Woody Hayes still makes it, then Archie Griffin, Jesse Owens, Jack Nicklaus, Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, Hopalong Cassady, Vic Janowicz, Paul Warfield, John Hicks, Orlando Pace, Chris Spielman, Tom Cousineau, Eddie George, Jim Jackson, Chic Harley, ...we're gonna need a bigger mountain.

This thread demonstrates the stupidity of so many people on here. In the opening post it says:

Pick6;1420375 wrote:Basically what you think are the 4 best athletes in OSU history.

That means we are not just limited to football players and coaches like Woody Hayes do not qualify.

That being said, I really don't think there should be any discussion and the consensus seems to have it right with Jesse Owens, Jack Nicklaus, Archie Griffin, and Jerry Lucas. The only honorable mention I would give would be to Katie Smith. There have probably been other great athletes in more minor sports that might deserve consideration if we're weighting all sports equally, but I have no idea who they would be.

Now, if we were to just do OSU football since this is the college football forum, and if we were to include coaches, then I think the obvious answer would be Paul Brown, Chic Harley, Woody Hayes, and Archie Griffin.

*Schlichter :rolleyes:

Not that I have a strong opinion one way or the other, but an argument could be made that only graduates (not honorary) be included. That would eliminate Jack IIRC.

Clarett. Seriously. If he didn't go crazy we would have repeated as NC.

Commander of Awesome;1437527 wrote:Clarett. Seriously. If he didn't go crazy we would have repeated as NC.

I don't think Clarett makes it because he did go crazy, but I do think we had a pretty good shot at repeating if he had played another yeat.

Just stick with football:

Archie, Chick, Woody, Eddie

Commander of Awesome;1437527 wrote:Clarett. Seriously. If he didn't go crazy we would have repeated as NC.

FatHobbit;1437818 wrote:I don't think Clarett makes it because he did go crazy, but I do think we had a pretty good shot at repeating if he had played another yeat.

I believe he probably would have been a repeat Heisman winner as well.

Jesse Owens,Jack Nicklaus,Archie Griffen and Jerry Lucas.

*Griffin

Jesse Owens, Tommy Rowlands, Mark Coleman and Robert Smith.

I would have to agree that my top 4 would be Owens, Lucas, Jack and Archie.

If we could squeeze in a 5th, a few come to mind that haven't been mentioned:

Blaine Wilson - Olympian, I think he won a silver medal in gymnastics
Chris Spielman - stud!
Nick Swisher - had a REALLY good OSU tenure and solid MLB player (probably way down the list, but wanted to give baseball some love)

Pick6;1420375 wrote:Think this could bring some good debate. Basically what you think are the 4 best athletes in OSU history.

Jesse Owens and Archie Griffin are definite locks. The last 2 spots?

Jesse Owens was the greatest athlete of all times because he made a complete fool out of Hitler. I'm proud to call him a fellow Ohioan.

Honorable Mention. Read it here...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Rein

Fly4Fun;1420435 wrote:Jesse Owens, Jack Nicklaus, Archie Griffin, Jerry Lucas.

Honorable mention: Blaine Wilson and Orlando Pace.

BigAppleBuckeye;1438293 wrote: If we could squeeze in a 5th, a few come to mind that haven't been mentioned:

Blaine Wilson - Olympian, I think he won a silver medal in gymnastics

Oh really?

No love for Dennis Hopson?

Fly4Fun;1438389 wrote:Oh really?

My bad! Great minds think a like, obviously.

BigAppleBuckeye;1438614 wrote:My bad! Great minds think a like, obviously.

Haha, obviously.

Barack Hussein Obama

Jack Nicklaus never graduated...does that eliminate him? Jesse & Archie are locks. Woody most likely. After that its prolly Harley, Hondo or Lucas.

An obvious omission...Les Horvath

HitsRus;1441578 wrote:An obvious omission...Les Horvath

Vic Janovicz and Hop Cassidy are in the discussion before Horvath. Both Janovicz and Cassady played MLB & NFL after winning the Heisman.

Tiernan;1441567 wrote:Jack Nicklaus never graduated...does that eliminate him? Jesse & Archie are locks. Woody most likely. After that its prolly Harley, Hondo or Lucas.

Generally speaking, one only has to have completed a certain number of hours at a school (usually just a semester) to be considered an alumnus. Jack also got to dot the "i," so he definitely counts.

krambman;1442580 wrote:Generally speaking, one only has to have completed a certain number of hours at a school (usually just a semester) to be considered an alumnus. Jack also got to dot the "i," so he definitely counts.

Yeah I hear ya...and I'm a huge Jack fan...but that being "considered an alumnus" without graduating has always bothered me. As I'm assuming an OSU grad yourself, Do you want to consider a POS like Terrelle a fellow alumnus? Schlichter never graduated either and I'm fine with washing our hands of him too. Clarett is trying to turn things around and is back in school so he catches some break.

Tiernan;1442830 wrote:Yeah I hear ya...and I'm a huge Jack fan...but that being "considered an alumnus" without graduating has always bothered me. As I'm assuming an OSU grad yourself, Do you want to consider a POS like Terrelle a fellow alumnus? Schlichter never graduated either and I'm fine with washing our hands of him too. Clarett is trying to turn things around and is back in school so he catches some break.

I never attended OSU, so I won't directly answer your questions. I think the main reason you only have to have attended a school and not graduated from it to be an alumnus is to open to pool of candidates for the alumni association up to increase giving. While I never attended OSU, I did however attend two different colleges, and I spent more time at the one I didn't graduate from than that one that I did. So while my degree is from school Y, I consider myself to be more of an alumnus of school X because I spent more time there.