The Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team has made it to the 2007 Final Four to take place in Atlanta this coming weekend.
I hope they make it to the final and they win it all. The best match up would be Florida vs Ohio State but they have to take care of Georgetown first.
Some sports reports have said this is the first final four for OSU since 1999 – which is technically correct. However, recruiting violations by the former coach caused the NCAA to force Ohio State to vacate that records related to that appearance so in essence that appearance doesn’t exist. (see: Ohio State University and Former Men’s Basketball Coaches Penalized for Infractions)
The last official final four for Ohio State was 1968. The starting 5 on that team were Bill Hosket, Steve Howell, Dave Sorenson, Jody Finney, and Denny Meadors.
Hosket has been involved in broadcasting Buckeye games and is still well known to OSU fans from that era and today.
Dave Sorenson is a name I know well. He attended Findlay High School before going to Ohio State. He was twice named first team All-Buckeye Conference, was Ohio Player of the Year 1965-66, and was named Buckeye Conference MVP. He remains among FHS’ all-time leaders in career, season and game scoring.
At Ohio State he ended his collegiate career (1966-1970) 2nd in scoring (8th all-time) and rebounds (7th all-time) behind the great Jerry Lucas. Sorenson also scored the winning basket that beat Kentucky in the 1968 Southeast Regional Final and was named that region’s Most Outstanding Performer.
Sorenson was drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers and played for them until 1972 before joining the Philadelphia 76ers for a season. He also played in Europe before returning to Ohio.
Sorenson died from cancer in 2002 at the age of 54.
So as a tribute to Dave and Ohio State and their visits to the NCAA Final Four, I added Dave to my Famous Findlayians page.
Thanks to Kathy for reminding me about Dave