Best Players in 9th Region History

[PP1]

I probably should know this but, did David Justice play basketball for Covington Latin?

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

27 minutes ago, PP1 said:

I probably should know this but, did David Justice play basketball for Covington Latin?

Yes he did...but he didn't play baseball. Covington Latin didn't have a baseball team yet while he was there.

Justice was the top basketball scorer in all of Greater Cincinnati as a senior (a 15 year old senior) in the 1981-82 season. He averaged 26.5 points per game and 5.5 assists. First team All-Catholic All-American as well.

And Justice did all of that while still playing on what was more than likely the worst team in the 9th region. That year they got bounced from the 34th District Tournament in the first round, losing 75-35 to Ludlow. Ludlow lost 62-59 to Dixie in the first round of the 9th Region Tournament, and Dixie lost 55-47 to Highlands in the next round. Highlands beat Conner 72-61 to win the 9th Region.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

9 hours ago, REALSPORT said:

Great list. We can't forget Roger Tieman's U of L teammate, Jack Turner from Newport HS.  They went to the final four in 1959 I believe. 

I've been helping work on the profiles for the Cov Cath Hall of Fame (you can check out the members HERE).

I did a little bit of a deep dive on Roger Tieman not too long ago for his HOF Profile:
 

Roger Tieman was a 4-year letterman in basketball, starting on the varsity squad for 3 years. In his senior year as a shooting guard and team captain, he averaged 20 points per game and shot 43% from the floor in addition to averaging 81.5% from the free throw line. Roger is a member of the Covington Catholic 1000 point club, with 1604 varsity points for the Colonels, making him the all-time points leader at Cov Cath prior to the introduction of the three-point line.

Tieman attended the University of Louisville on a basketball scholarship, playing on the Cardinals' freshman squad and scoring 200 points in his first year to win himself a spot on the varsity squad as a sophomore. 6'0" Tieman was known for his shooting in the clutch. In his sophomore year he averaged 11.2 points in 25 games and hit 63 of 75 from the free throw line for 84%, earning him UofL's free throw award at the end of the season as the team's most accurate free throw shooter. His performance in his sophomore season also garnered him special defensive attention from opponents in his junior and senior seasons. As a junior, Tieman helped carry the Cardinals to an appearance in the Final Four of the 1959 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after upsetting the #2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats 76-61 in the mideast region semifinals.

In the region semifinal game against Kentucky, the underdog Louisville team was battling back from a 15-point deficit midway through the first half. The Cardinals trailed 36-28 at halftime, and then shortly after Louisville tied the game up in the second half, Tieman stole the ball from Kentucky's Bennie Coffman and was then fouled by Coffman while rolling in a layup following his steal. The resulting three-point play put the Cardinals ahead for the first time in the game, and that week UofL's newspaper, 'The Cardinal,' made note of how Roger's play officially "turned the tide" in the upset.

Tieman was team captain the following year, as the only senior on the squad, and would finish his career at UofL in the spring of 1960 with 717 points in 80 games, and a 77.4% free throw average. After college, he joined the faculty at Covington Catholic for one year, teaching Health, Phys Ed, and Typing, and serving as an assistant varsity basketball coach, head freshman basketball coach, and head track & field coach in the 1962-63 school year.

 

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

6 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

I've been helping work on the profiles for the Cov Cath Hall of Fame (you can check out the members HERE).

I did a little bit of a deep dive on Roger Tieman not too long ago for his HOF Profile:
 

Roger Tieman was a 4-year letterman in basketball, starting on the varsity squad for 3 years. In his senior year as a shooting guard and team captain, he averaged 20 points per game and shot 43% from the floor in addition to averaging 81.5% from the free throw line. Roger is a member of the Covington Catholic 1000 point club, with 1604 varsity points for the Colonels, making him the all-time points leader at Cov Cath prior to the introduction of the three-point line.

Tieman attended the University of Louisville on a basketball scholarship, playing on the Cardinals' freshman squad and scoring 200 points in his first year to win himself a spot on the varsity squad as a sophomore. 6'0" Tieman was known for his shooting in the clutch. In his sophomore year he averaged 11.2 points in 25 games and hit 63 of 75 from the free throw line for 84%, earning him UofL's free throw award at the end of the season as the team's most accurate free throw shooter. His performance in his sophomore season also garnered him special defensive attention from opponents in his junior and senior seasons. As a junior, Tieman helped carry the Cardinals to an appearance in the Final Four of the 1959 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after upsetting the #2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats 76-61 in the mideast region semifinals.

In the region semifinal game against Kentucky, the underdog Louisville team was battling back from a 15-point deficit midway through the first half. The Cardinals trailed 36-28 at halftime, and then shortly after Louisville tied the game up in the second half, Tieman stole the ball from Kentucky's Bennie Coffman and was then fouled by Coffman while rolling in a layup following his steal. The resulting three-point play put the Cardinals ahead for the first time in the game, and that week UofL's newspaper, 'The Cardinal,' made note of how Roger's play officially "turned the tide" in the upset.

Tieman was team captain the following year, as the only senior on the squad, and would finish his career at UofL in the spring of 1960 with 717 points in 80 games, and a 77.4% free throw average. After college, he joined the faculty at Covington Catholic for one year, teaching Health, Phys Ed, and Typing, and serving as an assistant varsity basketball coach, head freshman basketball coach, and head track & field coach in the 1962-63 school year.

 

Here's the start of a Twitter thread about Roger from an account about Cov Cath history:
 

 

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

On 3/3/2021 at 3:18 PM, nkypete said:

There are others, but my favorite, because he was a friend and fellow parishioner, was Dan Tieman (played for the Cincinnati Royals in 1962-63).

Coach T's basketball coach while he played at Cov Cath, Bob Naber (CCH '48), also played a year of NBA basketball for the Indianapolis Olympians. He had previously played at UofL. Here's his HOF profile:
 

Naber was a stand-out in both basketball and baseball during his career at Covington Catholic, starting as catcher on the baseball team and named captain of the basketball team during his senior year. As a 6'1" forward, he helped lead the Colonels basketball team to win the Diocese of Covington Catholic School Tournament during his junior year. The tournament featured Catholic high school teams from Diocese of Covington, which encompassed all of northern Kentucky and the areas of the state currently served by the current Diocese of Lexington (the Diocese of Lexington was not separated from the Diocese of Covington until 1988). In his senior year at Cov Cath, Naber averaged 16.5 points per game and was named to the annual Kentucky All-Stars vs. Indiana All-Stars basketball game, an opportunity he turned down in order to prevent missing out on a full week of work.

He went on to attend and play basketball for the University of Louisville, where he lettered in his sophomore, junior and senior years. Naber averaged 6.8 points per game in his 82 games played for the Cardinals. His junior year, Louisville's season ended with a 79-68 loss to Kentucky in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, and his senior year they lost 65-59 to Western Kentucky during the Round Of Eight in the National Invitational Tournament.

After graduating from the University of Louisville, Naber continued to a brief stint in the NBA, playing in 4 games during the 1952-53 season for the Indianapolis Olympians. He left the team shortly before they folded as a franchise at the season's end.

In the fall of 1954, Naber began a new job teaching at Covington Catholic, also taking over as head basketball coach from Art Bohman, and taking over the head baseball coaching job from Joe Hackett. He coached the Colonels to a total of 171 wins in 9 years as the skipper of the basketball team. Also during his time on staff at Cov Cath, Bob became the school's first lay athletic director, and as the president of the Covington Catholic Alumni Association.

Naber left Covington Catholic after the 1963-64 school year, handing over the reins of the basketball team to Coach Mote Hils, and passing on his spot as head baseball coach to Coach Ken Shields.

[Bluesport]

23 hours ago, B-Ball-fan said:

Steve Burdon - Covington Catholic 

Minor correction: Steve Purdon

[B-Ball-fan]

2 minutes ago, Bluesport said:

Minor correction: Steve Purdon

Thank you. 👍

[REALSPORT]

14 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

I've been helping work on the profiles for the Cov Cath Hall of Fame (you can check out the members HERE).

I did a little bit of a deep dive on Roger Tieman not too long ago for his HOF Profile:
 

Roger Tieman was a 4-year letterman in basketball, starting on the varsity squad for 3 years. In his senior year as a shooting guard and team captain, he averaged 20 points per game and shot 43% from the floor in addition to averaging 81.5% from the free throw line. Roger is a member of the Covington Catholic 1000 point club, with 1604 varsity points for the Colonels, making him the all-time points leader at Cov Cath prior to the introduction of the three-point line.

Tieman attended the University of Louisville on a basketball scholarship, playing on the Cardinals' freshman squad and scoring 200 points in his first year to win himself a spot on the varsity squad as a sophomore. 6'0" Tieman was known for his shooting in the clutch. In his sophomore year he averaged 11.2 points in 25 games and hit 63 of 75 from the free throw line for 84%, earning him UofL's free throw award at the end of the season as the team's most accurate free throw shooter. His performance in his sophomore season also garnered him special defensive attention from opponents in his junior and senior seasons. As a junior, Tieman helped carry the Cardinals to an appearance in the Final Four of the 1959 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament after upsetting the #2 ranked Kentucky Wildcats 76-61 in the mideast region semifinals.

In the region semifinal game against Kentucky, the underdog Louisville team was battling back from a 15-point deficit midway through the first half. The Cardinals trailed 36-28 at halftime, and then shortly after Louisville tied the game up in the second half, Tieman stole the ball from Kentucky's Bennie Coffman and was then fouled by Coffman while rolling in a layup following his steal. The resulting three-point play put the Cardinals ahead for the first time in the game, and that week UofL's newspaper, 'The Cardinal,' made note of how Roger's play officially "turned the tide" in the upset.

Tieman was team captain the following year, as the only senior on the squad, and would finish his career at UofL in the spring of 1960 with 717 points in 80 games, and a 77.4% free throw average. After college, he joined the faculty at Covington Catholic for one year, teaching Health, Phys Ed, and Typing, and serving as an assistant varsity basketball coach, head freshman basketball coach, and head track & field coach in the 1962-63 school year.

 

Here's the shot. I'm sure UK fans screamed then that it wasn't a foul. 😉

[Voice of Reason]

19 hours ago, PP1 said:

I probably should know this but, did David Justice play basketball for Covington Latin?

 

18 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Yes he did...but he didn't play baseball. Covington Latin didn't have a baseball team yet while he was there.

Justice was the top basketball scorer in all of Greater Cincinnati as a senior (a 15 year old senior) in the 1981-82 season. He averaged 26.5 points per game and 5.5 assists. First team All-Catholic All-American as well.

And Justice did all of that while still playing on what was more than likely the worst team in the 9th region. That year they got bounced from the 34th District Tournament in the first round, losing 75-35 to Ludlow. Ludlow lost 62-59 to Dixie in the first round of the 9th Region Tournament, and Dixie lost 55-47 to Highlands in the next round. Highlands beat Conner 72-61 to win the 9th Region.

 Despite the scoring numbers, Justice is not Covington Latin's greatest basketball player.  That has to be Brian O'Connor. I believe O'Connor still holds many of the records at Thomas Moore, and played pro basketball for several years in Europe and in the CBA in the US. O'Connor is now helping out at St. Henry as an assistant coach.

[The Professor]

I’m not all that knowledgeable about northern Kentucky basketball but I would think that Dave Cowens is the best basketball player to ever come out of that area. He may have gotten most of his notoriety after his high school years in the NBA  but if the question is who is the best basketball player my answer is Dave Cowens. 

[mcpapa]

44 minutes ago, The Professor said:

I’m not all that knowledgeable about northern Kentucky basketball but I would think that Dave Cowens is the best basketball player to ever come out of that area. He may have gotten most of his notoriety after his high school years in the NBA  but if the question is who is the best basketball player my answer is Dave Cowens. 

The list of NBA MVPs is a short one. 

[B-Ball-fan]

2 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

 

 Despite the scoring numbers, Justice is not Covington Latin's greatest basketball player.  That has to be Brian O'Connor. I believe O'Connor still holds many of the records at Thomas Moore, and played pro basketball for several years in Europe and in the CBA in the US. O'Connor is now helping out at St. Henry as an assistant coach.

Lest we forget Covington Latin's all time leading scorer, 2013 grad Mitchell Blewitt with 1400+ points. 

[Voice of Reason]

7 minutes ago, B-Ball-fan said:

Lest we forget Covington Latin's all time leading scorer, 2013 grad Mitchell Blewitt with 1400+ points. 

 Good call out and certainly worth mentioning. No disrespect to Mitchell. I rank both Justice and O'Connor above him.

 While we are calling out Latin School players, another Northern Kentucky great that has not been mentioned yet is Jeff Stowers. If I am not mistaken he started his high school career playing for Latin School before moving over to Covington Catholic.

[B-Ball-fan]

4 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

 Good call out and certainly worth mentioning. No disrespect to Mitchell. I rank both Justice and O'Connor above him.

 While we are calling out Latin School players, another Northern Kentucky great that has not been mentioned yet is Jeff Stowers. If I am not mistaken he started his high school career playing for Latin School before moving over to Covington Catholic.

And Jeff's son Jordon Stowers who played for Simon Kenton had a 1000+ career. 

[Runcible Owl]

There's no school, like old school:

Bob DeMoss, Dayton 1944 - 1st team C-J All- State and Sweet 16 All-Tournament Team from Dayton's state runner-up team. Chose to play football only, as a QB at Purdue. Was later head coach of the Boilermakers.