Buckeyes’ 1960 title team honored at reunion

COLUMBUS (AP) — Ohio State’s fans showered a half a century of cheers on the 1960 Buckeyes.

Led by stars Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek — along with substitute Bob Knight, who would become the winningest college coach ever — the school’s only national championship basketball team received a warm and emotional welcome home Sunday.

Grayer, more stooped and heavier in their dotage, the 1960 Buckeyes received a lengthy standing ovation as they were introduced — a spotlight pinpointing each player as they walked slowly and deliberately to midcourt — during halftime of the current Buckeyes’ game with Minnesota.

The Buckeyes beat the Golden Gophers 85-63, attributing the victory to not wanting to disappoint the honorees.

Knight then honored the man who brought them all together originally, late coach Fred Taylor. A banner was unfurled from the rafters celebrating Taylor’s 18 seasons as head coach, which included seven Big Ten titles, four trips to the Final Four and that 1960 title.

The players, now in their 70s or close to it, returned to Ohio State for what turned into an emotional tribute to one of the few members of that team who wasn’t on hand at Value City Arena.

Taylor, the coach who assembled a disparate group of individuals into a close-knit, 25-3 squad, died in 2002. A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was an innovator and team builder who went 297-158 and wasn’t even 50 years old when he resigned in 1976.

After the players were introduced one by one, Knight gave a moving elegy for his old coach and friend.

“You deserve a great painting because there’s a great painter,” Knight said. “You deserve a great building because there’s a great architect. When there’s a great basketball team, there’s been a great coach.”

Several hundred people attended a reception and ceremony on Saturday night at St. John Arena, where the 1960 Buckeyes played their games. Each player received replicas of the national championship trophy.

“It was a great group of people,” said Lucas, a two-time national player of the year who averaged 26.3 points and 16 rebounds a game as a sophomore on the title team. “Fred had to blend guys who were stars on their teams for years and make them into a cohesive unit.”