[2] In his senior year, he was awarded with the Western Conference Medal for scholastic achievement.
[3] Larkins also became involved in a public feud with legendary coach Paul Brown in 1948.
[4] He is also remembered as the Ohio State athletic director who made the decision to proceed with the historic Snow Bowl game against Michigan in 1950.
Despite extraordinarily inclement weather, Larkins decided to play the game "due to the number of people who attended, and the mess it would have created to refund the tickets.
Larkins drew national media attention for his comments in 1951 criticizing big-time college football as a Frankenstein monster.
"[6]However, Larkins is best remembered as the driving force behind the 1951 hiring of Woody Hayes as Ohio State's football coach.
Ironically, Larkins' decision to hire the little-known Hayes, over former Buckeyes' coach Paul Brown, led to petitions being circulated on campus calling for Larkins' removal; the petition claimed that Larkins "has lost confidence of the Ohio State student body" over his opposition to Brown's return as football coach.
In 1970, Larkins became the fourth recipient of the James J. Corbett Memorial Award, presented by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics "to the collegiate administrator who through the years has most typified Corbett's devotion to intercollegiate athletics and worked unceasingly for its betterment."
The building served as the recreation and physical activity center for a number of years.