OSUs Ebert was not just another basketball player By: Bob Hunter The Columbus Dispatch - April 23, 2009, 05:45 AM Paul Ebert died. That’s what an Ohio State spokesman said. There weren’t a lot of details, but he contacted the Dispatch because Ebert had once been an OSU basketball player. As often happens when an OSU athlete from another era dies, the first questions from those fielding the initial e-mails, calls, etc., come to me. When it comes to local sports history, on our staff Im the poor mans Google. Unfortunately, if we were in a race, Google would lap me by the first turn. No matter. I still get the calls. “What do you know about Paul Ebert?” Off the top of my head, I knew three things. One, he played in the early 50s for Floyd Stahl. Two, he wasn’t just another OSU basketball player. He was an All-American, so needless to say, he was very, very good. I also knew he became a renowned surgeon after he left school. I thought, but couldn’t be sure, that he lived in California. I interviewed him in 1981 for a book called Buckeye Basketball, a history of the sport at OSU that didn’t sell a million copies. Since then, the book has refreshed my memory several times, including this one. “I think you can put Paul Ebert right up there (Jerry) Lucas and (John) Havlicek as the finest basketball players ever to play at Ohio State.” This quote came from longtime OSU assistant coach Jack Graf, who was connected with the program either as a player or coach from 1940 to 1970. “Unfortunately, he played with some rinky dinks. He didn’t have a lot of material with him and didn’t get a lot of credit. But Paul could do everything. I’m not kidding you. He was a complete athlete.” There have obviously been a lot of great players go through the OSU basketball program since – Clark Kellogg, Jim Jackson, Michael Redd and so on – but when Graf says Ebert belongs up there with Lucas and Havlicek, it tells us something about who this guy was. This does, too: The former Columbus South star had a chance to play pro baseball and basketball and turned it down to go to medical school. Like many stars who live a full life – Ebert was 76 – if he had died 30 years ago, his death would have been big news. Now, he’s not much than a faded photograph from a faded era for most of us. He didn’t even play in St. John Arena. It opened three years after he was gone. It’s too bad. Ebert was 6-4 and of slight build, and had to play center because the Buckeyes had no one else. Despite that disadvantage, he averaged 20 points as a sophomore. The most success his teams had came when he was a senior in 1953-54, in part because sharpshooter Robin Freeman joined the roster. The team finished only 11-11, but the duo became a true version of Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside, and there were some bright moments: Against the Miami Hurricanes, the Buckeyes became the first team to score 100 points (against a college opponent) in school history when they won 106-81. Freeman hit 11 of 21 shots in that game and scored 25 points. Ebert hit 14 of 28, had 35 points and collected 25 rebounds. That snapshot says a lot, even for those who have never heard of him. Ebert was not just another basketball player.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 23:22:46 +0000
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