Welcome to the Ohio University portion of our program, wherein we find perhaps our most motivational contestants.
The Ohio Bobcats struggled in the second half of the '80's during Dave Jamerson's heyday, posting a 62-55 record in his five years there despite going 22-8 in his freshman year. That was followed shortly after by Gary Trent's run, where the Bobcatsposted a 65-32 mark.
Jamerson and Trent are currently first and third all-time in scoring at Ohio, respectively, and also stand as the two highest draft picks in Bobcat history (15th and 11th). They diverged after that, with Jamerson only amassing 594 minutes in the NBA compared to Trent's nine year run in the pros, but they now are alike once again. Both players now work with troubled youth in an effort to avoid the pitfalls that now seem to follow young athletes throughout their careers.
Gary Trent (1992-95) - Gary started his rise by shooting 81.4% from the field as a high school senior, still a record to this day. He then went on to become "The Shaq of the MAC" and was conference player of the year three times (the only player ever to do so) while making his way to posting 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds before leaving for the NBA
Trent averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a bench player in his nine-year NBA career, and almost played with fellow GOAT bracketmate Bonzi Wells in Portland - the Blazers sent him to Toronto in early 1998, right before they took Bonzi in the draft. Trent wound up peaking with the 1998-99 Dallas Mavericks, where he served as Super Sixth Man and dropped 16 points and 8 boards a night on a team that featured a rookie Dirk Nowitzki, second year point guard Steve Nash, and finished 19-31.
Trent played three seasons overseas in Greece and Italy before finally returning stateside, where he is now working in a Minnesota middle school as a behavioral intervention counselor of sorts - it's a great read if you have a few extra minutes.
Ohio also finally retired Trent's jersey this past January 21st, which is long overdue according to some who have followed his work.
Dave Jamerson (1985-90) - Jamerson was an above average player for a very below-average run of Bobcats squads as mentioned above. His shining moment, however, came early during a senior season where he posted a 31.2 point per game average for the Bobcats.
Four days before Christmas, on December 21, 1989, Jamerson scored a whopping sixty points against College of Charleston by shooting 21 of 28 from the field, including 14 of 17 from behind the three point line. He finished his season shooting 43% from behind the arc while also attempting almost eleven three-pointers per game.
He eventually went on to the NBA and felt a bit lost (he called the jump from the MAC to the NBA a "huge adjustment") so he turned to god, and now works as an outreach pastor helping to mentor those kids and young athletes who feel the need for some guidance along the same path Jamerson pursued. But let's not forget about that one awesome game...