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Making The List: Kelvin Ransey is No Longer Underrated
jcollingsworth via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
With the regular season over for football and basketball now beginning the birth of their season I feel it is appropriate to take a bit of a break from football and jump right into basketball.
There have been a ton of names that I have yet to address in football, many names I am certain you felt should have been mentioned. I am certain we are on the same page, unquestionably, I will get to them. There are so many deserving names yet to Make the List – which will.
The first names to surface for basketball was Coach Fred Taylor. The second was Phyllis Bailey. Both had to be the first two. As Woody Hayes was the first for football – the teacher always is due first recognition before the student.
Now for the first player to Make the List.
When I think of a Buckeye Basketball star the first name that comes to my mind is Kelvin Ransey. Back on July 22nd of this year I wrote a piece entitled Kelvin Ransey’s Overdue Tribute. It was a heartfelt piece as I feel of all the names that have played for the Scarlet & Gray over the years on the court at St. John’s and now Value City Arena Kelvin was slighted the most in recognition of his amazing accomplishments.
Kelvin owned St. John’s Arena from 1976 – 80.
Freshman Year:
Ransey was only 6’1” and weighed less than 190 lbs. in a big man’s game. Under first year coach Eldon Miller he would excel on a bad OSU team. The Buckeyes would finish this year 9-18 (4-14 in Big 10 play) and would experience a 9-game losing streak. Kelvin though pulled his weight – averaging 13. 1 points, 3.4 rebounds (remember he was but 6’1”). He would set a then freshmen record of 327 points. At the free-throw line he’d hit 78% of the time. Kelvin dished 69 assists against 51 turnovers while stealing the ball 21 times with 10 blocks.
Sophomore Year:
This became his blossoming year. The Buckeyes as a team would get better – 16-11 overall (9-9 in the Big 10).
The addition of Herb Williams to the Buckeyes lineup increased the improvement and suddenly overshadowed Kelvin. He would still lead the team in scoring with an average of 17.6 per game, 138 assists, 53 steals. He would be named the team’s MVP while being named All-Big 10.
Junior Year:
The Buckeyes suddenly added Todd Penn to their lineup which included Williams, and Kelvin. They would finish 19-12. They would slip in the latter part of the year and end at 4th in the Conference.
Kelvin would average 21.4 points for this season. He would have a career high 54 steals. His percentage for shooting from the field hit 55% while nailing 664 points – leading the Buckeyes for a third year in a row.
Ransey would be named third team UPI All American his Junior year.
Senior Year:
Returning as co-captain for the 1979-80 season — this time with Williams sharing the honors — Ransey found himself on a more balanced team. Freshmen Clark Kellogg now joined the team.
The Buckeyes won 12 games out of the first 13 for the year. They would end up with a 21-8 mark. It would be Eldon Miller’s first 20 game win season.
He would be second on the team in scoring behind Williams at 16.2 points per game. But his 177 assists would be a then single season school record at the time. He would be listed as a 2nd team AP All-American.
Legacy:
Ransey started 111 games out of 112 for the Buckeyes. He is still the highest-scoring point guard in Ohio State history and was the highest-scoring guard of any kind until William Buford passed him recently. He ranks fifth on Ohio State’s all-time scoring list, with 1,934 points, behind Dennis Hopson, Williams, Jerry Lucas, and Buford. His career scoring average of 17.8 is 12th in school history. He stands behind only Williams in career field goals made, with 827, nailing 282 of those his junior year — the third most in one year by a Buckeye. He is third in career assists (516), passed by only Jamar Butler and Aaron Craft in the 33 years since he left walking the Oval. Kelvin also led the Buckeyes in scoring three times (1976-77 through 1978-79), and in steals and assists three times as well (1977-78 through 1979-80).
Ransey’s unselfishness is evident in a statement he made to the Toledo Blade in a 2005 interview: “Eldon Miller did a great job of recruiting and he was a tremendous teacher of the game. It was like going from being nobody to, by my senior year, ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation.”
I am a complete fan of Kelvin Ransey. After he left Columbus and headed for the NBA I recall a void. Kelvin was exciting to witness. He was a man that knew how to play the game of basketball.
Current Life:
Today Kelvin Ransey serves a greater purpose. He currently serves as a pastor over a congregation in Tupelo, Mississippi, not far from where his parents grew up.
He serves so much more than he can imagine. In his duties of kindness of assisting folks of getting clean and sober, as well as serving as a true positive influence in his community he also serves as a Great Buckeye in the minds of fellow Buckeyes that remember.
Kelvin Ransey is the only first choice for Making the List for a basketball player at The Ohio State University that I could imagine. I simply could not go in any other direction.
The post Making The List: Kelvin Ransey is No Longer Underrated appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
jcollingsworth via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
With the regular season over for football and basketball now beginning the birth of their season I feel it is appropriate to take a bit of a break from football and jump right into basketball.
There have been a ton of names that I have yet to address in football, many names I am certain you felt should have been mentioned. I am certain we are on the same page, unquestionably, I will get to them. There are so many deserving names yet to Make the List – which will.
The first names to surface for basketball was Coach Fred Taylor. The second was Phyllis Bailey. Both had to be the first two. As Woody Hayes was the first for football – the teacher always is due first recognition before the student.
Now for the first player to Make the List.
When I think of a Buckeye Basketball star the first name that comes to my mind is Kelvin Ransey. Back on July 22nd of this year I wrote a piece entitled Kelvin Ransey’s Overdue Tribute. It was a heartfelt piece as I feel of all the names that have played for the Scarlet & Gray over the years on the court at St. John’s and now Value City Arena Kelvin was slighted the most in recognition of his amazing accomplishments.
Kelvin owned St. John’s Arena from 1976 – 80.
Freshman Year:
Ransey was only 6’1” and weighed less than 190 lbs. in a big man’s game. Under first year coach Eldon Miller he would excel on a bad OSU team. The Buckeyes would finish this year 9-18 (4-14 in Big 10 play) and would experience a 9-game losing streak. Kelvin though pulled his weight – averaging 13. 1 points, 3.4 rebounds (remember he was but 6’1”). He would set a then freshmen record of 327 points. At the free-throw line he’d hit 78% of the time. Kelvin dished 69 assists against 51 turnovers while stealing the ball 21 times with 10 blocks.
Sophomore Year:
This became his blossoming year. The Buckeyes as a team would get better – 16-11 overall (9-9 in the Big 10).
The addition of Herb Williams to the Buckeyes lineup increased the improvement and suddenly overshadowed Kelvin. He would still lead the team in scoring with an average of 17.6 per game, 138 assists, 53 steals. He would be named the team’s MVP while being named All-Big 10.
Junior Year:
The Buckeyes suddenly added Todd Penn to their lineup which included Williams, and Kelvin. They would finish 19-12. They would slip in the latter part of the year and end at 4th in the Conference.
Kelvin would average 21.4 points for this season. He would have a career high 54 steals. His percentage for shooting from the field hit 55% while nailing 664 points – leading the Buckeyes for a third year in a row.
Ransey would be named third team UPI All American his Junior year.
Senior Year:
Returning as co-captain for the 1979-80 season — this time with Williams sharing the honors — Ransey found himself on a more balanced team. Freshmen Clark Kellogg now joined the team.
The Buckeyes won 12 games out of the first 13 for the year. They would end up with a 21-8 mark. It would be Eldon Miller’s first 20 game win season.
He would be second on the team in scoring behind Williams at 16.2 points per game. But his 177 assists would be a then single season school record at the time. He would be listed as a 2nd team AP All-American.
Legacy:
Ransey started 111 games out of 112 for the Buckeyes. He is still the highest-scoring point guard in Ohio State history and was the highest-scoring guard of any kind until William Buford passed him recently. He ranks fifth on Ohio State’s all-time scoring list, with 1,934 points, behind Dennis Hopson, Williams, Jerry Lucas, and Buford. His career scoring average of 17.8 is 12th in school history. He stands behind only Williams in career field goals made, with 827, nailing 282 of those his junior year — the third most in one year by a Buckeye. He is third in career assists (516), passed by only Jamar Butler and Aaron Craft in the 33 years since he left walking the Oval. Kelvin also led the Buckeyes in scoring three times (1976-77 through 1978-79), and in steals and assists three times as well (1977-78 through 1979-80).
Ransey’s unselfishness is evident in a statement he made to the Toledo Blade in a 2005 interview: “Eldon Miller did a great job of recruiting and he was a tremendous teacher of the game. It was like going from being nobody to, by my senior year, ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation.”
I am a complete fan of Kelvin Ransey. After he left Columbus and headed for the NBA I recall a void. Kelvin was exciting to witness. He was a man that knew how to play the game of basketball.
Current Life:
Today Kelvin Ransey serves a greater purpose. He currently serves as a pastor over a congregation in Tupelo, Mississippi, not far from where his parents grew up.
He serves so much more than he can imagine. In his duties of kindness of assisting folks of getting clean and sober, as well as serving as a true positive influence in his community he also serves as a Great Buckeye in the minds of fellow Buckeyes that remember.
Kelvin Ransey is the only first choice for Making the List for a basketball player at The Ohio State University that I could imagine. I simply could not go in any other direction.
The post Making The List: Kelvin Ransey is No Longer Underrated appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...