C-Bolt wrote:I honestly can't think of anybody from true southeast with more accomplishments after high school than Katie.
Accomplishments do not make somebody the best athlete.
Larry Hisle was mentioned above.
He was a better basketball player than baseball player.
Curt Gentry from Portsmouth is another one. He was a 3-sport All-State player and played professionally in 3 sports - basketball, baseball, and football. He played DB for the Chicago Bears from 1966-1968.
Um so you think Katie wasn't good in other sports too ? She was all state in volleyball I don't know how many years,held state records in track and field for many years and some even thought she could have been all state in softball too if she wanted to do it.So yea she was a pretty good overall athlete who could do whatever she wanted, not just basketball.I would wager way more people recognize her name than most them other people mentioned besides Havlicek or Young and I still don't consider them from this area.Havlicek is from Bridgeport, Young from around the New Philly-Dover area.I guess there is no such thing as just plain ole Eastern Ohio anymore.
C-Bolt wrote:Um so you think Katie wasn't good in other sports too ? She was all state in volleyball I don't know how many years,held state records in track and field for many years and some even thought she could have been all state in softball too if she wanted to do it.So yea she was a pretty good overall athlete who could do whatever she wanted, not just basketball.I would wager way more people recognize her name than most them other people mentioned besides Havlicek or Young and I still don't consider them from this area.Havlicek is from Bridgeport, Young from around the New Philly-Dover area.I guess there is no such thing as just plain ole Eastern Ohio anymore.
We could add many more former professional athletes to this list from Scioto and Lawrence Counties:
Al Bridwell
Al Oliver
Gene Tennace
Coy Bacon
Chuck Ealey (mentioned before)
Larry Hisle (mentioned before)
Rocky Nelson
Curt Gentry (mentioned before)
Jim Gardner
OJ Mayo (mentioned before)
There are countless others that were tremendous athletes that never made it out past high school.
Eastern Ohio?
Can't get much more east in Ohio than Bridgeport.
Last edited by LoveMyRedmen on Mon May 11, 2015 10:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Yep that sure looks dead east to me Thanks for proving my point :122249 , Lawrence and Scioto are more like South Central Ohio according to the map position but since they lump them into the Southeast District I'll give you them.I'll leave you with this one last thought so we don't keep beating this poor dead horse and going off topic ,which district do Bridgeport and them other schools play in over there at tournament time 8) Oh and OJ Mayo was born in Huntington and played most his HS ball in WV, KY and going to Cincy,don't remember him play much if any at South Point.The rest are great athletes no doubt and I take nothing away from them.I have also heard many good things about that Wonders team even though it was way before my time
I would say Hairston is the all-time winner in Lawrence County for County Championships, and he is the only coach in the history of SE Ohio Basketball to win back-to-back state championships. The only other ones close are Portsmouth (2012 and 2013) and Hillsboro Marshall (1927 and 1928; Marshall lost in 27, won it in 28). You could throw the South Webster (04-06) and Burg (05-07) in this category, too. If you look at three of the five schools mentioned, they didn't have football and two aren't even in existence anymore. Waterloo close their doors in 1960 or 1961 to become Symmes Valley and Marshall became a part of Hillsboro High School. What makes both of their stories amazing is because both towns are literally at a bend in the road, with less than 200 people and both going winning a state championship when inner city or massive sized schools were dominating athletics. What separates Hairston and Waterloo from everyone else is how they played, with class, showmanship and more importantly, inventing some basic passing skills that most NBA Players and the Harlem Globetrotters use today, especially the behind-the-back pass. Waterloo actually invented that pass amongst a few others. What is even more amazing about Hairston and these few years is they rarely had more than 5 players on the road, played two schools in one night and beat Rio Grande twice and Marshall Unviersity's Freshman Team. That coach and those players go into a category all by themselves. Not just in SE Ohio, or Ohio for that matter. This coach and team should be revered across the nation and in my humble opinion, be elected into the NBA Hall-of-Fame. What they did in their era will never be duplicated again. If they had the press media today, they would be an international sensation to go and watch. Each game would be sold out before the tickets could even be made, and yet, every year people pass them up and completely forget about them because they existed in an era so long ago during the Great Depression.
I would say Hairston is the all-time winner in Lawrence County for County Championships, and he is the only coach in the history of SE Ohio Basketball to win back-to-back state championships. The only other ones close are Portsmouth (2012 and 2013) and Hillsboro Marshall (1927 and 1928; Marshall lost in 27, won it in 28). You could throw the South Webster (04-06) and Burg (05-07) in this category, too. If you look at three of the five schools mentioned, they didn't have football and two aren't even in existence anymore. Waterloo close their doors in 1960 or 1961 to become Symmes Valley and Marshall became a part of Hillsboro High School. What makes both of their stories amazing is because both towns are literally at a bend in the road, with less than 200 people and both going winning a state championship when inner city or massive sized schools were dominating athletics. What separates Hairston and Waterloo from everyone else is how they played, with class, showmanship and more importantly, inventing some basic passing skills that most NBA Players and the Harlem Globetrotters use today, especially the behind-the-back pass. Waterloo actually invented that pass amongst a few others. What is even more amazing about Hairston and these few years is they rarely had more than 5 players on the road, played two schools in one night and beat Rio Grande twice and Marshall Unviersity's Freshman Team. That coach and those players go into a category all by themselves. Not just in SE Ohio, or Ohio for that matter. This coach and team should be revered across the nation and in my humble opinion, be elected into the NBA Hall-of-Fame. What they did in their era will never be duplicated again. If they had the press media today, they would be an international sensation to go and watch. Each game would be sold out before the tickets could even be made, and yet, every year people pass them up and completely forget about them because they existed in an era so long ago during the Great Depression.
C-Bolt wrote:Yep that sure looks dead east to me Thanks for proving my point :122249 , Lawrence and Scioto are more like South Central Ohio according to the map position but since they lump them into the Southeast District I'll give you them.I'll leave you with this one last thought so we don't keep beating this poor dead horse and going off topic ,which district do Bridgeport and them other schools play in over there at tournament time 8) Oh and OJ Mayo was born in Huntington and played most his HS ball in WV, KY and going to Cincy,don't remember him play much if any at South Point.The rest are great athletes no doubt and I take nothing away from them.I have also heard many good things about that Wonders team even though it was way before my time
Eastern Ohio around Wheeling is still SE Ohio...
Hondo was a much better athlete than Smith...no question.
If your limitation of SE Ohio excludes areas around Portsmouth, Ironton, and Wheeling, then I agree with you.
Includes them too.
Katie Smith is, was, and probably will be the best ever. She could have played volleyball or thrown shot-put for any major college in the country after she was named Gatorade NATIONAL athlete of the year her senior year. Instead, she chose Ohio State to play basketball and led the Buckeyes to the NATIONAL championship game while being named freshmen of the year in the COUNTRY. She has played in WNBA finals and is widely regarded as one of the top 10 or 15 players of all time in her PROFESSIONAL sport. I can go on and on, but if she really wanted to prove her worth as the best ever in southeast Ohio, she could just walk around with her three gold medals around her neck that she won in two different decades.
I don't know of one single athlete from southeast Ohio that has earned those types of accolades. In fact, you could put her in the conversation as one of the best ever from the state of Ohio!
BTW, I'm from Athens. I hate Logan. They were our long time rival. But I'm willing to give credit where credit is due. And Katie deserves all the credit in the world. She was flat out amazing.
sounds like she was an amazing athlete indeed. ------------------but we've actually not heard from that wide of a fanbase about their best coach ever. which is what the actual topic is.
gallia academy
1. brent saunders wins and character
2. mike eddy even tho only 4 years got most out his kids
3a. jim niday offensive guru
3b. matt bokovitz rebuilding athletes and championships
I remember some great devils/tigers games. I was a sophomore on the team that stopped ironton's league win streak of 37. the old 37 and no more campaign by the blue devils. I remember devils running back brian mink had a killer game.
