Blue Jackets fans can read whatever they like into Ryan Johansen's description of the Nashville Predators' locker room when the team was struggling and out of playoff position. "You would be sitting in your stall before games," he said, as reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportnet.ca. "Coaches and players would be looking right into everyone's eyes, saying, 'Are you giving us everything you've got?' " It isn't clear whether Johansen was implying that it wasn't like that in Columbus before he was traded to Nashville for defenseman Seth Jones on Jan. 6, but the comment is interesting given some of the Jackets' struggles while Johansen played here.

Blue Jackets fans can read whatever they like into Ryan Johansen�s description of the Nashville Predators� locker room when the team was struggling and out of playoff position.

�You would be sitting in your stall before games,� he said, as reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportnet.ca. �Coaches and players would be looking right into everyone�s eyes, saying, �Are you giving us everything you�ve got?� �

It isn�t clear whether Johansen was implying that it wasn�t like that in Columbus before he was traded to Nashville for defenseman Seth Jones on Jan. 6, but the comment is interesting given some of the Jackets� struggles while Johansen played here. Nashville has since climbed back into playoff position, standing seventh in the Western Conference entering play Thursday.

Cam Akers and his family obviously have liked what they�ve seen so far on unofficial visits to Ohio State � so much so that the four-star running back prospect from Clinton, Mississippi, plans to make another trip to Ohio State in early summer.

�The first time he was at Ohio State was for the Friday Night Lights camp last July, and he was with his dad,� Bucknuts recruiting analyst Bill Kurelic said. �The second time was last week to watch one of the Ohio State spring practices, and he was with his mom. He plans to have his mom and his dad with him when he visits sometime in June. That�s pretty significant.�

A one-time Alabama commitment, Akers plays quarterback for Clinton, but it�s a do-everything position that has allowed him to showcase his speed and tackle-eluding talents. Ohio State already has pledges from four-star running back J.K. Dobbins of LaGrange, Texas, and Todd Sibley of Akron. Akers is considered the No. 2 running back prospect nationally by Rivals, Dobbins the No. 3 all-purpose back and Sibley the No. 17 running back.

D�Angelo Russell blistered some of his former Ohio State basketball teammates this week in an interview with Bleacher Report, saying he couldn�t believe that they didn�t use the Buckeyes� practice gym the way he did.

�I started realizing a lot of people didn�t work,� Russell said. �A lot of God-given talent, a lot of athleticism separated �em, but it wasn�t really work ethic there.�

Russell, the Los Angeles Lakers� rookie guard, said he was like a kid in a candy store when he realized that he could simply punch a code into keypad outside the gym and use it whenever he wanted.

�I�m like, �We�re not in here every night?� � Russell said. �I would come and be the only guy there. Or it'd be me and another player who didn't really play a lot but was a gym rat. Kam Williams. � (But) a lot of the top guys on the team, they weren�t in the gym working as hard as I was. ... That�s when I started losing respect for people�s opinions who didn�t work.�

Decision time is near for Crew SC midfielder Tony Tchani. The 26-year-old native of Cameroon and naturalized American citizen may have an opportunity to play for the United States or Cameroon national teams in World Cup qualifiers this month. Once he chooses and plays for one, there is no going back.

Tchani is on the fringe of both player pools and had never been named by either team until last November, when Cameroon called him for Cup qualifiers during the Major League Soccer playoffs. He suffered a hamstring injury and turned down the request, but the U.S. invited him to its training camp in January and he played in an exhibition against Iceland in January. (Players aren�t locked onto one team until they play an official World Cup match.)

Cameroon formally called Tchani again this week, so he has to decide. The Crew plays in Chicago on Saturday, and if Tchani accepts his native country�s offer, he probably will have to leave next week. Cameroon plays South Africa in an African Cup of Nations qualifier on March 26 and March 29. The U.S. team plays Guatemala on the same dates, the second one at Mapfre Stadium.

Former Columbus Quest player Tonya Edwards has been reunited with former Quest coach Brian Agler on the staff of the WNBA�s Los Angeles Sparks. Agler, the coach of the Sparks, also coached Edwards with the Minnesota Lynx.

Edwards became player-coach of the Quest in November 1998 when Agler resigned to take the job with Lynx; the ABL went out of business a month later.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.

bhunter@dispatch.com

@dailyhunter