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Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: Grover Center
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Cellis033
8/25/2022 2:12 PM
Hello all! Wanted to ask a quick question. I'm set to have my board members of the O-Zone meet in Grover Center until the end of this semester - I understand Grover used to be home to the basketball team from 1960 to 1968 until the Convo was built. Are there any remaining signs or remnants of Grover's past as a basketball venue or are they pretty much gone?
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OhioCatFan
8/25/2022 5:35 PM
Cellis033 wrote:expand_more
Hello all! Wanted to ask a quick question. I'm set to have my board members of the O-Zone meet in Grover Center until the end of this semester - I understand Grover used to be home to the basketball team from 1960 to 1968 until the Convo was built. Are there any remaining signs or remnants of Grover's past as a basketball venue or are they pretty much gone?
To my knowledge after it was renovated to house the College of Health & Human Services back in the 1990s there no remnants of its former basketball arena glory. If there are, they are well hidden in hard to access spaces.
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Jeff McKinney
8/25/2022 5:56 PM
And no remnants of OCF's, bobcatsquared's, and SBH's domination of pickup games on the old Grover courts.
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bobcatsquared
8/25/2022 10:12 PM
Only memories, Jeff. Some real, some imagined (SBH).
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OhioCatFan
8/25/2022 11:11 PM
bobcatsquared wrote:expand_more
Only memories, Jeff. Some real, some imagined (SBH).
I know a man, a retired professor, who has a spreadsheet that can prove that he’s the all-time leading scorer at Grover Center. This guy added his day’s scoring stats to his spreadsheet after every pickup game. He is a legend in his own mind. SBH, bobcatquared and I have no proof of our legendary efforts on the Grover courts, so we are free to let our imaginations embellish our stories. Therefore, we also can be legends in our own minds. Who needs stats, anyway? 😳
Last Edited: 8/25/2022 11:21:43 PM by OhioCatFan
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BillyTheCat
8/26/2022 10:37 AM
If you look at the rafters in the atrium, you can see the direction of the layout, that is about it. Funny, when we reporpuse history, we also have a really good habit of ignoring it. Just like Bentley, that was the gym before, and you would know it unless someone told you. That and the Balcony is still basically there.
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rpbobcat
8/26/2022 10:48 AM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
If you look at the rafters in the atrium, you can see the direction of the layout, that is about it. Funny, when we reporpuse history, we also have a really good habit of ignoring it. Just like Bentley, that was the gym before, and you would know it unless someone told you. That and the Balcony is still basically there.
My wife and I were out at O.U. a couple of years ago.

She met with some people in Grover to talking about a "remote" Masters in Nursing.

In talking to people, I was amazed how few had any idea what Grover was.

I would think they'd have a least a few large pictures in the lobby.
I don't remember any.
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Quad D
8/26/2022 10:59 AM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
Only memories, Jeff. Some real, some imagined (SBH).
I know a man, a retired professor, who has a spreadsheet that can prove that he’s the all-time leading scorer at Grover Center. This guy added his day’s scoring stats to his spreadsheet after every pickup game. He is a legend in his own mind. SBH, bobcatquared and I have no proof of our legendary efforts on the Grover courts, so we are free to let our imaginations embellish our stories. Therefore, we also can be legends in our own minds. Who needs stats, anyway? 😳
Former Provost James Bruuning would be a good source of Grover history.
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stub
8/26/2022 12:23 PM
There is a bleacher seat from there that is displayed in the Communication Sciences and Disorders showcase window as you enter the main entrance to the department on the second floor of Grover.
Last Edited: 8/26/2022 12:29:06 PM by stub
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GraffZ06
8/26/2022 8:43 PM
No pictures except in my mind's eye. Lots of memories going to Larry Hunter basketball camps in the 90s and when I was younger, getting bummed every time my games/sessions got bumped to Grover instead of the Convo.

I vividly recall my freshman year, that age group was slotted for Grover, and I was upset so I went out the first game and scored like 25+. Coach bumped me up to play with the varsity group in Convo after that. Mission accomplished.

Edit - that was the camp I met Basra Fakhir. First time he boxed me out it knocked me on my behind. I tried to purposely foul him and he just carried me on his arms and dunked it anyway. Dude was STRONG. Couldn't shoot worth a lick though lol.
Last Edited: 8/26/2022 8:49:19 PM by GraffZ06
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MonroeClassmate
8/26/2022 9:55 PM
Recovering Journalist wrote:expand_more
Third picture shows the Westside adjacent to Richland Avenue. That portico after the Convo began being utilized, held pingpong tables and was also used for orientations and other promotional events. Along the south hallway you would find the men's locker rooms. On the east side there was gymnastics and weight rooms and numerous credit PE classes were held in Grover. The upper bleachers had been removed and provided two large areas on the south and north side of the court for classes and indoor practices. I recall seeing OHIO's place kicker using the nets as well as batting or golf practices during poor weather using the space.

The hardwood had been divided into 5 courts, four running east and west and a slightly larger center court running north and south with quite a bit of additional space on the perimeters of each court. While the NCAA court was still outlined it drew use only when the Convo was being resurfaced or the offseason fun for the Bobcats had them playing with the locals. Volleyball courts were also set up over the basketball courts.
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CatsUp
8/26/2022 10:15 PM
I remember being at Grover for registration (Monday of the first week) a time or two in the 70s and sitting on the floor as I worked to finalize my schedule for the quarter. Also recall a basketball class there and taking a karate class in the mezzanine level of the aforementioned south side. Afterall, circa 1974, “everybody was kung fu fighting”. :)
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OhioCatFan
8/27/2022 12:05 AM
Quad D wrote:expand_more
Only memories, Jeff. Some real, some imagined (SBH).
I know a man, a retired professor, who has a spreadsheet that can prove that he’s the all-time leading scorer at Grover Center. This guy added his day’s scoring stats to his spreadsheet after every pickup game. He is a legend in his own mind. SBH, bobcatquared and I have no proof of our legendary efforts on the Grover courts, so we are free to let our imaginations embellish our stories. Therefore, we also can be legends in our own minds. Who needs stats, anyway? 😳
Former Provost James Bruuning would be a good source of Grover history.
Just for clarification, Jim Bruning is not the professor I was referring to with the spreadsheet. He was in an entirely different discipline.
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OhioCatFan
8/27/2022 12:10 AM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
If you look at the rafters in the atrium, you can see the direction of the layout, that is about it. Funny, when we reporpuse history, we also have a really good habit of ignoring it. Just like Bentley, that was the gym before, and you would know it unless someone told you. That and the Balcony is still basically there.
When you mentioned Bentley, it made me think, “I wonder how many other posters on this board can say they saw a game in Men’s Gym?” I was very young, and was with my parents, I mainly remember running around the upper level track. I also remember that it was very noisy as the building was too small for the overflow crowds. I’m probably talking about mid 1950s.
Last Edited: 8/27/2022 12:11:01 AM by OhioCatFan
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GraffZ06
8/27/2022 1:31 AM
I do believe the west facing windows of Grover that overlooked the old Trautwein Field used to take a beating when one #10 Michael Jack Schmidt was roaming Athens.
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OhioCatFan
8/27/2022 1:00 PM
GraffZ06 wrote:expand_more
I do believe the west facing windows of Grover that overlooked the old Trautwein Field used to take a beating when one #10 Michael Jack Schmidt was roaming Athens.
And, the roof wasn't spared when Larry Hisle, playing for the Portsmouth Legion team, deposited one there in the State Legion Baseball Tournament that used to be a yearly fixture in Athens. I believe that's the longest HR ever in Trautwein Field. Unless SBH hit one further in when he played for the Akron team.
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BobcatSports
8/27/2022 1:51 PM
My first Grover experience was a pick up game summer of ‘68 while attending Buckeye Boys State. A couple of notables I played (got annilated’ against) were Luke Witte and Ed Ratliff. Way way way out of my league obviously.
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bobcatsquared
8/27/2022 3:08 PM
Annihilated by Ed Ratliff? Nothing to be ashamed about. Ratliff, along with Dwight "Bo" Lamer and Nick Connor, was part of perhaps the best high school basketball team ever in Ohio as Columbus East went something like 70-1 over 3 seasons in late 1960s.
Last Edited: 8/27/2022 3:11:18 PM by bobcatsquared
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Jeff McKinney
8/28/2022 2:01 PM
My first experience at Grover was as a freshman in 1977. Pick up games and using the weight room. Also, took a handball course there. I was proud that I was competitive with even though I couldn't beat the varsity athletes in the class.
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boydhallbobcat
8/29/2022 2:09 PM
I remember it being several basketball courts in the early 90's. We used to have biddy league practices there sometimes. The old rubber floor..
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Recovering Journalist
8/29/2022 3:42 PM
boydhallbobcat wrote:expand_more
I remember it being several basketball courts in the early 90's. We used to have biddy league practices there sometimes. The old rubber floor..
Yeah, it was like that until Ping was finished in late 1995 or early 1996.
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oldkatz
8/29/2022 4:32 PM
My basketball team was thrown out of the dorm league and had to forfeit all our games, which we had lost for the record. A small technicality that none of us were still in school was the basis.
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giacomo
8/29/2022 4:53 PM
What did Grover seat? I think about 6,800. One could argue that is all we really need.

One spring my roommate and I went over to shoot a few. This is 1979. An old guy comes up to me and says he knows who I am and wants to play one on one, make it, take it, to 7. I laughed and said "sure"! He takes it down on the baseline and proceeds to shoot a hook shot from down around his ankles. I couldn't block it and nothing but net! He proceeds to make 7 hook shots in a row with either hand and he wins. A bunch of people had gathered around cheering him on. Afterwards he tells me he played professionally back in the very early days of the NBA! He had to be in his mid 60s and not very big. I'll never forget it.
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OhioCatFan
8/29/2022 6:15 PM
giacomo wrote:expand_more
What did Grover seat? I think about 6,800. One could argue that is all we really need.

One spring my roommate and I went over to shoot a few. This is 1979. An old guy comes up to me and says he knows who I am and wants to play one on one, make it, take it, to 7. I laughed and said "sure"! He takes it down on the baseline and proceeds to shoot a hook shot from down around his ankles. I couldn't block it and nothing but net! He proceeds to make 7 hook shots in a row with either hand and he wins. A bunch of people had gathered around cheering him on. Afterwards he tells me he played professionally back in the very early days of the NBA! He had to be in his mid 60s and not very big. I'll never forget it.
Any idea this dude's name? Was he a professor? An indigenous townie? A farmer from Albany? Inquiring minds want to know.
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