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Thursday, February 8, 2024
MOLLY GOHEEN | MANAGING EDITOR FOR DIGITAL CONTENT
Housing crisis looms over Columbus’ self-proclaimed reputation as the “Silicon Heartland” I
n January 2022, Intel — the largest semiconductor manufacturer in the world — announced plans to invest over $20 billion into constructing two chip factories in Licking County, Ohio. Currently, Intel’s primary locations are in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon. Economic prosperity in regions where
to be completed in 2025, Intel recently announced a delay of the project into late 2026 due to a slow chip market. Other tech hubs like Google, Meta and Amazon have also established relatively new roots in the Columbus region. Jobs and investment from all of these tech businesses will expand Columbus’s population considerably.
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|P HO TO E DITOR
Patrica B. Miller Special Projects Reporter
Intel is located has grown tenfold, and its contribution to the U.S.’s GDP was $25.9 billion in 2019 alone. Intel’s announcement marked the single largest private sector investment in the history of Ohio, and the project is expected to add approximately $2.8 billion to Ohio’s economic growth, according to the company. Intel is expected to bring in about 3,000 new hires for the company and over 7,000 construction jobs. Originally planned
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According to a 2023 study by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, the 15 counties comprising central Ohio are expected to reach over 3 million people by 2050. All these new residents need places to live in what is already considered one of the nation’s fastest-growing housing markets, worsening fears of gentrification and displacement among minority communities in central Ohio. According to Carlie Boos, the executive director at the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio, Columbus’ rapid development poses a risk to everyone unless the city takes drastic steps for development.
“The underlying truth is that we are growing rapidly through tech, through industry, through innovation, through education, through all of these different sectors and as a combined wave. We’re just not keeping up on housing,” Boos said. “I don’t think that there’s any neighborhood that gets out safe. I think that every single one of our communities is in a really significant risk right now.” Another significant factor of Columbus’ housing crisis was the city “never quite recover[ing]” from the 2008 housing crash, Jason Reece, an associate professor of city and regional planning at the Knowlton School of Architecture and an ex-
pert on the intersection of social equality and regional planning, said. “While there’s certainly more construction in the last five years or so, [we] not only lost a lot of housing units from the foreclosure crisis but really construction has never returned to work or are caught up since that point,” Reece said. “And so that’s kind of leading us — before even these entities come in — we have [a] 50,000-plus shortage of affordable rental units, just here in Franklin County, before Intel gets here.” Intel executives did not respond to a request for comment about their new plants’ impact, but Columbus development officials say it’s not Intel’s fault. Kenny McDonald, the president and CEO of the Columbus Partnership team, a nonprofit conglomerate of Columbus businesses and CEOs, said supply and demand are at the core of the issue and not to blame the arriving companies. “Intel and Google and others that have really just arrived, and at this point, have very modest job growth [and] are absolutely not the root of our housing affordability issues. It really is a supply and demand issue more than anything,” McDonald said. “I will say that the announcement of these major projects create an anticipation that there’s going to be additional growth. And that we want to make sure that we’re constantly communicating what that growth is, where those workers are going to need to live.” Considerable economic pledges have also been made, with Gov. Mike DeWine promising a $90 million investment into infrastructure and development surrounding the Intel plants. Intel itself has also pledged $100 million to Ohio’s educational institutions On the surface, it seems that Central Ohio should be thriving with its newfound influx of jobs, investment and money. However, this much growth in a limited amount of time reveals the darker reality of development.
MOLLY GOHEEN | MANAGING EDITOR FOR DIGITAL CONTENT
Construction efforts in Licking County have increased road closures and are likely to boost traffic in the region.
Stephanie Moulton, a professor with expertise in housing policy and finance at Ohio State’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs, said the arrival of tech companies like Intel will contribute to economic productivity in the region. Still, it will also undoubtedly bring about problems with housing supply and community planning due to a historical lack of housing within the region. “Intel might bring in higher-wage workers, which is fabulous. You might worry about the populations that are here, that are not able to purchase homes, or that are in rental housing, where the house prices tend to go up, when you have a limited housing supply in an area, and you have an increase in demand, you’re gonna see prices go up, obviously,” Moulton said. “And so one of the worries is that individuals in Columbus or in our surrounding communities like Licking County where Intel is going to be created, that the average wages of those individuals are going to be much lower than the wages of Intel workers, and the house price appreciation that’s going to happen.” Housing by the numbers According to a 2023 study on Columbus housing by McKinsey, Columbus’ population increased by one-third
from 2000 to 2021, making Columbus the fastest-growing city in the Midwest with 500,000 new residents. In 2022, the same report declared Columbus and its surrounding suburbs the fifth “hottest” housing market in the U.S. This fast-growing housing market poses risks for lower-income residents and historically disadvantaged communities, who, according to Boos, have had issues with housing accessibility since the 1950s, which are being brought to light by the city’s recent development. “The foreclosure crisis because of all that had outsized impacts on households of color and female-headed households,” Boos said. “And even now, today, we are still working with zoning codes that were written in the 1950s that just don’t match what our morality is anymore. And you have implicit bias affecting the housing world in ways that isn’t always obvious until you start looking for it.” Columbus is currently in the process of rewriting zoning codes that haven’t been updated for over 70 years with proposals expected to be made this year. Although communities most at risk are people of color and single women, as Boos said, everyone is at risk.
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Thursday, February 8, 2024 | The Lantern | 3
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Impact on Ohio State
Rent has gone up significantly in Columbus over the last 10 years, according to a 2022 study by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. Between 2012 and 2022, the median rent has increased by 10% when adjusted for inflation, which is the highest on record. For homeowners, median sales prices have risen 22.6% from January to June 2023, from $262,750 to $322,205, according to Columbus Realtors’ June 2023 Central Ohio Housing Report.
Amy Riegel, the executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said students are a population that is at higher risk when it comes to finding affordable housing because of high demand and typically lower tenant protections. “I think that it is just another factor that makes college less affordable and harder to achieve for so many people within our communities,” Riegel said. “And it also adds risk levels to student housing that may create unsafe circumstances based upon overcrowding, or people rooming in areas of a home that just aren’t fit for a person to be staying in.” Riegel said students graduating from Ohio State and other universities may struggle to find affordable housing even with a high-paying job that Intel could provide. “I talk to individuals on a regular basis, who are younger, who are coming out of their higher education. They have great jobs, like really good stable jobs, and they can barely afford an apartment, let alone really being able to put into perspective owning a home,” Riegel said. “And so we see that housing in central Columbus, or Central Ohio, is becoming more and more expensive and harder to find.”
The average home in Ohio is valued at $213,149 according to Zillow. This means Central Ohio homes are over 1.5 times more expensive than the state average. Zillow also has a median rent in Columbus valued at $1,430, and the median for all Ohio rentals at $1,250. This number has gone up significantly from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2018-2022 median gross rent calculation for Columbus of $1,161. Columbus is currently the most expensive major city to buy or rent, and prices are only projected to increase.
MOLLY GOHEEN | MANAGING EDITOR FOR DIGITAL CONTENT
Riegel, who lives in a college neigh- there’s potential for it to be negative,” borhood in Dayton, said after a certain McDonald said. “But I would think point, it becomes less profitable for that it’s one of the focus areas of the landlords to rent to college students Columbus Partnership and One Coand more advantageous to rent to high-earning adults and families who want the benefits of being near a college campus like Ohio State. “If you get to the point, which I think Columbus’ numbers are probably approaching MOLLY GOHEEN | MANAGING EDITOR FOR DIGITAL CONTENT that region, or level, where a landlord renting to lumbus and all the communities that an everyday nonstudent would actu- we work with on a daily basis, to mitally receive more rent continuously igate those things. So as we grow, to than renting to a student,” Riegel said. build more housing, to make sure “And when you see those econom- that we’re remaining to be an affordics flip, it means that universities are able place, that we’re building trankind of caught off guard because it sit systems around in different ways, takes universities a long time to build and we have great partnerships.” housing and to address adjustments The opportunities and economin the market. And so it could leave ic growth expected to arrive in Costudents having to live further from lumbus within the next 10 years campus, students to overcrowd in two could also offset the growing costs of units and students to pay way more.” the region, according to McDonald. Despite this possibility, Riegel said Sherrice Thomas, the vice presishe has been impressed by Ohio State’s dent of diversity, equity, inclusion construction efforts, such as building and access for the Columbus Chamdorms and university housing up- ber of Commerce, serves on the wards and condensing the university Community Shelter Board and sees through higher-density housing in- both the positive and negative comstead of sprawling into other areas. ponents of Columbus’ expansion. Thomas said the arrival of highA rock and a hard place er-income individuals to Columbus is inevitable, which will increase Although the rapid development gentrification and housing prices. of Columbus threatens lower-in“They have the ability to pay certain come communities, proponents prices for housing that others may not. of these companies say Intel and And so as a result of that, it’s gonna others are not responsible for Co- drive up our housing prices,” Thomlumbus’ historical lack of housing. as said. “And I believe we see some of Still, McDonald said Intel that happening now. But I want to be and Columbus have to be mind- clear that it’s an unintentional conseful of the impact their arriv- quence because we need that business al may have on the community. to grow in order to thrive as a region.” “I think anytime you have growth, especially really big stuff like this, CONTINUES ON PAGE 4
4 | The Lantern | Thursday, February 8, 2024
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 According to Thomas, neighborhoods of color and regions such as Olde Towne East, are becoming increasingly gentrified and expensive, although this results in neighborhood amenities such as new apartments and businesses. “What we’re starting to see is those areas are being the word that many might use as gentrified,” Thomas said. “And as you can imagine, as the property value goes up, because different types of people move in, they begin to do different types of improvements on the homes and all of those things. When those property values go up, some
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lumbus are making an effort to address them on the government and nonprofit levels, as well as within private corporations. Updating zoning codes is a major step in the right direction for housing development. The Columbus Housing Strategy, implemented by Columbus Mayor Andrew. Ginther, aims to double the supply of housing in the region and since 2019, over $250 million has been authorized for housing bond packages and other affordable housing initiatives. “Our city leaders knew this was going to be a challenge from the beginning,” Thomas said. “And it’s almost like they understand that we have to
MOLLY GOHEEN | MANAGING EDITOR FOR DIGITAL CONTENT
Competition and prices will likely increase for rental properties in Columbus.
programs for at-risk communities to break down barriers to accessible housing. AHACO has provided housing aid in the form of hundreds of millions of dollars and also provides resources for those looking for affordable housing. Boos said the housing crisis needs to be solved if Columbus wants to retain its reputation as a welcom
CALEB BLAKE | PHOTO EDITOR
New Albany development officials drive into Intel’s construction site.
times people who were in the neighborhood originally are priced out of their market. And so usually, that’s through income tax increases. And that becomes a little challenging [for] them.” Solutions and implementation for development In spite of the issues development brings, Thomas said leaders in Co-
perform while we’re transforming. So they’re doing really great work.” Organizations like the Coalition on Homelessness & Housing in Ohio and the Affordable Housing Alliance of Central Ohio are doing some of the grassroots work to solve the housing crisis in Ohio and Columbus. COHHIO tracks and manages data on housing and homelessness in a variety of Ohio communities and offers educational
ing and affordable Midwestern city. Riegel mentioned the diversity of Ohio is part of what makes it such an appealing state. With rural, suburban and urban areas, Ohio and Columbus appeal to a wide variety of people but need the reputation of affordability to remain so. To help solve the housing crisis, Columbus needs to come together, recog“It’s Midwestern to be able to nize its diversity and buy a home when you’re 28,” realize it is a commuBoos said. “And to build wealth nity issue, Boos said. “I think we need to and to raise a family and to have understand that even the security to maybe start a if I’m housing secure, small business. When you start I am actively losing seeing single-family starter out because other people don’t have enough homes selling for $400,000housing,” Boos said. $500,000, that Midwestern “So yes, get in the game, identity is going to evaporate do the thing. fight for really quickly. And that doesn’t what’s right, because you believe it’s right. matter if you’re in Hilliard, or But also, we need to unReynoldsburg, or Upper Arlingderstand that we will ton or Granville, it’s going to be all grow, we will all get everywhere unless we act as a stronger, and we will all directly benefit if we region to get ahead of it.” can solve this thing.”
ARTS&LIFE
ON PAGE 6 Which Best Costume Design Oscar nomine has your vote?
‘Depicting Mexico and Modernism: Gordo by Gus Arriola’ on display at Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum By Raghav Raj Lantern Reporter
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n Dec. 13, 2023, Ohio State’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum began housing an exhibit on prolific Latino-American cartoonist Gustavo “Gus” Arriola and his long-running comic strip, titled “Gordo.” Called “Depicting Mexico and Modernism: Gordo by Gus Arriola,” the exhibit will continue charting the evolution of Arriola’s cartoon strip, which ran from 1941 to 1985, until May 5. At its peak of popularity, “Gordo” was featured in 270 syndicated newspapers, exhibit curator Nhora Luciá Serrano said. “When you entered ‘Gordo,’ you entered Mexico,” Serrano, also a director of learning and research services at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, said. “You entered that world, you entered Mexican culture. It really was one of the earliest Latinx characters made specifically for us.” “Gordo” initially reflected stereotypical depictions of Mexicans in American media, Serrano said. Specifically, she said the main character — named Gordo Salazar Lopez — was depicted as a lazy Mexican farmer who slept in a hammock, wore a sombrero and spoke broken English. Serrano said the character ultimately evolved into a bus-driving tour guide, while the broader story presented Mexico’s distinct culture and history via inspiration from the country’s modernist artwork and storytelling. “Gus realized that he was offering something stereotypical, and he didn’t want to do that, so he made the transition,” Serrano said. “As a bus driver, he could be an ambassador and showcase a lot of what’s going on in Mexico in his stories.”
“Depicting Mexico and Modernism: Gordo by Gus Arriola” displays 165 items, museum coordinator Anne Drozd said. She said these objects include 85 “Gordo” strips pulled from the museum’s archives, 35 of Arriola’s original drawings, books, photos and a ceramic bean pot — inspired by a recipe for “beans weeth cheese” published with certain “Gordo” comics — distinctly embossed with the cartoonist’s artwork. Serrano started developing the idea for an exhibit built around Arriola’s work in 2018. At the time, she was editing an anthology called “Immigrants and Comics: Graphic Spaces of Remembrance, Transaction, and Mimesis.” “The exhibit is a wonderful opportunity to showcase, obviously, the wonderful collections that the Billy Ireland has,” she said. “But it’s also to showcase the fact that the history of American comics and cartoons includes
ethnic cartoonists like Gus Arriola.” The exhibit features object labels in both English and Spanish, all of which were personally translated by Serrano. She said the exhibit’s bilingual nature highlights Arriola’s frequent use of Spanish in “Gordo” — the cartoon introduced now-common terms like “hasta la vista,” “amigo” and “piñata” to the general American populace — and ensures the exhibit is more accessible for the Latinx community. “I wanted the Latinx community not to be hindered by English labels so they could see, read and understand the history of one of their own,” Serrano said. For Hector Cantú, creator of the Latino-American comic strip “Baldo,” Arriola’s impact is defined by the barriers he smashed for other cartoonists of color. “In Gus’s time, the comic book pages had been a very homogenous world where you were more likely to see talking animals than people of color,”
RAGHAV RAJ | LANTERN REPORTER
“Depicting Mexico and Modernism: Gordo by Gus Arriola,” an exhibit paying homage to Latino-American cartoonist Gustavo “Gus” Arriola, is currently on view at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.
Cantú said. “So Gus was one of the first to bring this different element to the page, to put ‘Gordo’ next to ‘Dick Tracy’ and ‘Peanuts.’ He opened the pathways for cartoonists like me to come along.” Cantú, who collaborated with Arriola and maintained contact with the cartoonist until his death in 2008, said the evolution of “Gordo” was a testament to Arriola’s ability to write and develop dynamic characters. “When ‘Gordo’ started, it was this creation of the 1940s, and it was stereotypical because it’s what people expected,” Cantú said. “But Gus knew that couldn’t last forever. He knew his characters had to grow and evolve, and by the time the strip ended, Gordo was basically a different character. It was always admirable to me how he played with people’s expectations.” A collector of “Gordo” comics, Cantú contributed some personally owned strips to the exhibit and spoke at its public reception ceremony Jan. 20.
“There are very few comics that impact how people think about things,” Cantú said. “Gus had people thinking about Mexican culture, about your neighbors, about what they brought to the table, the words that they were using, about the language they were using. That’s where Gus broke that ground.”
6 | The Lantern | Thursday, February 8, 2024
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Fashion and retail students break down the Best Costume Design nominees for this year’s Academy Awards By Abigail Hartzell Lantern Reporter
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ward season is in full swing. Beyond best actor, director and film, one category at this year’s Academy Awards is particularly competitive. Costumes play a major role in cinematic world-building and helping audiences connect to on-screen characters, fashion and retail studies students Keona Sakai and Alex Tremblay said. The five Best Costume Design picks for this year’s Oscars are “Barbie,” “Poor Things,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Oppenheimer” and “Napoleon.” With the Academy Awards less than a month away, Sakai and Tremblay weigh in on what makes these films’ costumes Oscar-worthy. “Barbie” A summer blockbuster, “Barbie” follows the stereotypical Barbie doll as she faces the struggles of a notso-perfect real world and undergoes a humanistic transformation. According to the Motion Picture Association’s website, costume designer Jacqueline Durran aimed to ensure she highlighted iconic Mattel ensembles when curating the film’s costumes. Mattel has always had an impressive impact on the toy market, and Durran sought to connect the outfits with the memories people have of Barbie, the website states. Sakai — a fourth-year and aspiring fashion designer — said one particularly quintessential look featured by Durran is Barbie’s black-andwhite-striped swimsuit from 1959. “This was how Barbie debuted,” Sakai said. “People doubted how well Barbie
would do because girls were playing with baby dolls, they were playing moms. Barbie opened a world for girls to play as whatever they wanted to.” Tremblay, the director of design for Ohio State’s Fashion Production Association, said the film’s cultural domination was a fashion statement in itself. “When I think about July 2023, I will always see a pink blur,” Tremblay said. “I don’t follow these kinds of trends well, but everything was pink and fabulous.” “Oppenheimer” Consistency is one element costume designer Ellen Mirojnick prioritized when tailoring the famed physicist’s historic style, according to IndieWire’s website. The film takes viewers on the journey of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the creation of the atomic bomb, the website states. Mirojnick wanted to highlight how unchanging Oppenheimer’s silhouette was from his time at the University of California Berkeley throughout the following decades. His three-piece suits and tight collars created a distinction between himself and other characters, ensuring he would stand out to audiences, the website states. In comparison to the other nominees, however, Tremblay wasn’t too impressed with the designs depicted in the movie, which they said felt repetitive and borderline stagnant. “It speaks to his character,” Tremblay said. “Consistent, dependable, et cetera. I can’t say much more other than, yeah, he wore a tailored suit most of his life.” Sakai agreed but said the bland costuming was inevitable for the sake of respecting the film’s biopic nature. “I think it was boring but necessary,”
Sakai said. “It might’ve been historically accurate too, Oppenheimer might have dressed the same every day.” “Poor Things” Campy and complex — two adjectives that describe Holly Waddington’s fashion design in “Poor Things.” The film introduces audiences to Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), who is brought back to life and implanted with the brain of a fetus. Baxter embarks on a journey of romance that can only be described as intense, comedic and emotional. According to the Hollywood Reporter’s website, the entire ensemble’s wardrobe consisted of many structural elements of the late 19th century, with a very vivid palette of clothing communicating the time period’s rich visual aesthetics. Waddington also intentionally highlighted Baxter’s awkward anatomy of an adult’s body and a child’s mind, the website states. “Bella has five phases in the movie,” Sakai said. “It starts with infantilization in the first part with ruffles and quilting in babydoll-style dresses. In part two, we see more Victorian style that’s been playfully reimagined. Then into the mishmash of styles with a specific look having a cropped Victorian jacket, ’30s style underwear and boots inspired by a ’60s designer.” The film’s delicate and soft color palettes were used to symbolize Baxter’s childlike mind and the erotic overtones of the film as the character experiences her sexual awakening, the website states. For some, however, this artistic decision fell flat, Tremblay said. “I feel like there was a lot of emphasis placed on sex, as seen with the skin-colored garments and something the designer called a ‘vagina blouse,’ which was definitely a choice, but there is so much they could have explored and didn’t,” Tremblay said. “Killers of the Flower Moon” Historical accuracy plays a major role in designer Jacqueline West’s costuming in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The film depicts the early-1900s “Reign of Terror” and conspiracy in which 24 members of the
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Native American Osage tribe were killed by white, American men to obtain their mineral rights, according to the Los Angeles Times’ website. “Movies that don’t heavily involve members of the communities they represent in their design and direction might as well not get made,” Tremblay said. “Costume designers, especially, have an obligation to properly represent cultures since so much of the medium of film is visual.” West revived parts of Osage culture through the creation of period-accurate clothing, the website states. According to the website, Osage art consultant Julie O’Keefe was hired to ensure accurate depictions and locate artists who would bring the period back to life. “There are a lot of areas to consider when doing a historical film,” Sakai said. “It’s a lot of work, but history buffs would appreciate it. You don’t want to put a wrong silhouette, fabric, technique or style in the wrong historical time period. It’s easier than you think to get something wrong.” “Napoleon” For designers Janty Yates and David Crossman, costuming “Napoleon” was a battle in and of itself. The movie depicts the rise of military commander and French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte and the complicated relationship he had with his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais. To ensure the costumes were historically accurate, the website states Crossman and Yates visited museums and significant historical locations as well as studied garments Napoleon and Joséphine actually wore. “Fun fact: those three buttons on the sleeves of dress shirts are there because Napoleon didn’t want his men to be wiping their noses on their sleeves, so he added buttons to the sleeves to deter them,” Sakai said. “And we still wear them today, even if they don’t serve that much function.”
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FOOTBALL
Offseason upDAYtes By Lauryn Luderman Sports Editor
ordinator/quarterbacks coach, rumors have been swirling on social media that Bill O’Brien may leave to become t’s been 41 days since Ohio the next head coach at Boston College. State football head coach Ryan Day said there is “no upDay has spoken to the media. date” on O’Brien’s future, Over this period, the Buckeyes have but he’s with the team now. added six players from the transfer “Hopefully, we don’t have to portal and lost nine in addition to the go down that road,” Day said. 10 players who decided to leave Ohio “But if we do, we’ll adapt.” State ahead of its Dec. 29, 2023, CotO’Brien has an extensive 34-year ton Bowl appearance. Additionally, a coaching stint scattered between QHZ R̆HQVLYH FRRUGLQDWRU KDV EHHQ college and the NFL. He has expehired, and 12 of its 22 starters are re- rience in the Big Ten as head coach turning — huge news for the Buckeyes. of the Penn State Nittany Lions, and 2Q 7XHVGD\ IRU WKH ¿UVW WLPH professional expertise as the former in 2024, Day held a press confer- Houston Texans head coach. O’Brien ence at the Woody Hayes Athletic KDV DOVR EHHQ LQ WKH R̆HQVLYH FRRUGLCenter to address all of the chang- nator/quarterbacks role at Alabama HV PDGH VR IDU WKLV R̆VHDVRQ and with the New England Patriots. Here are the updates. Day said Ohio State strives for greatness, and O’Brien’s background and Bill O’Brien, staying or leaving? SHUVRQDOLW\ LV D JUHDW ¿W IRU WKH FXOWXUH Day has built. Additionally, Day said Less than three weeks after his Jan. KH KDV FRQ¿GHQFH 2¶%ULHQ FDQ KDQGOH KLULQJ DV 2KLR 6WDWH¶V R̆HQVLYH FR- R̆HQVLYH SOD\ FDOOLQJ ² VRPHWKLQJ
I
Thursday, February 8, 2024 | The Lantern | 7
Day has done since he became head coach — while he takes a step back to look at the game through a larger lens. “It has to be the right person, and I felt like after spending a bunch of time on it, Bill was that right guy for that right spot,” Day said.
ating through the building right now.” Like Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud’s “dream teams” in 2020-21 and 2022, respectively, Day said heading into next season he feels like he has that “championship roster.” Five scholarship QBs, now what?
Those who stay will be champions
On Jan. 4, four-star transfer quarterback Will Howard of Kansas State made Emeka Egbuka. TreV- the decision to become a Buckeye. He eyon Henderson. J.T. Tuimolo- joined sophomore Devin Brown and au. Jack Sawyer. Denzel Burke. freshman Lincoln Kienholz in the room. Those are the names of just a few However, that’s not all. Early enrollreturning players who, arguably, ee Air Noland, the No. 7 quarterback FRXOG KDYH EHHQ VHOHFWHG LQ WKH ¿UVW in the class of 2024, signed with Ohio few rounds of the 2024 NFL draft. State Dec. 20, 2023, and has already “These are all really high-end arrived in Columbus. On Jan. 21, Juplayers who decided they wanted lian Sayin — the No. 3 quarterback to come back and it wasn’t for any- LQ WKH FODVV RI DQG D ¿YH VWDU thing other than their teammates, prospect — decided to make a move their coaches, the culture and that to join the Buckeyes from Alabama. kind of set the tone,” Day said. 1RZ ZLWK ¿YH FDSDEOH TXDUWHUDay said he believes the abundance backs, some with more experience of returning starters was a major green than others, Day said this spring will ÀDJ IRU VROLGLI\LQJ KLJKO\ UDQNHG SURV- EH WKH PRVW ¿HUFH FRPSHWLWLRQ \HW pects out of the transfer portal, such “It’s good, I think it’s healthy,” as freshman safety Caleb Downs from Day said. “We say this all the time Alabama and former Ole Miss running in recruiting, if you don’t want back, sophomore Quin- to compete, Ohio State’s probashon Judkins. Both bly not the right place for you.” Day said they will focus heavily were the No. 1 players in their respective on team and seven-on-seven drills position groups, ac- to get each quarterback the most cording to 247 Sports. practice reps possible. Experience Additionally, Day aside, no front-runner for the startVDLG WKH\ KDYH XQ¿Q- ing job can be named at this time. ished business. This includes beating Michigan, winning the Big CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 Ten championship and vying for and ultimate- the Holtmann era is unacceptable and O\ ZLQQLQJ WKH ¿UVW beneath the expectations. This is a team College Football program that was competing for na3OD\R̆ 1DWLRQDO &KDP- tional championships under Matta. Right now, it is an inarguable fact pionship next season. “It’s hard when you that Ohio State is purely a “football work so hard towards school.” But it was not always like your goals and you that, and it should not be that way. In the new age of college athletics, come up short to just walk away from it,” the message is loud and clear: adapt Day said. “You want to or get left behind. With athletic dileave here with some- rector Gene Smith on his way out, thing in your pocket Bjork has an immediate opportunity something you’re to make a statement on what the stanCALEB BLAKE | PHOTO EDITOR — proud of, and I think dard is at Ohio State, and he can do Head coach Ryan Day paces the sidelines during then-No. 3 Ohio State’s 37-17 win against that’s what’s reverber- this by parting ways with Holtmann. Maryland at Ohio Stadium Oct. 7, 2023.
SPORTS
MEN’S BASKETBALL
ON PAGE 7 Ryan Day gives updates on Bill O’Brien, returning veterans and quarterback room
Opinion: It’s time for Holtmann to go By Samuel Becker Lantern Reporter
I
t’s time to have a discussion. Chris Holtmann has been the head coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team since 2017. He has taken the program to moderate heights and disheartening lows. Now, the Schottenstein Center is the home of a corpse of a program. And if the team is a decomposing corpse, Ohio State men’s basketball games this season have been a funeral with nobody
mann is the best man for the job, but their play suggests otherwise. This is a program that wilts, even at its best, when the pressure is turned on. in attendance. nents like No. 1 Duke (2021) and Holtmann has coached two teams Ohio State athletics is on the brink No. 6 Kentucky (2019) before its that particularly stand out as successof modernization, with new athletic di- typical disintegration in January. ful: the 2017-18 and the 2020-21 teams. rector Ross Bjork in town to shepherd So what does this repeat,Q LW ZDV +ROWPDQQ¶V ¿UVW this new era. In the process of usher- ed January collapse mean for year as head coach, and the team esing in this new name, image and like- +ROWPDQQ DQG WKH SURJUDP" sentially breezed through the Big Ten ness-centric era of athletics, Ohio State It means these teams have been tal- courtesy of the play of veteran holdand Holtmann may need to part ways. ented enough to compete with some overs from the Thad Matta, HoltTo preface, calling for someone’s of the top basketball powers in the mann’s predecessor, era. They lost to a job should never be said lightly. nation. But as the season wears on, buzzsaw Gonzaga team in the Round However, Ohio State fans have the team has gotten worn out — ev- of 32, but no one was displeased EHHQ FDOOLQJ IRU +ROWPDQQ¶V ¿U- ery single year. The physical play with the direction of the program. ing since 2020, when the team of the Big Ten takes a toll on most If 2017-18 was the beginning, it went 2-5 in January — a theme teams within the league, but Ohio PLJKW EH ¿WWLQJ WR FDOO WKH that’s persisted during his tenure. State has always looked particular- season the end of the Holtmann era. However, cooler heads pre- ly unprepared for conference play. The team made the tournament as vailed as the Buckeyes turned Under Holtmann, the men’s bas- the No. 2 seed, but with Holtmann’s things around later on, and Holt- ketball team has consistently giv- recruits this time. However, the mann’s job was as secure as ever. en fans hope that this would be the cracks in the system were exposed Holtmann was given a mulligan, be- year to break the curse. Beating good once the Buckeyes met 15-seed Oral cause the 2-5 record in January out-of-conference teams has only 5REHUWV LQ WKH ¿UVW URXQG :LWK WKH 2020 was essentially chalked served as a glimpse of “what could have entire country watching, the HoltXS DV D ÀXNH %XW ZDV LW" been,” because the Ohio State squads mann-coached Buckeyes were handJanuary is typically the after December passes is a far-cry from ed one of the most embarrassing month that Big Ten conference the one seen in the previous months. losses in Ohio State athletics history. play truly begins. It is also the The program, and Holtmann for time when Buckeye teams unThe talent is there, that matter, have never been the same GHU +ROWPDQQ KDYH ÀRXQGHUHG since. The 2021-22 team played a repeatedly. Holtmann’s teams DQG ZH KDYH VHHQ ÀDVK- bland, rudderless style, lucking into are a combined 29-18 in Jan- es of greatness, which a Round of 64 win against an equaluary since 2019. It is also have ultimately died ly incompetent Loyola-Chicago team important to keep in mind out due to the fatigue before being handled by Villanova. that before January, the In the 2022-23 season and this curteam under Holtmann of a long season. This rent one, the Buckeyes are likely to miss had been a true top-25 can only be attributed March Madness and possibly even the team in the country. to one thing: coaching. National Invitational Tournament, The 2019-20 team while becoming basement-dwellers of was 11-1, the 2021-22 This is a fractured program and a the Big Ten. Additionally, the team has team was 9-2, the change in leadership is needed. What’s set attendance records — in the wrong 2022-23 team ZRUVH" +ROWPDQQ LV D JHQXLQHO\ JRRG way — for each of the past two years. was 10-3 guy, respected by coaches and players There is no doubt that Holtand this alike. In fact, he is a phenomenal re- mann is a beloved coach to his year the cruiter, and the players would likely hate players, but this is Ohio State. B u c k - to see him go, some may even transfer. The paper tiger of a team that has eyes went an impressive 12-2 before However, actions speak louder taken the court for the Buckeyes during the mark of the new calendar year. than words. The players say they are The team has even beaten le- bought into the culture and Holt- CONTINUES ON PAGE 7 gitimate out-of-conference oppoCALEB BLAKE | PHOTO EDITOR