyer issued him to improve if he wanted to earn a scholarship offer, and Young’s happiness currently as he will soon embark on a new chapter in his life. Be sure to check it out.

Ohio State offers local DB Rickey Hyatt

Under Ryan Day, Ohio State has tried to lock down Ohio’s best players. To that end, they offered one of the state’s rising 2020 stars on Wednesday night, Westerville Central 3-star safety Rickey Hyatt. Here’s what Birm had to say about the offer and Hyatt’s recruitment:

“Despite his current 3-star status, I expect that you’ll see the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Hyatt receive a rating bump in the near future that will push him over the 4-star threshold.

“Hyatt is a big, rangy defensive back prospect who runs a laser-timed 4.68 in the 4o-yard dash, and that’s plenty fast for a young player who hasn’t been trained yet at the elite level that he will be in college.

“I’d expect Hyatt to work into the Buckeyes 2020 recruiting class and see him as another player that’s an excellent fit in the Bullet position that is being developed at Ohio State. That said, there’s no timeline for a decision and believe this could stretch into the early summer months.”

For more on Ohio State recruiting, check out the Wednesday edition of Dotting the ‘Eyes.

Ohio State hoops hires Jake Diebler

Ohio State basketball has officially replaced Mike Schrage, hiring Jake Diebler to take his place on staff. Diebler most recently served three years as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt, but head coach Bryce Drew was recently fired after going from 19-16 to 12-20 to 9-23 in his three years in Nashville, including an 0-18 conference recored this season. Before that, Diebler served as a video coordinator at Ohio State under Thad Matta from 2013-16. He got into coaching at Valparaiso as a student assistant and director of operations, and he also served as an assistant coach for two seasons before leaving for Ohio State.

Despite the rough record at Vanderbilt, Diebler brings a lot to the table. He has Ohio ties, having grown up in the Buckeye State. He finished his high school career at Upper Sandusky, where he starred on the court. He’s familiar with Ohio State, having worked there previously and also being the brother of former Ohio State basketball player Jon Diebler. And most importantly, he can flat-out recruit. While at Vanderbilt he landed 5-star guard Darius Garland, who chose the Commodores over Kentucky and Indiana, among others.

Hoops B1G slate announced

The Big Ten released its men’s basketball opponent matchups on Wednesday — not dates, but a list of which opponents will comprise each team’s 20-game conference schedule, since it’s not possible to schedule a home/away with every team.

Here’s how Ohio State’s 2019-20 Big Ten men’s basketball schedule will look:

Home and Away:
Indiana
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Nebraska
Penn State
Wisconsin

Home only:
Illinois
Purdue
Rutgers

Away only:
Iowa
Michigan State
Northwestern

Overall, a pretty fair schedule. I think it’s always good for Ohio State and Michigan to play twice, so that’s nice to see. And while I’m sure Ohio State would love to play some of the weaker teams twice instead of once, Rutgers and Northwestern both ended up beating the Buckeyes last year. You’re just not going to get many freebies in this conference, so does it really make a difference?

Counting down

• NFL Draft: 7 days

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