With a slight smirk and strong frame, shooting guard Jordan Dartis dribbles down the court. The Bobcats are playing one of their daily intersquad scrimmages. Nothing new.
Rodney Culver — with a more slender, muscular frame — waits for Dartis at the top of the key.
Dartis, now in his second year with the Bobcats, performs a crossover and begins to drive against his freshman counterpart. Culver reacts accordingly, disrupting Dartis’ smooth dribble with timely defensive pressure.
“Get ‘em Rod!” spectators boom from the sideline.
It’s Dartis v. Culver. Maybe for the … fifth? Sixth? Fifteenth time?
Culver and Dartis know each other well. They played against one another in high school. Dartis went to Newark High. Culver went to Pickerington High School, which is just 40 minutes down OH-15 E.
They both smiled when asked about the other.
“I went against Rodney during my four years of high school, man,” Dartis said. “Head-to-head. Same conference and everything. He’s a great defensive player, man.”
Who knows how many times Dartis has driven the key against Culver, and vice versa.
Only they know. Or, maybe, there’s been too many times to count.
“I didn’t meet (Dartis) until my first year of high school, but I knew who he was in seventh grade. We played against each other in the middle school championship,” Culver said. “We go way back.”
Their high school battles didn’t last forever, though.
Dartis came to Athens in fall of 2015 while Culver, a year younger, moved 1,000 miles away to Florida to play at the Elev8 Sports Institute.
While Rodney adapted to life away from home and away from his father, Rodney Sr., who pushed him to be physical on the defensive end, Dartis had an almost immediate impact on the Bobcats as a freshman. Dartis has quickly etched his name in Ohio's shooting record book.
Culver, from afar, knew there was a role for him on the Bobcats' roster.
“I like it. In high school, I was cool with (Culver), I was always cool with him. We both have a lot of respect for each other,” Dartis said, recalling the first time he heard Culver was coming to Athens. “I see him coming to Ohio, it’s just like we’re the winning team. So welcome, man. It’s a blessing.”
The two’s paths cross again in Athens — but for different reasons, though.
Coach Saul Phillips brought in Dartis to be an offensive juggernaut. It worked.
Dartis earned Mid-American Conference all-freshman honors last year, thanks to his 48 percent three-point shooting and 10 points per game.
Phillips recruited Culver to be a shutdown defensive wing.
“On the court, Rodney is a long, super freak athlete,” guard Jaaron Simmons said. “Defensively, he’s going to play the passing lanes."
In a closed scrimmage against Ohio State, Culver played 20-plus minutes and has frustrated Simmons routinely during practices.
Against Rio Grande on Nov. 5, Culver frustrated the RedStorm's ball handlers, forcing errant passes and tough shot selection. Ohio contested every shot but two, Phillips said.
Phillips said Culver has done about as good of a job guarding Simmons, and Dartis, as anyone in this program ever has.
"You try to put strength on strength in the preseason as much as you can, knowing in the regular season you don’t have enough minutes to do that, and I think it’s been terrific for Jaaron’s development to have Rodney there and I certainly know Rodney has gotten better because of Jaaron,” Phillips said.
That trifecta — Dartis, Culver and Simmons — could propel Ohio to new heights in 2016.
The Bobcats are projected in some polls to win the MAC. Part of it comes from Simmons’ leadership. Part of the hype stems from Dartis and Culver’s potential.
“Dartis is a great player, so competing against him everyday in practice, and Jaaron (Simmons), helps me,” Culver said.
Although Dartis represents offense and Culver defense, they are similar. They are confident in their roles. They fit in Ohio’s personality like pumpkin pie at a Thanksgiving dinner table.
Culver v. Dartis (again) has been a welcoming sight for Ohio’s locker room.
“He’s a sweet kid,” Phillips said of Culver. “Until he defends you.”
