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2010 Circle of Champion Members:
Tony Trabert
Al Oliver
Jesse Owens
Howard "Hopalong" Cassady
Jerry Lucas
Tony Trabert was born in Cincinnati and was a tennis
standout at Walnut Hills High School. He became the first player in
OHSAA history to win three straight state singles titles, taking the
crowns between 1946 and 1948. He also played guard and was
co-captain of the basketbal l
team, helping the Eagles win a district championship.
Trabert went on to
the University of Cincinnati, where he won the NCAA singles title
and the U.S. Clay Court Championships and also played on the
Bearcats� 1950-51 basketball team.
Trabert was the
world�s top-ranked amateur in 1953 and 1955. During that 1955
season, he won 18 tournaments, including three of the four Grand
Slam singles events, the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
His record that year was 106 wins and seven losses. His career saw
him win five Grand Slam singles and five Grand Slam doubles titles,
and he also was a member of the U.S. Davis Cup Team from 1951 to
1955, helping the 1954 team win the title, and he was that team�s
captain between 1976 and 1980.
Among his many
honors, Trabert was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of
Fame in 1970, and he has served as the Hall of Fame�s president
since 2001. Following his playing career and a two-year stint in the
U.S. Navy, Trabert worked as a teaching pro, motivational speaker
and television commentator, where he was known for 30 years on CBS
as �the voice of the U.S. Open.� He currently resides in Ponte Vedra,
Florida, with his wife, Vicki, and has two children and three
step-children.
 Al
Oliver was born in Portsmouth where he was a standout in
baseball and basketball for Portsmouth High School. Oliver went on
to an outstanding career in Major League Baseball, playing 18 years
with seven different teams. From 1970 to 1976, he played on five
Pirates division championship teams and was on the 1971 team that
defeated Baltimore in the World Series.
In his 18
professional seasons, he had a career batting average of .303 with
2,743 hits, 219 home runs and 1,326 RBIs. He batted over .300 eleven
times and was selected to seven All-Star Games. Oliver currently
lives with his wife, Patricia, in Portsmouth, where he heads the Al
Oliver Foundation and is a public and motivational speaker.
The late
Jesse Cleveland Owens won nine OHSAA state
track and field tournament events � including four as both a junior
and senior � and set seven state records while competing for
Cleveland East Tech High School. At the national interscholastic
meet in Chicago during his senior year, he set a world record, tied
a world record and set a national high school mark.
Owens then enrolled
at Ohio State where he performed one of the greatest feats in
athletic history. Uncertain that he would even participate after
recently falling down a flight of steps, Jesse set world records in
the 220, 220 low hurdles and the long jump and tied the world mark
in the 100, all in a span of about 45 minutes.
In 1936, he
qualified for the Olympic Games, which were held in Nazi Germany
amidst the belief by Adolf Hitler that the Games would support his
belief that the German �Aryan� people were the dominant race. Owens
became the first American track & field athlete to win four gold
medals in a single Olympiad.
Before passing away
on March 31, 1980, he worked with youths in Cleveland and Chicago
and spoke at various worldwide functions, where he affirmed that
individual excellence, rather than race, economic background or
national origin, distinguishes one man from another.
Owens� spirit lives
in his three daughters, Gloria, Beverly and Marlene, and their work
with the Jesse Owens Foundation based on Chicago. Representing Owens
is his daughter, Marlene Owens Rankin, who will be joined by
her husband, Stuart Rankin.
Howard �Hopalong� Cassady was born in
Columbus, where he was a standout athlete at Central High School in
both football and baseball.
 He
attended The Ohio State University between 1952 and 1955 and became
a standout football player on both offense and defense. During his
career, he scored 37 touchdowns in 36 games and a pass was never
completed on him from his position in the secondary. He was
All-American in both 1954 and 1955, helped the Buckeyes win the
National Championship in 1954, and he won the Heisman Trophy, the
Maxwell Award and was named the Associated Press Athlete-of-the-Year
in 1955 when he rushed for 964 yards and 15 TDs. Cassady also played
baseball for the Buckeyes, leading the team in home runs in 1955 and
stolen bases in 1956
Cassady went on to
play nine seasons in the NFL, seven with the Lions and one each for
the Browns and Eagles. After retiring from football, he owned a
company and worked in manufacturing, then became a scout for the New
York Yankees and served as a longtime first base coach for the Class
AAA Columbus Clippers. He still helps the Yankees during spring
training.
Cassady now resides
in South Tampa with his wife Barbara. They have three children and
four grandchildren.
Jerry Lucas graduated from Middletown High School, where he
was an All-American, National and Ohio player-of-the-year and led
the Middies to two state championships and a state-record 76-game
winning streak between 1956 and 1958. His 2,460 career points rank
10th in Ohio history, and he holds the state tournament record of 53
points set in a state semifinal.
Following high
school, he played for Coach Fred Taylor at Ohio State, and in three
years led the Buckeyes to a 78-6 record; the school's only National
Championship 40 years ago in 1960; two national runner-up finishes,
and three Big Ten championships. He was a three-time All-American;
two-time National Player-of-the-Year, and three-time Big Ten
Player-of-the-Year while scoring 1,990 points and grabbing a
school-record 1,411 rebounds.
Lucas played 11
years in the NBA with the Royals, Warriors and Knicks. He was a
seven-time All-Pro; was the NBA Rookie-of-the-Year and MVP of the
All-Star Game; averaged 17 points for his career, and his 15.6
career rebounding average is still fourth best in league history.
Jerry was on the 1973 Knicks' World Championship team and was
selected as one of the NBA�s top 50 players of all time.
Lucas was also a
member of the 1960 U.S. Basketball Team that won the Olympic Gold
Medal; was the first basketball player to have his jersey retired
here at Ohio State, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame.
A Phi Beta Kappa
graduate of Ohio State, Lucas is a memory expert and inspirational
speaker and currently resides in California.
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