Alum takes Bobcats back to Big Dance
OU coach Boals hopes for ‘a memory for a lifetime’
The turning point of Jeff Boals’ brief tenure as Ohio University’s men’s basketball coach might have come, of all places, at a Dairy Queen.
Boals took over at his alma mater in 2019 and already has accomplished something as coach that he did as an OU player by earning a trip to the NCAA tournament. Ohio, a No. 13 seed, will play No. 4 seed Virginia at 7:15 p.m. Saturday at Indiana University’s Assembly Hall.
The path hasn’t always been smooth for Ohio, which had to overcome several injuries and Covid-forced cancellations.
But the foundation was set last year. A promising 8-4 start dissolved after a four-game losing streak left the Bobcats with a 10-12 record. Boals wanted to do something to lift his team’s spirits, so after a defeat at Ball State, off to Dairy Queen they went.
“I just wanted to take some pressure off of them,” said Boals, who spent seven years as an Ohio State assistant under Thad Matta. “I figured ice cream makes everybody happy, so we got some Blizzards. From that point on, guys held each other accountable. It wasn’t the ice cream.”
With a laugh, he added, “Maybe it was. But we went on a run and we got
better.”
Ohio won six of its final nine regularseason games and felt good about its chances entering the Mid-american Conference tournament. The Bobcats were warming up on the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse court when the tournament was canceled because of the pandemic.
Boals was sitting in the exact location in the locker room last week, after the Bobcats won the MAC tournament, when it hit him how much had transpired
in the past year.
“Just to navigate this pandemic and everything that goes into it as a coach, to see our guys win a championship, it’s just kind of a surreal feeling,” he said.
Heading into the MAC tournament, the Bobcats had played only three games after Feb. 2. Seeded fifth, Ohio won all three tournament games convincingly.
“We’re a very tight-knit group,” said sophomore forward Ben Roderick, an Olentangy Liberty grad. “I think it shows on the court. We’re communicating on defense, and we know how to play really well together. During the MAC championship, I think it really showed on the court how explosive we can be.”
Their matchup against Virginia will be one of contrasting styles. The Cavaliers are renowned for their deliberate offense and stingy defense.
“We’re really going to have to value each and every possession,” Roderick said.
Virginia won the 2019 national title, so in a sense, the Bobcats have a chance to knock out the defending champion. This is Ohio’s first NCAA appearance since the Bobcats advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in 2012.
With a budding star in junior point guard Jason Preston and a strong supporting cast, Ohio believes it can make a similar run.
Boals was a role player on the 1995 Ohio team led by Gary Trent that lost to Indiana in a first-round NCAA game. He returned to Athens with the goal of getting the Bobcats back to the tournament. In only his second year, he has.
“As an alum, as a guy who played in the program with a chance to lead that program, I wanted our guys to experience the same feelings that I had, the same memories that I had,” Boals said.
“Cutting down the nets, winning the (MAC) championship, going into the (NCAA) tournament, it’s a memory for a lifetime.” brabinowitz@dispatch.com @brdispatch