Ron Stokes is retired from dunking but going strong as Ohio State basketball icon

One way to appreciate Ron Stokes as "The Rock" of high-profile Ohio basketball is a selective review of the last 25 years.

In that time ...

The Cleveland Cavaliers have had 13 head coaches, Mike Fratello, Randy Wittman, John Lucas, Keith Smart, Paul Silas, Brendan Malone, Mike Brown, Byron Scott, David Blatt, Tyronn Lue, Larry Drew, John Beilein and J.B. Bickerstaff.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have been much more stable, employing three head coaches, Jim O'Brien, Thad Matta and now Chris Holtmann.

Then there is Stokes. Ohio State has had one radio network "expert analyst" in the last 25 years - him.

As a belated silver-anniversary nod to Stokes, we caught up with him for a recent interview, intending to re-introduce the man behind the voice.

We began with Stokes, now 59, picking up a basketball when he was 5.

"I think the name of the place in Canton was Highland Park," he said. "There was a basketball court at the top of the hill. I couldn't get on the court because I was too little. I would have to wait until the guys were done playing later in the day. I would go out there and dribble."

He was deeply in love with hoops by the time he was in the early elementary grades at Allen School. There he met Lavita Wheeler, who would move away, move back, and eventually marry him.

Ronnie became a tremendous all-around guard whose height topped out at 5-foot-11.

He was maybe 5-9 when he played for Hartford Junior High, where he began to play above the rim.

"The leaping ability was God given," he said. "I couldn't dunk with a basketball, but I was dunking with a tennis ball. I got high enough one day where I said I'm gonna try this.

"One time I got a little tip dunk. It wasn't a real hard dunk, but I considered it a dunk. I remember it was fun."

Stokes started for Canton McKinley as a high school sophomore, when the Bulldogs won a district title but fell to Akron Central-Hower in regional play. In that year's state finals, Clark Kellogg scored 51 points, but his Cleveland St. Joseph team fell to Columbus East and its 6-foot-11 center, Granville Waiters.

By Stokes' junior year at McKinley, everyone knew of the Bulldog backcourt tandem, Stokes and Troy Taylor. In the district finals, McKinley won an epic five-overtime game over Canton South.

As seniors, Stokes and Taylor led McKinley to an unbeaten regular season.

"We weren't very big," Stokes said. "Troy and I were 5-10, 5-11. Jeff Shelton played small forward at about 6-1. Greg Todd was about 6-1 at strong forward. Jim Johnson I think was 6-4. Rick Worstell played off the bench.

"We had a lot of fun. Ken Newlon was our coach. We assembled some pretty decent players. We only lost one our senior year. Unfortunately it was in the regional finals (to Wadsworth).

"We had a lot of fun playing, a lot of camaraderie, a lot of victories. I'll never forget those days."

Stokes and Taylor were linked throughout their Bulldog run, and that held true at Ohio State.

They were freshman in the rotation on the 1981-82 team that went 21-10, with Kellogg and Larry Huggins as captains. Their roles increased as sophomores in 1982-83, when the team went 20-10 and was captained by Huggins and Waiters.

Stokes and Tony Campbell were captains on a 15-14 team in 1983-84. Stokes, Taylor, Joe Concheck and Dave Jones all were captains on a 1984-85 team that went 20-10. Future NBA players Brad Sellers and Dennis Hopson were other key men.

One of Stokes' favorite memories is his final home, against Michigan State. Taylor read his old friend and threw a lob. Stokes caught it and dunked it. The crowd blew the roof off St. John Arena.

A 75-65 NCAA tournament win over Iowa State was a last hurrah. Stokes and Taylor combined to score 38 points on 15-of-22 floor shooting. The Buckeyes fell in the next game to a Louisiana Tech team led by Karl Malone.

Both Stokes and Taylor rank in Ohio State's career top 10 in assists (Taylor leads Stokes 421-419) and steals (Stokes leads Taylor 158-155). Taylor leads 1,485-1,237 in points. Both played 120 games.

Their bond remains in that both are part of Canton Outside of Canton, an outreach group mostly of former star Canton athletes that operates charitable projects.

Ohio State basketball:Former McKinley, Ohio State stars from Canton return to 'give back,' honor deceased friend

"One special thing about sports is it's more than playing a game," Stokes said. "You develop some pretty intimate relationships.

"I've always said adversity tells you who you really are. When you lose some games you kind of bond together. A lot of the relationships, you keep over the years. There are still teammates I stay in contact with from my Hartford and Canton McKinley days and of course my Ohio State days."

Ron and Lavita, the former Canton grade-school acquaintances, married and began a family. It grew to include four children, now all grown and working in family businesses operated by their parents.

One of the kids, Amber, played on the women's team at Ohio State and was Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2012.

Ronnie Stokes could still dunk at age 43. He was still hitting the court at 49.

"I was playing pick-up with my son at one of his AAU practices," Stokes said. "I ruptured my Achilles tendon. That was the last time I played basketball. I didn't want to go on anyone's operating table any more after that.

"I still pride myself in staying in shape. I can still do under 8:30 a mile on the treadmill. Back in the day, it was better than that."

Back in the day, Ohio State's roster was full of Ohio high school players.

On the 1985 NCAA qualifier, the top six scorers were Stokes and Taylor, from Canton; Joe Concheck, from Northwest High School in Stark County; Brad Sellers, from the Cleveland area; Dennis Hopson, from Toledo, and David Jones, from Jewett-Scio.

The top Buckeye scorers from the early part of the 2022-23 season were Brice Sensibaugh, from Florida; Zed Key, from New Jersey; Justice Sueing, from Hawaii; Sean McNeil, from Kentucky; Bruce Thornton, from Georgia, and Roddy Gayle, from Utah.

No one has had a closer long-term view of Ohio State's recruiting landscape than Stokes.

"If you want to compete at the highest level, against the Dukes, the North Carolinas, the Kansases, the Kentuckys, you have to have great talent," he said. "That's not to say you can't win with four-star players, or three-star, or what not, but if you want to compete, regardless of how great you are as a coach, you need guys that can make plays.

"Statistically, it has been found the teams that make it to the final four have two and a half guys who go on to play in the NBA. That in itself tells you something.

"If the talent in Ohio is not four-star or five-star, and if you're the head coach, you have no choice but to go beyond Ohio, a la the team today. Coach Holtmann went and got the player of the year from Georgia and the player of the year from Florida.

"So I'm OK with the coach going out and getting players outside of Ohio as long as they are four- or five-star. Otherwise, you should always get the best players from Ohio if you are Ohio State. You have all the resources. It's the biggest school, and it's a great place to play, with a fantastic history.

"Look at when Thad Matta was here. Thad got almost every single top player from Ohio. And that's because Ohio was rich in tradition.

"B.J. Mullens, Kosta Koufos, Jared Sullinger, William Buford, David Lighty, Jon Diebler. I could go on and on.

"I don't want to dismiss someone who goes to a mid-major, because it takes a lot of talent to go there, too, but if the talent isn't four- or five-star, you can't blame the coach for going outside of Ohio to get it."

Stokes played during the part of the history that unfolded in a landmark, St. John Arena, which opened in 1956. His first season as Buckeyes radio analyst was the program's last in St. John. Value City Arena at Schottenstein Center opened for the 1998-99 season.

"The Schottenstein Center (capacity about 19,000) is used for basketball, for hockey, for concert shows and for other things," Stokes said. "When you're trying to create a holistic arena for all of those types of events, there's give and take.

"It's a great facility. It loses some of the advantages to a place like Duke, which is just under 9,000. Rutgers is another place with an intimate type arena where the crowd is right on top of you.

"What was so special about St. John was it was a basketball arena first. The scoreboards were floor level. It seated about 13,500."

This is a hectic time of year for Stokes. He and his wife and their children work together in an established company, Three Leaf Productions, and a newer one, LARS Properties, in addition to other business interests in the Columbus metro area.

He travels with the Buckeyes. The 2022-23 team showed promise in the Maui Invitational in Hawaii, spanking Cincinnati 81-53, and splitting against two top-25 teams, San Diego State and Texas Tech. They came out of an 81-72 loss at Duke ranked No. 25. They were ranked 23rd before a tough overtime loss to preseason No. 1 North Carolina at Madison Square Garden the week before Christmas.

Ohio State resumes Big Ten play Sunday night at Northwestern.

All things considered, how is life for one of Canton's favorite sons?

"Life is a dream," Stokes said. "I met my wife in Canton, and as we were dating we talked about one day having a family and a great life. She and I have four great children. We have businesses where our kids are involved.

"I get a chance to see them every day. I talk to them every day. I couldn't have drawn it up any better.

"I grew up in Canton. It was only two hours to Columbus. I was able to raise my family here and grow it. I'm still able to get back and see my mom and give back to my beloved hometown.

"I have a career in broadcasting and have a number of successful business. It's been a dream come true. I feel I'm truly blessed."

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Ron Stokes talks Ohio State basketball, growing up in Canton