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OSU HISTORY
LUMPKIN TOOK ON INDIANA IN TWO SPORTS
Saturday, October 3, 2009
By BY ROB OLLER
DOUBLE DUTY
John Lumpkin, left, scored a career-high 14 points against Indiana in basketball, and he also helped the Buckeyes beat the Hoosiers as a tight end on the football team.
MIKE MUNDEN
DISPATCH
The distance between Indiana's Memorial Stadium and Assembly Hall is a short walk for most, but John Lumpkin thinks of it a long and lovely stroll down memory lane.
It was in Memorial Stadium in 1996 that Ohio State clinched a spot in the Rose Bowl by defeating the Hoosiers 27-17 in Bloomington, Ind. Two seasons later, Lumpkin caught a touchdown pass as the Buckeyes won 38-7.
Those were the recollections of Lumpkin the former OSU tight end. Lumpkin the former OSU basketball player recalled scoring a career-high 14 points in a 1997 game against the Hoosiers in Assembly Hall.
Lumpkin is one of about a dozen Ohio State athletes to letter in football and basketball, the last being Nate Salley in 2003. Others include Rickey Dudley, Art Schlichter and Stan White Sr., who also played baseball.
Lumpkin and Dudley played together for football coach John Cooper and basketball coach Randy Ayers (Lumpkin also played one season of basketball under Jim O'Brien). They rank first and tied for second, respectively, in career touchdown receptions for tight ends with 10 and nine. They also rank seventh and 10th in career yardage for tight ends, with 757 and 681 yards on 46 catches apiece.
The Buckeyes recruited the 6-foot-8 Lumpkin to play football and basketball -- he was a top-100 prospect in both.
"There was buy-in from both Cooper and Randy Ayers. My final decision came down to between Ohio State and Purdue, but I didn't like Purdue's football," said Lumpkin, who now works for an investment company in Dayton.
Indiana was not in the picture.
"Bobby (Knight) didn't want any part of me -- until I played against him," Lumpkin said. "I had some of my best games against Indiana. After one of them Bobby gave me a compliment in the paper. It was something like, 'This guy comes out and plays only a couple months. I've got guys who play all year long and he plays like they do.' "
In a 1995 basketball game at Indiana, Lumpkin and Dudley combined for 19 points and 17 rebounds. But despite Lumpkin's personal success against the Hoosiers, he never won in a game in Bloomington, losing by 15, 17 and 17 points in three tries.
Lumpkin's favorite college memory, though, came after the football Buckeyes had defeated the Hoosiers in 1996, when OSU fans stormed the Memorial Stadium field and tore down one of the goalposts. Indiana players circled the other goalpost to protect it.
The game was one of the Buckeyes' closer calls. The score was tied 10-10 with 6:18 to play when Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer stripped the ball from quarterback Jay Rodgers, and defensive end Matt Finkes scooped it up and ran 45 yards for a touchdown.
"I remember (safety) Damon Moore took an interception back for a touchdown (to complete OSU's scoring), and fans knocked the end-zone fence down," Lumpkin said. "It was more like a home game than an away game, but it was a tough game."
The win sent Ohio State to its first Rose Bowl since 1984 and set up Lumpkin's magic moment.
"We won the Rose Bowl (against Arizona State), and I left the next morning and got to play in a game where we beat Michigan in basketball in Ann Arbor," he said. "To play two major sports in a 48-hour period, I'm not sure anyone else has done that. I'll remember it for the rest of my life."
Juggling football and basketball was no struggle for Lumpkin, who also graduated in four years.
"It was time-consuming, but I was used to it. I had been playing multiple sports since I was 5 years old," he said.
The constant training and playing, however, took its toll on his body.
"I developed a stress fracture and missed my second year of basketball because of a broken foot," Lumpkin said. "But I wouldn't trade the experience of playing both sports. It was one of the best things ever."
OSU HISTORY | The Columbus Dispatch
John Lumpkin: Ohio State?Football Player Profile, Stats, Photos and Videos
