Thursday, January 27, 2022 Page 1
How to get a COVID-19 booster shot at Ohio State The booster shot is available for students, faculty and staff at Jesse Owens North as well as other locations near campus.
HOSNA SADAQAT Lantern reporter sadaqat.3@osu.edu As the spring semester progresses, Ohio State continues to encourage anyone eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster shot to do so. Where can you receive the booster shot? Becky Wilkins, associate director of ambulatory services at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State, said in an email the booster shot is available for students, faculty and staff at Jesse Owens North Recreation Center and other locations near campus. “We have some limited availability for
faculty and staff at our outpatient James locations, both on and off campus, and Outpatient Care Upper Arlington offers vaccines to OSU students, faculty, staff and the general public,” Wilkins said. Who is eligible, and how can you schedule? Wilkins said anyone interested in receiving a booster shot should check if they are eligible. She said anyone who received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine must wait five months to receive a booster, or 60 days for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Eligible students and faculty can log in to the MyChart app to schedule an appointment for a booster shot at JO North. They can schedule an appointment
Tuesday through Friday, with various time slots available. What should you bring? Wilkins said individuals should bring their photo ID, vaccination card and an insurance card to their appointment. She said there is no cost to individuals for the booster shot. “Insurers are required to cover the cost of the vaccine and the Federal Government covers the cost for any un-insured patient,” Wilkins said. Wilkins said the booster shot is administered by various health care professionals, such as nursing students, nurses, physicians, residents, pharmacy students and pharmacists. Dubem Obianagha, a resident physician
HOSNA SADAQAT | LANTERN REPORTER
at Ohio State, helps to administer the vaccine. Obianagha said data shows the booster shot is effective in preventing disease. “The booster shot helps with your immune system, it helps generate more antibodies to fight the infection, if you happen to be in contact with [COVID-19] or be exposed to it,” Obianagha said. “So it just really helps you generate more immune response to it to fight it better.” For more information about booster shots, visit the Safe and Healthy Buckeyes website.
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Thursday, January 27, 2022
CAMPUS
RallyCap Sports hosts activities for children with disabilities Former RallyCap president, Nikki Huber (left) and current RallyCap president, Alex Choi (right) at the Ohio Student Union.
PARIS JOHNSON JR. Lantern reporter johnson.8687@osu.edu Every Sunday, Nikki Huber and Alex Choi play sports with children with disabilities, building friendships along the way. RallyCap Sports is a student organization that puts on sporting events for children with disabilities. Ohio State’s chapter offers sports such as basketball, soccer and baseball — creating a gratifying experience for participants and volunteers alike. “I found that RallyCap gave me the perfect opportunity to have one-on-one interactions with the kids and really develop the relationship over a couple weeks,” Huber, a fourth-year in health
science and former RallyCap president, said. “Seeing how much they look forward to being with us has been one of the more special parts of being a part of RallyCap.” Huber said her biggest role model and inspiration to join RallyCap is her younger sister, who has down syndrome. Noah Mertz, a member of RallyCap, said he is involved in almost every event the group hosts, whether it is dancing, basketball or football. Mertz, who has autism, is a social butterfly who loves to be around people and participate in activities with others, Joe Mertz and Shannon Mertz, his parents, said. Joe Mertz said his son enjoys being a part of a team and having fun with both his friends and the leaders of RallyCap. “Just that hour or hour and a half that
we get to escape and let him be a part of team and have fun and run around and get exercise,” Joe Mertz said. Huber said she finds her mood improves every time she volunteers for RallyCap. “I would say that it is probably one of the most rewarding things ever to come to an event on Sunday after a week of being stressed and doing homework,” Huber said. Choi, a third-year in finance and current RallyCap president, said he was first inspired to help kids with disabilities in high school, when he worked with a Special Olympics basketball team. He said seeing the players succeed was rewarding. “Being able to play alongside them was something special to me, where it wasn’t just watching them but kind of helping them reach their goals, so when I came
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to Ohio State, that was something I was looking for,” Choi said. When the pandemic forced the club’s activities online for a year, Choi said the organization was challenged because its success relies on personal interactions and moments participants share together. RallyCap has since returned to planning in-person events, including an upcoming opportunity for the children to play basketball Sunday. Choi said it means a lot to him to see the kids having fun. “It’s kind of hard to just not smile when you’re with the kids,” Choi said. “No matter how bad your week was, you can always get uplifted during it.”
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Thursday, January 27, 2022
ARTS&LIFE
Violinist trades out Pachelbel’s “Canon” for Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”
ON PAGE 4
Jimmy Sotos navigates NIL opportunities, TikTok fame and clothing line AUSTIN MUCCHETTI Lantern reporter mucchetti.1@osu.edu When name, image and likeness opportunities in the NCAA became available to student-athletes, Jimmy Sotos hit the ground running — this time, off the court. Sotos, a graduate student in sports management and a member of the Ohio State men’s basketball team, has amassed a following of 1.1 million on TikTok and 150,000 on Instagram. Sotos said he discovered TikTok while enrolled at Bucknell University and eventually decided to create an account as a way to put out uplifting content. “Just wholesome, genuine, positive energy,” Sotos said. “Me and my friends just get on there, dance and just be ourselves in the camera, and it seems to really resonate with people.” Following Sotos’ first viral video, his view counts continued to trend upward one after the other, which he said encouraged him to keep posting content. On June 28, 2021, Ohio passed NIL legislation for colleges and institutions allowing NCAA athletes to profit off of their name, image and likeness. Once able to accept brand deals, Sotos said he enlisted the help of a trusted attorney-by-trade: the oldest of his three brothers, Tommy. “Jimmy and I have a very, very close relationship, and it was just a very natural thing for him to ask me questions about what he can and cannot do,” Tommy Sotos said. “It very organically developed into what it is now, where I am just sort of advising Jimmy on everything he’s doing.” In October 2021, following the NIL rule change,
COURTESY OF JIMMY SOTOS
Jimmy Sotos, a graduate student in sports management and member of the Ohio State men’s basketball team, has been making waves on the social media app TikTok, reaching 1.1 million followers.
Jimmy Sotos also released his own line of merchandise: “SOTOS.” “I’ve been into fashion my entire life, I’ve been into designing my entire life, I just never had the resources or the money to do it,” Jimmy Sotos said. “I finally got to that point, and I was able to experiment a little bit, and people showed a lot of love.” Jimmy Sotos said he is now repositioning the brand to fashion-centric, formal streetwear, rather than fan merchandise. Following his own merchandise release, Jimmy Sotos, along with the Ohio State
men’s basketball team, released a “Team 123” line as part of “The Players Edition” merchandise brand in January. “It was kind of a historic moment,” Jimmy Sotos said. “We were able to launch team merch for the first time that all the players collectively benefit from monetarily, and we sold out. The support there has been awesome.” Although they began working on the line over the summer, Jimmy Sotos said creating team merchandise commemorating the 123rd Ohio State men’s basketball
team took time, patience and intense collaboration with designers and lawyers, considering the recency of the opportunity. Now that the brand is in full swing, Jimmy Sotos said future Ohio State men’s basketball teams will be able to benefit from it as well. “So next year it’ll be ‘124’ merch, and you don’t have to go through all the stuff we had to go through, and that’s why it took so long for the merch to come out,” JIMMY SOTOS CONTINUES ON 4
4 | The Lantern | Thursday, January 27, 2022
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JIMMY SOTOS FROM 3
Jimmy Sotos said. “So now, all you got to do is be part of the team, and we’ll take care of the rest.” Since his social media journey began, those around Jimmy Sotos said they have recognized his innate knowledge for how social media and business work.
“He understands where his value can come for a brand in a deal,” Tommy Sotos said. “He understands the way that companies on the other side of deals are looking at him, what they’re looking for from him.” Gary Petit, associate director of the men’s
basketball team, said he believes Jimmy Sotos is a good example of how athletes can benefit from the new NIL rules. “I think just looking at Jimmy as a whole, he almost is exactly what the NIL was set up for,” Petit said. “I think he’s using the rules and the setup exactly how it
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Electric violinist strikes a chord with fraternity, professors and fellow students JOSIE PENDERGHAST Lantern reporter penderghast.1@osu.edu At just 10 years old, Brandon Hoff picked up a violin and fell in love. Just a few years later, Mark Wood — the inventor of the first solid-body electric violin and world-leading rock violinist — inspired him to purchase the instrument so he could take his playing to the next level. Hoff said the electric violin allowed him to branch out from classical music and explore a whole new repertoire of rock songs, such as “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” by Guns N’ Roses. “I will say I was pretty average until seventh grade, when Mark Wood came to visit my school and inspired me to take the next step,” Hoff, a second-year in biology, said. “That’s when I bought one of his electric violins, and my music really took off from there.” Hoff, who is also a member of Delta Sigma Phi, said despite his intensive studies as a pre-med student and obligations with his fraternity, he takes time to craft his music and make it a priority in his life. In November 2021, Hoff was able to perform at Delta Sigma Phi’s block party before an Ohio State football game. “I played a selection of rock music including ‘Mr. Brightside’ by The Killers and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen,” Hoff said. “I don’t think the crowd was expecting a violinist to rock out and play popular music.” Casey Welker, a second-year in health sciences and Hoff’s close friend and fraternity brother, was present at the performance and said it shocked the crowd. “Everyone was in awe; none of us had heard an electric violin before,”
Brandon Hoff performing “All of Me” by John Legend at a wedding in October of 2020.
Welker said. “Our jaws were on the floor.” After the performance, Hoff said he sent video footage to Wood to showcase his talent on the instrument Wood created. Robert Gillespie, an emeritus music professor at Ohio State and a friend of Wood’s, said he called Wood in search of a musician who could help in an upcoming international teacher workshop in the Columbus area. “I was looking for someone who could be personable with the teachers, perform
for them and help refine their skills on string instruments,” Gillespie said. “Mark mentioned Brandon, saying he was an extremely talented violinist who could show the teachers new skills.” Gillespie said the workshop will be held in the summer with both live and virtual components. He said there are typically 100-200 teachers who attend, with several coming from abroad. Gillespie said he is excited to work with Brandon, who he believes to be a pioneer in his specialty.
COURTESY OF SHANNON STEVENS
“I reached out to him and he got back right away,” Gillespie said. “The future of string music is electric, and I look forward to meeting him in person.” In the future, Hoff said he hopes to get more involved on TikTok and YouTube so he can grow his audience. “I’ve always had an ear for music, and while this doesn’t align with my career goals, it’s something I can’t give up,” Hoff said. “Music has such an emotional effect on me and it’s something I can’t live without.”
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Igloo dining heats up business at local restaurants PRESTON HARMON Lantern reporter harmon.528@osu.edu Some restaurants around central Ohio are providing a unique dining experience as winter trudges on. Local restaurants are taking advantage of outdoor dining spaces, which would otherwise go unoccupied during Ohio’s frigid winter, by installing large, heated igloos that can seat up to eight people. Brad Hampu, owner of Amato’s Woodfired Pizza in Delaware, said his restaurant began offering igloo seating to increase seating during the winter months. “People were concerned about going and eating out,” Hampu said. “I thought it would be a good way to give people the assurance they were safe amongst themselves.” Hampu said Amato’s installed four igloos last winter after statewide COVID-19 protocols limited its seating capacities. He said the 32 additional seats provided by the
igloos put customers at ease and increases the restaurant’s capacity. The igloos have remained fruitful despite staffing struggles over the last year, Hampu said. “It has helped our bottom line tremendously,” Hampu said. “Any time you can add 32 seats, that’s certainly beneficial.” Reservations to dine in an igloo at Amato’s are not required, and Hampu said the igloos will continue to be available until the weather warms. The igloos operate on a first-come, first-served basis. “A lot of places do reserve them, but we wanted as many people as possible to use them,” Hampu said. “We’re right in the main intersection of downtown — they’re very visible and have lights on them.” Mary Dimitrijeska, marketing manager for the Craftsman Kitchen & Terrace restaurant at Newark’s Cherry Valley Hotel, said her restaurant started offering igloo seating in December 2021. Craftsman Kitchen & Terrace reopened
for the first time since 2020 this past December — after being closed due to the pandemic — with newly installed igloos that seat two to six patrons, Dimitrijeska said. She said the igloos generated muchneeded publicity for Cherry Valley Hotel, as many were otherwise unaware of the reopening. The igloos have been in such high demand at Craftsman Kitchen & Terrace that Dimitrijeska said they have added more dates for reservations, with availability now through the first two Fridays and Saturdays of March. The igloo dining option at Craftsman Kitchen & Terrace offers a curated menu and costs $65 per person normally, or $75 per person on Valentine’s Day weekend, Dimitrijeska said. Craftsman is open Thursday through Saturday and reservations for igloos can be made on the reservation app Resy. Hampu and Dimitrijeska said both restaurants intend on continuing igloo dining for the foreseeable future.
“It’s a cool trend, and I think it will be around for a little bit,” Dimitrijeska said. “We’re definitely going to do it again next year.” STAY CONNECTED WITH
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Friends form competitive Halo team, welcome all Buckeyes Buckeye Gaming Collective’s Scarlet Halo team beat Marshall University 3-0 in a scrimmage Tuesday.
ANDRES IBARRA Arts & Life LTV Producer ibarra.53@osu.edu For Caleb Monk and Deepesh Patel, video games have always been a part of life. But it wasn’t until Halo Infinite was released that they saw themselves entering the competitive video game scene. Monk, a fourth-year in new media and communication technology, said he has always been involved with esports, but Halo is what inspired him to manage a team. “Halo was the first thing that’s really kind of got me interested in the competitive scene,” Monk said. “I’ve helped out with gaming and esports for the last four years here at Ohio State, but Halo was the first thing that kind of made me want to be part
of a team.” Monk said he recruited Patel to the Buckeye Gaming Collective in August 2021. From there, Monk said Patel has done great in managing his responsibilities and has been a great figurehead on the team. “I was like, ‘Hey, Deepesh, do you want to be my broadcast manager?’ At that moment, that kid took it and he has ran with it,” Monk said. “He is just a natural leader and then he’s the one who actually came to me about the Halo team.” Patel, a second-year in political science, said the collective tried to set up a team, but the unexpected release date for Halo Infinite expedited their efforts. “We originally knew we wanted to try and start up a team,” Patel said. “We didn’t know the game was going to be released a month earlier than it was supposed to.”
Patel said he’s grateful tryouts went well for the team and this all originated from fellow Buckeyes wanting to play Halo together. “Thankfully, we were able to get enough people to participate in the tryouts to get accurate representations of skill levels,” Patel said. “The team just started because people wanted to play Halo at OSU competitively.” Patel said he hopes he can continue to maintain a positive yet competitive environment on the newfound team. “We’re just hoping to create a good team dynamic. We have a good team setting between all the players here and we have a friendly, fun atmosphere,” Patel said. “It’s also a competitive atmosphere where we want our players to be able to go out there and to be able to compete against some of these higher-tier schools that are currently
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performing really well in the collegiate Halo league.” This year’s Halo team is filled with plenty of competitive experience, Patel said. “One of our players has been playing competitively for the last 10 years,” Patel said. “Another one of our players, he’s played since Halo 2 tournaments and stuff like that, so I’m excited.” The Halo team had its first scrimmage Tuesday and won 3-0 against Marshall University. The relationship between Monk and Patel, unique in that they started a team together, has been beneficial on and off the sticks. “It’s super weird because this really hasn’t happened a lot in college, and at least in the gaming space,” Monk said. “We’ll just play games together all night.”
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LIDDELL FROM 8
2021-22. “Great. Keep playing the way [he’s] playing; he’s playing like a dog,” Wheeler said. “We’re just going to keep following him.” Head coach Chris Holtmann, who recruited Liddell and has coached him the past three seasons, emphasized the impact Liddell has made on the program and
Thursday, January 27, 2022 | The Lantern | 7
said that he has built his own legacy as a Buckeye. “I love the contribution E.J. has made to our program. He’s a phenomenal kid from a phenomenal family. He’s just made an incredible mark,” Holtmann said. “His legacy is going to be one that is significant because of who he is as a player and who he is as a kid.” Although Liddell has created countless
memorable moments on the court as a Buckeye, it’s the impact he’s made off the floor that brings him the greatest sense of pride. With another milestone set to be broken by Liddell Thursday, he said he wants to be remembered at Ohio State for his character, not just his on-court prowess. “I just want to be remembered as being a great person, honestly. Around this
program, I know all of the managers’ names, I know everybody in the program’s names. I just feel like those things are important,” Liddell said. “Being a great individual every single day, coming in this program, just being remembered as one of those guys — not even as a basketball player because I feel like that handles itself.”
No. 22 Ohio State seeks seventh straight win against No. 7 Michigan
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The Buckeyes sing Carmen Ohio after the Ohio State-Maryland game Jan. 20. Ohio State won 95-89.
GABBY KHODADAD Lantern Reporter khodadad.5@osu.edu Since No. 22 Ohio State fell to then-No. 9 Michigan 90-71 Dec. 31, 2021, the Buckeyes have ripped off six consecutive wins. But, their rival looks to end that streak in its tracks. The Buckeyes (15-3, 7-2 Big Ten) look to push their win streak to seven games Thursday against No. 7 Michigan (17-2, 8-1 Big Ten). Freshman forward Taylor Thierry said this Ohio State team has grown since the previous matchup against the Wolverines. “I think we learned a lot from the last time we played Michigan.
We were watching film a lot just to make sure that we were doing as much as we can to get better and work on what we need to work on,” Thierry said. “I think we’re a different team than we were when we played Michigan the first time and I think we worked hard.” Thierry played a key role in Ohio State’s most-recent win over Rutgers, scoring all five of her points in the fourth quarter while collecting six rebounds. The Cleveland native earned the “dub chain” for her performance Sunday. Head coach Kevin McGuff praised Thierry and graduate forward Tanaya Beacham for the versatility they bring to the
program. “We needed their athleticism, their toughness, because Rutgers is a really athletic team,” McGuff said. “They were very instrumental in our win.” Wolverines senior forward Naz Hillmon will be the one to stop. The Cleveland native is averaging 20.2 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Against the Buckeyes in December, Hillmon accounted for 29 points and 15 rebounds. While stopping Hillmon will prove to be another tall task for the Ohio State defense, McGuff expressed pride at how much the Buckeyes have grown since the last time they saw her. “I think we’re executing better
on the offensive end, turning the ball over less, generating better quality shots,” McGuff said. “We’re playing a little bit harder defensively and just competing a little bit more on the boards.” Historically, the Buckeyes are dominating the rivalry 57-15, and in 35 Columbus matchups, the Wolverines have only won five times. Senior guard Taylor Mikesell was named to the Big Ten’s weekly honor roll Monday after two stellar performances against her former team — then-No. 12 Maryland — and Rutgers. The 5-foot-11 guard accounted for 54 points, including 24 of those points from downtown.
While the Buckeyes seek revenge against their rival, McGuff said a win Thursday would be monumental for the program. “This is a big rivalry,” McGuff said. “We certainly have a lot of respect for the program and the season that they’re having right now and the talent that they’ll have on the floor tomorrow night, but it’s always a big game and I think our kids are excited to play, and hopefully we put our best foot forward.” Ohio State tips off at 7 p.m. against Michigan at the Schottenstein Center. The rivalry will be streamed on Big Ten Network.
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Thursday, January 27, 2022
SPORTS
No. 22 Ohio State women’s basketball seeks revenge against No. 7 Michigan ON PAGE 7
Liddell reflects on journey to 1,000 career points
MACKENZIE SHANKLIN | PHOTO EDITOR
Ohio State junior forward E.J. Liddell (32) celebrates a 3-pointer during the Ohio State-Wisconsin game Dec. 11, 2021. Ohio State won 73-55.
JACK EMERSON Sports Editor emerson.131@osu.edu
On March 2, 2017, Belleville West High School squared off against crosstown rival Belleville East in the Illinois men’s basketball state tournament with a trip to the regional finals on the line. E.J. Liddell, a high school sophomore at the time, dropped a career-high 43 points to push his Maroons past Belleville East.
Liddell’s scoring outburst lifted him past 1,000 career points in his high school career and cemented him as one of the top recruits in Illinois. Five years later, Liddell is looking to break that milestone once again — sitting at 988 points in his Ohio State career. With Ohio State heading to Minneapolis for a meeting with Minnesota Thursday, Liddell will likely break that milestone and etch his name in the record books as the 60th Buckeye to eclipse
1,000 career points. “I was remembered at my high school, my middle school, and I wanted to do the same thing here,” Liddell said. “I just feel like I’m just getting closer and closer to that.” Arriving at Ohio State as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch metro area player of the decade, Liddell saw his role decrease significantly during his transition from high school to college — averaging just 16.5 minutes per game as a freshman.
Despite the limited playing time, Liddell showed flashes of what he could become, producing memorable performances including one against his homestate team then-No. 23 Illinois March 5, 2020. Against the Illini, Liddell posted his first career double-double, dropping 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting and collecting 11 boards. While Liddell endured the role reduction that comes with being a freshman, he said fighting through the adversity of that
season helped with his growth. “It’s been a lot of learning experiences, a lot of humbling moments. I remember my freshman year I played in a game and I didn’t even have sweat on my jersey,” Liddell said. “It’s just been learning to stand with it, staying focused and fighting through adversity.” As his role increased in his sophomore season, Liddell emerged as the No. 2 scoring option for the Buckeyes en route to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Belleville, Illinois, native averaged 16.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while picking up All-Big Ten First Team honors. Although Liddell made a jump in production, Ohio State became the ninth No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 15 seed in the first round of March Madness, falling to Oral Roberts in overtime 7572 March 19, 2021. In the loss, Liddell missed a key free throw with 37 seconds remaining in regulation which would have put the Buckeyes up three. That stunning loss and the harassment he faced in the aftermath of the game did not slow Liddell’s growth as a person and a player. Now in his final season with the Buckeyes, Liddell has eclipsed double-digit scoring in all 16 games — continuing a streak of 27 consecutive games with more than 10 points. As an opponent-turnedteammate of Liddell, graduate guard Jamari Wheeler praised the junior forward for his play in LIDDELL CONTINUES ON 7