I do. I am proud of the very rich Apologies to Borna - but I think Ohio has a place every bit as important in basketball lore as Indiana, Kentucky, or N. Carolina. I always root for any Ohio team vs anyone else outside of Ohio. 4 Ohio teams in the final 16 last year was another highlight of this history.
No apologies needed. My pops coached at Wayne HS....that is Dayton Wayne and I grew up with Ohio collegiate ball at the Gardens in Cincy, in the 60's with Ken and DOn May as camp counselors at Donoher's camp, JerryFisher who played with Charlie and Jerry Pierson was my hoops coach so I am pretty steeped in Ohio basketball. I appreciated the very first memories I had going to a Cincy game with my Uncle who graduated there in 62 and followed our Tipp City team to St Johns in 71.
Living in 2 worlds with most of the family here iN Indiana and my Gramps playing in 28' at Ball then Carnegie and a lifelong student of the game I came to appreciate the differences in how Indiana played the game and how we played it in OHIO. My pops resigned from coaching when he had 4 kids and wanted to spend time elsewhere than in a gym yet he had me keeping shot charts and stats from kindergarden on while he ran a scouting service that utilized the skills he honed under Rupp and Lancaster and provided reports on Dayton area teams for a couple of decades.
While not denigrating OHIO HS ball it is not the relgious experience folks over here have when reverently discussing a game played at the Regionals in 73 or what Glenn RObinson jr and GR3 bring to the table from guys who actually saw them both play. Every town here fervently follows their hoops. Being in both worlds, playing weekends with kids from Indiana that lived near my grandparents up at the schoolyard and arguing OHIO, where I was in school was better I soon realized they were probably right as their world hinged on and revolved around one thing was much different than mine.
As for the college hoops I am always amazed by Ohio's rich hoops history. From the old Dayton Feidlhouse, The Cincy Gardens to Wilberforce and Wittenberg we followed Ohio college and players pretty aggressively. t O$U was one of my pops faves in the early 60's because he had coached against Middletown and had a deep respect for that 61 team with Hondo, Lucas and the bunch. He followed those guys clear through their pro careers. I think he probably knew as many of them as I do with Jeff Teague, Eric Gordon, Zach hahn , Julius Mays and dozens of those highly successful Indiana kids guys we see regualrly at the park, high schools or in AAU/summer ball.
I respect you bringing that up. Ohio has a very rich hoops history but unlike Kentucky and Inidiana it is not a second religion where entire communities turn out every friday night and gyms are built larger than the population of the town. For the record I do not even think North Carolina deserves to be inthis conversation at the HS level and it took Everett Case ...a very successful Indiana HS coach to set the tone for NC collegiate ball to elevate beginning at NC State and challenging the rest of the institution s tin that state to catch him.
Great ...now I am reminded by mny staff that I actually have to do some work before I get on the plane to go see the kid. Thanks for the thought ....hope every one responds withtheir favorite OHio HS or college teams ...hoops history is pretty awesome.....McKinney can probably start with WIttenberg. ........