Count Ohio State coach Urban Meyer among those who continue to be happy that NBA star LeBron James has decided to return home to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Meyer was asked Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days if, as a native of northeast Ohio, James' letter detailing his reasons to return home resonated with him. "Absolutely," Meyer said.
Meyer also said he hoped James would attend as many Buckeyes games as possible this fall and joked that he would leave a sideline pass for James for every home game. Meyer also said having James around the program would be good for recruiting.
When James made his announcement earlier this month, Meyer tweeted, "Welcome home my friend. See you this fall!!!" Meyer also said there was "an open door" for James in the football office and that, "If he wants to catch a pass, we can probably figure that out, too."
Meyer was a Notre Dame assistant when he recruited James, who was an all-state wide receiver in high school in Akron, Ohio. Meyer grew up in Ashtabula, Ohio, about 80 miles from Akron.
Ohio State plays host to Virginia Tech in its home opener on Sept. 6 in a game that will be nationally televised at 8 p.m. ET by ESPN. A nationally televised prime-time game on ESPN? Hmm -- think James will be there?
James is an unabashed Ohio State fan and has said he would've signed with Ohio State had the current eligibility rule -- that a player must be one year out of high school before he can be drafted by an NBA team -- been in place. Indeed, there is a locker for James inside the school's basketball facility.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.