Behind The Box Score

Here on BtBS, I am going to create a  different top 5 list about anything in sports (ex. best college stadium, best player in 2005, etc.). But starting off this inagural week, the first top five has that inaugural theme.

Top 5 First Varsity Seasons At Ohio State (Basketball)

5. Herb Williams- This Buckeye starts the list at #5 due to his dominating presence in the paint, blocking 6 shots or more 5 times during his freshman season in 1977-78. He also set the freshman scoring record of 452, that stood for another 12 years, until the guy who is #4 on the list came along.

4. Jimmy Jackson- At the time, this rising star helped Toledo Macomber High School win its first state title in 1989, and had an immediate impact on the court the following season for Ohio State. Thought of as the best high school player ever in the state, Jackson broke into St John’s Arena and rocked that season, averaging 16.1 ppg and 5.5 rpg, while shooting a scorching 49.9% from the field. He would go on to play two more full seasons with the Bucks, and get his number retired (22) in the rafters.

3. Michael Redd- This home town guy, hailing from West high school, was truly a gift to the 1997-98 Buckeyes. He did not win a state title at West, unlike Jackson, but his freshman season he did light up the scoreboard, averaging 21.9 points per game. The truly great success for Redd at OSU wasn’t until the following season, when he led Ohio State to the Final Four. (shh, the NCAA says I shouldn’t remember that)

2. Greg Oden/Mike Conley Jr.- Well, I guess you have to bunch these two guys together, they were in the same recruiting class of 2006, did go to the same high school (Lawerence North, IN). This duo could probably be considered the best the Buckeyes have ever seen, with Conley driving the lane, dishing it up to Oden with the tip slam on occasion. Together, they combine to own 4 of the records at Ohio State as freshman, with Conley easily having the assists record by a staggering 113 assists, nearly double the second place person in Damon Stringer. Oh, did I forget to mention one fact, that they led the 2006-07 team to the Final Four? They carried that team to Atlanta, on the heels of Oden’s key block against Tennessee in the closing seconds of the Sweet 16. The only reason they did not make it to #1 was because they made it to the Final Four, they didn’t win it.

1. Jerry Lucas- Sorry Mike and Greg, this guy has one up on you. This man was also thought of as the best player to ever play high school basketball in the state of Ohio, at Middletown High School, which he owns many of the OHSAA scoring records, and the 76 consecutive victories by a team is still a record today. By the way this is titled, Lucas can be considered on this list. He did not get to play Varsity basketball at Ohio State in his first season, the NCAA at the time had a ruling that you must sit out your freshman year before you could play Varsity. But in his first Varsity year, Lucas took the once quiet Ohio State basketball program by storm, averaging 26.2 ppg, and shooting a now unthinkable 63% from the field. The reason he tops the list at #1 is because he won the national title in his first Varsity season, leading Ohio State to their only national title in 1960, with a dominating 75-55 victory over Cal.