Buckeye Blogger NetworkThe Buckeye Brass had to answer Buckeye Nation. With #Hop2TheRafters rolling right along and creating a stir in Columbus, the athletic department had to put our information that will make everybody happy. Thanks to all who participated, tweeted, and Facebooked about it. Thanks to the man who it was all about for graciously allowing us to bring attention he didn’t want. Truth is, Dennis Hopson has always wanted all of the greats from Ohio State history to be honored in the rafters. If we were successful getting his jersey retired, he promised his mission would be to get the rest of the deserving retired as well.
This brings us to quite a difficult place in the decision-making that will go behind who is chosen for the rafters. There have been several members that have expressed an interest to be on a selection committee with THE Ohio State University. If allowed, they would help discuss a great format that allows special players their spot in the rafters, or in an Ohio Stadium “Ring of Honor” for football. This is the first of a two-part series where I take a look at some of the “lists” they could draw from.
His number 32 should be there right beside #Hop2TheRafters
At the very least, I completely disagree with doing away with retiring jerseys as a whole, as Gene Smith said. One very important reason to continue is that the National POY’s deserve the honor and there’s always the fact that a current player can ask the retired player if he can wear his jersey (re: Katzenmoyer and Griffin even though the 45 wasn’t technically retired). This may be the format moving forward as it is anyway. Truth is there are only 36 numbers in basketball because of numbering rules and NO duplicate numbers as in football, but how many National POY’s will Ohio State eventually have?
Evan Turner deserves to have his number retired because by their standard he is a National POY, and number 21 should hang next to the rest. I am going to provide you the lists for discussion – and they are good ones. The first list is the smallest list and would provide the most discussion. People would probably be surprised to know that the Buckeyes have only enjoyed a little success at the B1G POY award. Currently there are only five on this list.
Big Ten Player of the Year
| Dennis Hopson (1987), | Jim Jackson (1991, 1992), | Scoonie Penn (1999), | Terence Dials (2006), |
| Evan Turner (2010) |
In the rafters already
The next list is the list of consensus All-Americans and it’s a dandy. Ohio State honors all of their All-Americans in the media guide but this list are the ones present in more than one list.
Consensus All-American selections
| Wes Fesler (1931) | Jimmy Hull (1939) | Dick Schnittker (1950) | Robin Freeman (1955) |
| Jerry Lucas (1960, 1961*, 1962*) | Gary Bradds (1964*) | Jim Jackson (1991, 1992) | Greg Oden (2007) Evan Turner (2010*) |
| Jared Sullinger (2011) |
The next list is the largest to work from and it comes straight from the Ohio State men’s basketball media guide and by the University standards, would be a great place to start in my humble opinion. The have a section that is called Buckeye Greats and it has great story lines for each individual and what they did while at Ohio State to make the a Buckeye Great.
A Buckeye Great getting his jersey retired, Played with Lucas but enjoyed a much more successful NBA career with the Celtics.
JOHNNY MINER Ohio State’s first All-American (1925)
JIMMY HULL 1939 All-American Played in the first NCAA Finals
GARY BRADDS 1962-64, Most games in the top 50 ppg list, Retired
JIM CLEAMONS 1969-71, Led Buckeyes to win over #2 Marquette NCAA’s
ROBIN FREEMAN 1954-56, All-Time leading scorer before Lucas
JOHN HAVLICEK 1960-62, NBA great and Champion, Retired
DENNIS HOPSON 1984-87, Career and Single season points leader
BILL HOSKET 1966-68, First Academic All-American
JIM JACKSON 1990-92, B1G Frosh of the year & 2-time POY, Retired
CLARK KELLOGG 1980-82, averaged a double/double for his career
JERRY LUCAS 1960-62, All-Time leader in rebounds, Retired
KELVIN RANSEY 1977-80, four year starter and two-time captain
HERB WILLIAMS 1978-81, Career leader in points prior to Hopson
For more reading about all of these players go here.
There you have it. The lists to ponder #Who2TheRafters. I look forward to great discussions about this with our fans and value your input as well. I will be back next Thursday with a look at the possible lists to draw the football “Ring of Honor” from. And remember
#RETIRE32
#Hop2TheRafters
FOREVER
March 1st, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Great idea, but it’s not yours…..
I originally came up with the idea for the number 32. The town elders said that 31 was enough, but I said “NO! We must go higher”.
So you should give me full credit for inventing the number 32.
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WVaBuckeye
March 1st, 2012 at 12:49 pm
granted!
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March 1st, 2012 at 2:10 pm
I can see “rafter’ing” some player numbers in recognition of their contribution, but I don’t think retiring a number is necessary. Aren’t these players already in the OSU Hall of Fame?
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March 2nd, 2012 at 11:35 am
here’s the HOF list in order of induction and other sports they played if they did. These are listed for induction as basketball players.
BASKETBALL
Class of 1977
Paul E. Ebert, 1952-53-54
Baseball 1951-54-55
John Havlicek, 1960-61-62
Baseball 1960-61
James R. Hull, 1937-38-39
Jerry R. Lucas, 1960-61-62
John F. Miner, 1923-24-25
Class of 1978
Gary Bradds, 1962-63-64
William Hosket, Sr., 1932-33
William Hosket, Jr., 1966-67-68
Class of 1979
Robin Freeman, 1954-55-56
Class of 1980
Fred Taylor, 1949-50
Baseball 1947-48-49-50
Basketball Coach 1959-76
Class of 1981
Richard D. Schnittker, 1948-49-50
Football 1949
Class of 1982
Frank Howard, 1956-57-58
Baseball 1957-58-59
Class of 1983
Larry Siegfried, 1959-60-61
Class of 1984
James M. Clemons, 1969-70-71
Class of 1985
Melvyn Nowell, 1960-61-62
Class of 1986
Kelvin Ransey, 1977-78-79-80
Class of 1992
Allan Hornyak, 1971-72-73
Class of 1994
Dennis Hopson, 1984-85-86-87
Class of 1996
Don Grate, 1944-45
Class of 1998
Jim Jackson, 1990-91-92
Class of 1999
Herb Williams, 1978-79-80-81
Class of 2000
Dave Sorenson, 1968-69-70
Class of 2001
Clark Kellogg, 1980-82
Class of 2003
Nick Wasylik, 1934
Football 1934-37, Baseball 1935-38
Class of 2004
Arnie Risen, 1944-45
Class of 2009
Michael Redd, 1998-00
Class of 2010
Fred Norton, 1914-17
Football, 1914-17
Baseball, 1914-17
Track, 1914-17
Intersting to NOTE, three of the starters from the 1960′s team are in the HOF
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