USD Men's Basketball 1999-2000

OHIO

the Buckeyes made four Final Four appearances between 1960 and 1968 (punctuated by the Jerry Lucas/John Havlicek– led 1960 NCAA championship squad), to find the words "dominant" and "Ohio State basketball" used in the same sentence. But under the direction of third-year head coach and 1998-99 Big Ten Coach of the Year Jim O'Brien, Ohio State is in the midst of a hoops revival. To put things into football jargon - with all due respect to the guys who line up under center for the Scarlet and Gray - the player who led the way was the best quar- w terback on campus, James ~ "Scoonie" Penn. ~ 1/J Penn transferred to Ohio ~ State in 1997, following two ~ outstanding seasons at Boston ~ College, and arrived only in ~ time to watch from the bench ~ u as O'Brien's first Buckeye u squad stumbled to jus t eight ~ wins in 30 games, including a ~ dismal 1-15 mark in the Big ~ Ten. But last season, with the ~ Buckeyes christening their Q :r new 18,000-seat Value City ~ Arena at Schottenstein Cen- ~ ,.. ter, Penn quickly established ~ himself as the team's leader 8

BY CHRIS WEBER

olumbus, Ohio, is a college football town so in love with autumn Saturdays that the local grade– schoolers learn their handwriting skills watching Ohio

State's Marching Band spell out "Script Ohio" on the Ohio Stadium turf. Mention Buckeye basket– ball, however, and most fans and alumni would probably tell you its most useful purpose is to kill time between the post– bowl game vapors and the fresh scent of spring practice. But after last season, those views are beginning to change. The indifference with the Buckeye program was under– standable . Ohio State had tasted basketball success before - most recently with back-to-back Big Ten titles in 1991 and 1992- but consistent victories on a national stage, the kind of seasons that leave the faithful counting the days in anticipation of the next campaign, have b een sporadic at best. You have to go back to the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, when

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