March 24, 2009

The Shaq of the MAC!

In my line of work, I do run across the occasional "celebrity" who has gotten himself into a little bit of trouble with the law here in Columbus. Typically, these run-ins are limited to current and former Buckeyes, but you never know who may find himself in lockup down at the county jail.

Today's special guest prisoner of the State of Ohio was Mr. Gary Trent, aka "The Shaq of the Mac." I felt a duty to give a little tribute to Gary Trent since I had the pleasure of watching him plead not guilty to an assault charge this morning. Not one of his better days I would imagine.

I vividly remember Gary Trent during his days at Ohio University, but I don't remember him being a lottery pick coming out of college. How many MAC players have been drafted in the NBA lottery in the last 25 years?? This is the list I can think of for now.

Gary Trent - Ohio University
Antonio Daniels - Bowling Green
Wally Szcerzerbiak - Miami
Ron Harper - Miami.
Bonzi Wells - Ball State
Chris Kaman - Central Michigan

There have to be one or two others out there, but I can't think of anyone else. Someone chime in if there any others that I'm missing. I don't want to sell the MAC short.

At some point, I'd love to break down that legendary Shawn Respert for Gary Trent trade on draft day. Wonder if both teams were as satisfied as the rest of America with the franchise-altering effects of that trade. Not a bad draft class in 1995 with Mr. Gary Trent: Kevin Garnett, Rasheed Wallace, Jerry Stackhouse, Antonio McDyess, Joe Smith, Michael Finley, Theo Ratliff. Some other fun names: Bob Sura, Big Country Bryant Reeves (wonder if he is bummed out that Gary Wilkinson tried to steal his mojo), Randolph Childress, Junior Burrough, Lou Roe, Cuonzo Martin, Andrew DeClercq, Alan Henderson, and "The Mayor" Fred Hoiberg.

Keep up the great work, Gary.

6 comments:

Matt said...

Great names. Andrew Declerq. Tremendous. I had a computer NCAA basketball game that I used to play back in the day, and the inside-outside combo at UVA of Harold Deane and Junior Burrough took me all the way to the Final 4.

And the mention of Randpolph Childress can't go without talk of his 1995 ACC Tournament- 35.7 ppg and 7 apg - with the game winning shot against Carolina. THE best individual performance in a conference tournament ever. And probably always will be.

Jimmy said...

Great stuff counselor. A few more MAC gems for you - Earl Boykins and the incomparable Thunder Dan Majerle. And who knew the MAC produced not one, but two NBA Hall of Famers: George "The Iceman" Gervin and Nate Thurmond.

Also, love the fro Kobe's rocking in that Gary Trent picture. I forgot how much he grew it out.

Anonymous said...

The MAC needs more big names, it was better 10 years ago

mikey D said...

Yeah, in response to Dougs comments about Ohio University Gary Trent, the shaq of the mac. I am from columbus and reports are he attacked a female who is a volleyball coach at OSU. NOt a good statistic to have behind your name I'd say

phil said...

Maybe that should rename him Smack of the Mac, not cool to attack a female or anyone

green-n-gold said...

I'm die hard Notre dame sports only but saw the heading of Shaq of the Mac and took interest since my brothr-in-law coaches for the bobcats. I asked him about these claims and looks to be true since he knew the girl connected with bobcats athletic program that is known to be trents girlfrind,