Gary Trent’s No. 20 jersey was a staple on the hardwood of The Convo from 1992 to 1995. But starting Saturday, that jersey will be a permanent part of the historic venue.
Trent will return to the arena for what Ohio Athletics is billing as the biggest home game since his departure. His jersey will be hung in the rafters of The Convo at halftime of Ohio’s game against Miami.
Only the fourth Bobcat player to be honored in this manner, Trent is third all-time on the team’s career scoring list and is the only three-time Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. His dominant performance led to his nickname, the “Shaq of the MAC.”
Trent said the honor is the culmination of years of dedication to his craft.
“It means that I have accomplished a lot, and a lot of the hard work I put in is finally paying off,” he said. “It is a beautiful thing that OU is honoring me like this. I’m lost for words rarely in life, and this is one of the situations where I can’t come up with the words to describe how I feel about this.”
He added that he never pictured his jersey being honored, which could not happen until he finished his degree and graduated from the University of Phoenix in 2010.
“I was never under any pressure for this to happen. I never pressured or felt like I was trying to pressure OU,” he said. “It is a situation that came out of the blue.”
Trent said he makes regular visits to his old stomping grounds, traveling to Athens six times in the last three years.
In his most recent visit, he attended the football team’s 44-7 victory against Marshall on Sept. 17 and a basketball reunion at coach John Groce’s home that same weekend.
Ohio will face another rival Saturday when Miami visits The Convo. Despite all of Trent’s accomplishments, he never defeated the RedHawks at The Convo. But he recalled a particular moment against Miami from his sophomore season.
“We beat Miami in the (MAC) Tournament to advance to the NCAA,” Trent said. “At that point in time, it was still a situation in the MAC where in order to get to the NCAA you had to win the MAC Tournament no matter what you did during the conference (games).”
Miami head coach Charlie Coles was a first-year assistant during Trent’s third and final year in Athens. He complimented Ohio Athletics’ decision to honor Trent.
“I think that’s a marvelous thing you’re doing,” he said. “It’s a great, great day for Ohio University, because I buy into Gary Trent.”
Among Trent’s many on-court distinctions, Coles said his 6-foot-8 frame stood out the most.
“I always knew he was big, but for the first time down there I thought, ‘Oh my God, I hope this guy don’t get mad at me,’ ” Coles said. “He was a specimen, and you don’t see that type of guy very much in our league.”
Larry Hunter recruited and coached Trent during his time with the Bobcats. Hunter’s squad won MAC regular-season and tournament titles, as well as a preseason NIT championship, during Trent’s time with the team.
“I hate to use the word ‘intimidating,’ but he was,” Hunter said. “He was really the force for our opponents to have to deal with. I certainly think he ranks as one of the all-time elite players and athletes that ever played at Ohio University and in the Mid-American Conference.”
Coles also named Trent among the conference’s elite basketball players.
“Ron Harper, Gary Trent, Wally Szczerbiak, Chris Kaman. Guys like that do a lot for our league, the fact that they choose one of our schools,” Coles said.
Now Trent’s jersey will join the ranks of the Bobcat greats who came before him: Frank Baumholtz, Dave Jamerson, Walter Luckett and Jim Snyder.
The other four honorees are also honored in the Kermit Blosser Hall of Fame, and Trent appears to be headed in that direction as well.
“He is eligible for the hall of fame because one of the criteria is having a degree,” Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Tom Symonds said in a statement. “However, it is a different process.”
Trent will have a chance to finally see the Bobcats beat Miami at home Saturday. And with his jersey making its final and permanent ascension to the rafters, perhaps there will be many more wins against the RedHawks in the years to come.
nr225008@ohiou.edu
