Introducing: Kent State MACwood Squares

MACwood Squares is our summer reading series on the best athletes in Mid-American Conference sports history. This week features Kent State. Looking for your MAC school? Consult our schedule for other teams and please submit your nominees as well.

There you go. Here's your nine. I didn't really get much feedback from the Golden Flash/Silver Fox contingent, and if Jack Lambert were here he'd tackle the lot of you. Come strong or don't come at all, folks.

A quick description of each athlete is below:

Josh Cribbs (football)
Dual-threat quarterback in college who holds several yardage records, then stayed home and became the Cleveland Browns' most exciting kick returner ever.

Ben Curtis (golfer)
Not only a great golfer by MAC standards, but also the unlikely 2003 British Open champion.

Antonio Gates (basketball)
Cornerstone of the 2002 Elite Eight team, then took up football after graduation and became one of the greatest tight ends in modern history.

James Harrison (football)
Didn't have a huge impact as a college player, but became a hard-hitting Steelers linebacker, a perennial Pro Bowler, and had the longest play in Super Bowl history.

Dustin Kilgore (wrestling)
Won the national championship in the 197-pound category, the first Golden Flash to win a title in wrestling.

Charles Kilbourne (five sports)
Five-sport athlete in the 20s and 30s (football, basketball, baseball, track, tennis).

Thurman Munson (baseball)
A local product whose brief time with Kent State parlayed into being an instant Yankees star. Rest in peace.

Jack Lambert (football)
He was a tackling machine in college which translated to one of the fiercest players in the 1970s for the Pittsburgh Steelers. A Hall-of-Famer and no doubt the Center Square.

Amy Sherry (women's basketball)
The best women's basketball player in KSU history: Second all-time in points (five behind the leader), and first in rebounds. Two-time MAC Player of the Year, one of only six women to have done that.

Next week: Eastern Michigan. Consult our schedule for your favorite team.