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Ohio Basketball Topic
Topic: Grover Center
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GoCats105
8/29/2022 6:59 PM
Recovering Journalist 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.
There were still courts there when I was in school in the mid 2000s. Tried out for the OU club team in that gym actually. Pretty sure the floors were wooden though. Grover was my favorite building to hang in when I was on campus. The computer lab there was exclusive to students with majors in that building. Kept out all the business major folks who would come down the hill from Copeland.
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SBH
8/29/2022 9:36 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.
That would explain the scouting report on you among MAC coaches -- that you couldn't guard a 60 year old short guy.
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GroverBall
8/30/2022 12:09 AM
SBH 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.
That would explain the scouting report on you among MAC coaches -- that you couldn't guard a 60 year old short guy.
I remember that guy from the early 1980s playing what we townies called groverball and his hook was deadly, but I don't remember it coming from his ankles and he was at least 6 feet tall and a bit burly. I also heard he played professionally, I vaguely remember being told that he was from Gallipolis but I never learned his name.
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bobcatsquared
8/30/2022 6:32 AM
"Bevo"?
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giacomo
8/30/2022 9:49 AM
GroverBall 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.
That would explain the scouting report on you among MAC coaches -- that you couldn't guard a 60 year old short guy.
I remember that guy from the early 1980s playing what we townies called groverball and his hook was deadly, but I don't remember it coming from his ankles and he was at least 6 feet tall and a bit burly. I also heard he played professionally, I vaguely remember being told that he was from Gallipolis but I never learned his name.
I guess when I said “short”, I meant shorter than me. He shot a sweeping hook, not a sky hook, and maybe it wasn’t from his ankles, but he still skunked me! A fun memory.
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giacomo
8/30/2022 9:50 AM
Last Edited: 8/30/2022 9:51:33 AM by giacomo
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giacomo
8/30/2022 9:52 AM
SBH 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.
That would explain the scouting report on you among MAC coaches -- that you couldn't guard a 60 year old short guy.
That explains my career in a nutshell!
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OhioCatFan
8/30/2022 10:17 AM
bobcatsquared wrote:expand_more
"Bevo"?
Phantom Bevo sighting!

Or, maybe it was Sasquatch.
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GroverBall
9/4/2022 12:31 PM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
"Bevo"?
Phantom Bevo sighting!

Or, maybe it was Sasquatch.
Bevo was a big dude though, right? How tall is giacomo? Bevo would have been about the right age for my early 80s sighting but I think hookman is somebody else.
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OhioCatFan
9/4/2022 3:24 PM
GroverBall wrote:expand_more
"Bevo"?
Phantom Bevo sighting!

Or, maybe it was Sasquatch.
Bevo was a big dude though, right? How tall is giacomo? Bevo would have been about the right age for my early 80s sighting but I think hookman is somebody else.
Yes, Bevo was about 6'9", but how tall is giacomo? These things can be relative, you know! ;-)
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SouthernCat
9/7/2022 11:37 AM
GoCats105 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.
There were still courts there when I was in school in the mid 2000s. Tried out for the OU club team in that gym actually. Pretty sure the floors were wooden though. Grover was my favorite building to hang in when I was on campus. The computer lab there was exclusive to students with majors in that building. Kept out all the business major folks who would come down the hill from Copeland.
I think that wood court is a lab for adaptive PE and other in the college. The rubber floors in the old gym space are long gone since the renovation in 1999-2000.
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Bobcatzblitz
9/7/2022 7:11 PM
When I arrived in Athens circa 2010 there were midweek pickup games at Athens High School there were young guys, middle aged guys and OLD guys..Grey Haired barely mobile 60ish about 6foot9 flat-footed dead eye shooter from STEPH CURRY LAND which in that old gym is half court it seemed. Dude had knee pads , goggles too I think.
It was soooo frustrating because he forced you to sag if you wanted any defensive action but they'd kick to him it was good every damn time.
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MonroeClassmate
9/7/2022 9:16 PM
Bobcatzblitz wrote:expand_more
When I arrived in Athens circa 2010 there were midweek pickup games at Athens High School there were young guys, middle aged guys and OLD guys..Grey Haired barely mobile 60ish about 6foot9 flat-footed dead eye shooter from STEPH CURRY LAND which in that old gym is half court it seemed. Dude had knee pads , goggles too I think.
It was soooo frustrating because he forced you to sag if you wanted any defensive action but they'd kick to him it was good every damn time.
Different gym but this story reminds me of playing against one time Cavalier, Barry Clemens playing at the Lakewood Ohio YMCA after his pro career ended. He very SELDOM missed from the corner, that man could shoot!
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mid70sbobcat
9/7/2022 10:20 PM
Bobcatzblitz wrote:expand_more
When I arrived in Athens circa 2010 there were midweek pickup games at Athens High School there were young guys, middle aged guys and OLD guys..Grey Haired barely mobile 60ish about 6foot9 flat-footed dead eye shooter from STEPH CURRY LAND which in that old gym is half court it seemed. Dude had knee pads , goggles too I think.
It was soooo frustrating because he forced you to sag if you wanted any defensive action but they'd kick to him it was good every damn time.

Total longshot here .... but back in the 70's Denny Rusch was 6'8" and had a decent outside jumper, top of key or even a step or two further out. He had come to Ohio from Michigan but I think ended up living in Nelsonville after graduation. He was blond back in the day and had a smooth shot if my fading memory is still intact. He would have been closing in on 60 back in 2010.
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OhioCatFan
9/7/2022 11:14 PM
mid70sbobcat wrote:expand_more
When I arrived in Athens circa 2010 there were midweek pickup games at Athens High School there were young guys, middle aged guys and OLD guys..Grey Haired barely mobile 60ish about 6foot9 flat-footed dead eye shooter from STEPH CURRY LAND which in that old gym is half court it seemed. Dude had knee pads , goggles too I think.
It was soooo frustrating because he forced you to sag if you wanted any defensive action but they'd kick to him it was good every damn time.

Total longshot here .... but back in the 70's Denny Rusch was 6'8" and had a decent outside jumper, top of key or even a step or two further out. He had come to Ohio from Michigan but I think ended up living in Nelsonville after graduation. He was blond back in the day and had a smooth shot if my fading memory is still intact. He would have been closing in on 60 back in 2010.
If he acted like a total bozo, played dirty, and had the shortest fuse you ever saw on the basketball court, it was probably Denny Rusch. He is the only OHIO player that I can ever remember that I found to be a total embarrassment to our dear alma mater practically every time he took the court. I remember standing up and booing him when he would act like a total jackass on the court. I’ve never, ever booed another OHIO player like I did him.
Last Edited: 9/7/2022 11:15:22 PM by OhioCatFan
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BillyTheCat
9/8/2022 10:25 AM
Bobcatzblitz wrote:expand_more
When I arrived in Athens circa 2010 there were midweek pickup games at Athens High School there were young guys, middle aged guys and OLD guys..Grey Haired barely mobile 60ish about 6foot9 flat-footed dead eye shooter from STEPH CURRY LAND which in that old gym is half court it seemed. Dude had knee pads , goggles too I think.
It was soooo frustrating because he forced you to sag if you wanted any defensive action but they'd kick to him it was good every damn time.
That would have been at Athens Middle School.
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SBH
9/8/2022 10:42 AM
MonroeClassmate wrote:expand_more
When I arrived in Athens circa 2010 there were midweek pickup games at Athens High School there were young guys, middle aged guys and OLD guys..Grey Haired barely mobile 60ish about 6foot9 flat-footed dead eye shooter from STEPH CURRY LAND which in that old gym is half court it seemed. Dude had knee pads , goggles too I think.
It was soooo frustrating because he forced you to sag if you wanted any defensive action but they'd kick to him it was good every damn time.
Different gym but this story reminds me of playing against one time Cavalier, Barry Clemens playing at the Lakewood Ohio YMCA after his pro career ended. He very SELDOM missed from the corner, that man could shoot!
Jim Cleamons? He was a Cav, not Barry.
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bobcatsquared
9/8/2022 4:42 PM
Jim Cleamons, formerly of Columbus Linden McKinley High School. Cleamons and Columbus East's Ed Ratliff, mentioned earlier in this thread, are part of an era when the City League was loaded with the top players and teams in the state. Cleamons won 6 NBA rings as an assistant coach under Phil Jackson (Bulls and Lakers).
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SBH
9/8/2022 5:30 PM
He also played a starring role in the Miracle of Richfield.
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MonroeClassmate
9/8/2022 9:08 PM
SBH wrote:expand_more
[QUOTE=Bobcatzblitz]
Jim Cleamons? He was a Cav, not Barry.

WIKI: Barry Clemens
he went on to have a productive 11-year career with five teams: the Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, the Seattle SuperSonics, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Portland Trail Blazers.
Last Edited: 9/8/2022 9:10:18 PM by MonroeClassmate
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Jeff McKinney
9/8/2022 11:58 PM
BillyTheCat wrote:expand_more
When I arrived in Athens circa 2010 there were midweek pickup games at Athens High School there were young guys, middle aged guys and OLD guys..Grey Haired barely mobile 60ish about 6foot9 flat-footed dead eye shooter from STEPH CURRY LAND which in that old gym is half court it seemed. Dude had knee pads , goggles too I think.
It was soooo frustrating because he forced you to sag if you wanted any defensive action but they'd kick to him it was good every damn time.
That would have been at Athens Middle School.
I played numerous church league games in that gym.
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SBH
9/9/2022 7:18 AM
MonroeClassmate wrote:expand_more
[QUOTE=Bobcatzblitz]
Jim Cleamons? He was a Cav, not Barry.

WIKI: Barry Clemens
he went on to have a productive 11-year career with five teams: the Knicks, the Chicago Bulls, the Seattle SuperSonics, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Portland Trail Blazers.
I stand corrected!
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