Larry Hunter heard the commotion and looked on the ground. He discovered this wouldn't be an ordinary Ohio walk-through anymore.
Hunter watched Geno and Dustin Ford turn his seemingly harmless pregame routine into a slugfest.
It was hilarious
said Hunter, who was the Ohio coach as this incident unfolded 11 years ago. That was the competitive nature of both of them.
Neither brother was laughing.
Dustin, a redshirt freshman, was playing point guard for the scout team, and Geno, a senior, was guarding him closely - too closely. That's when tempers flared.
There were no soft punches being thrown Hunter said. They were just lambasting each other.
The two brothers will figuratively come to blows on Sunday when Geno returns to The Convo as Kent State's coach to face Dustin, who is an assistant coach for Ohio.
Dustin said he cares less about any sibling rivalry and more about his team defeating the Golden Flashes, the defending Mid-American Conference champions.
There is nothing more that I'm going to enjoy than to have an opportunity to coach against a team he's coaching Dustin said.
For Geno, this is not just a family reunion. It's a college one. He played at Ohio from 1993-1997. The Ohio Mr. Basketball selection in 1993, Ford chose Ohio because of his connection with Hunter, the former Bobcat coach who is now coaching at Western Carolina.
At Ohio, Geno was the team's starting point guard for four years and finished with 1,752 points, good for fourth in team history. He also led the team to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1994.
When Geno was a senior, Dustin joined the team as a redshirt freshman. He became the point guard for four years after Geno graduated.
Although he wasn't the scorer Geno was, Dustin was just as competitive and a leader.
I had eight years of Fords starting at point guard for Ohio
Hunter said. Both were an extension of the coach on the floor.
The Fords had that instinct bred into them by their father, Gene, who coached the boys at Cambridge High School. Gene now coaches at Muskingum College.
Like their father, both boys joined the coaching ranks following graduation.
Geno started as a graduate assistant with the Bobcats. After a stint as a head coach at Shawnee State, Geno went to Kent State for three years as an assistant until 2005. After two years as the Muskingum coach, he returned to Kent State, where he is in his first year as the team's head coach.
Dustin coached at nearby Jackson High School for four years after graduation. He then became an assistant under Hunter at Western Carolina before returning to Ohio to join Groce's staff.
Hunter always knew coaching was in the brothers' blood.
They were a half a step or step ahead of everything that we were doing
Hunter said. They are terrific coaches.
Their primary coaching influence, Gene, will be in attendance.
It's not something I'm going to have anxiety about
Gene said of Sunday's game. I'll probably sit up there and laugh. Just watch the game and have a good time.
Dustin certainly hopes he's the one laughing at the end of the game.
I'm sure they'll be wanting a tie
Ford said of his family. But I don't want a tie - I want a win.
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Sports
Steve Gartner
