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Former Bobcat Stephens takes pride in upset

South High grad glad his college alma mater ‘messed up every bracket.’

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer 11:55 PM Friday, March 19, 2010

SPRINGFIELD — Thomas Stephens doesn’t fill out an NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket and never has. He couldn’t share the pain of those who texted him Thursday, March 18, after his alma mater, No. 14 seed Ohio University, pulled off the biggest upset on the first day of the NCAA tournament, beating No. 3 seed Georgetown 97-83.

“You just messed up every bracket,” they told him.

“That’s great,” Stephens thought.

A 1999 South High School graduate, Stephens played in 104 games in his Ohio career (2000-04) — but never one as big as Thursday’s. It was easily the biggest win in the program’s history.

“It was absolutely amazing,” said Stephens, a former assistant coach at South and Wayne.

Stephens averaged 10.0 points and 3.2 assists as a senior in 2003-04. He was a freshman in 2000-01 when current Ohio assistant coach Dustin Ford was a senior with the Bobcats.

“He was definitely one of my biggest assets,” Stephens said. “He took me under his wings.”

Stephens also met Ohio head coach John Groce earlier this season at an open gym in Huber Heights, where Groce was recruiting.

Ohio’s success goes back to the coaching, Stephens said. The players are buying into Groce’s style.

“Right now, they’re all in sync,” Stephens said. “They’re all having fun. You can tell they’re having fun. ... I think the biggest thing is their guard play. That’s big in the NCAA tournament.”

The Bobcats (22-14) will see if they can continue their Cinderella ride today at 3:35 p.m. against Tennessee (26-8) in Providence, R.I.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or djablonski@coxohio.com.

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