3/25/99 -- 3:53 AM Ohio State Notebook By CARTER GADDIS of The Tampa Tribune
Tip-off: Of the 3,500 Final Four tickets allotted by the NCAA to Ohio State for distribution, only 1,400 were applied to the lottery that made the tickets available to Buckeyes students, faculty, staff and season-ticket holders.
A total of 3,162 applicants threw their names into the hat, including 1,355 students who covet one of the 500 tickets made available to them. Another 1,162 season-ticket holders were hoping to land one of 500 more tickets, while 645 faculty and staff members applied for the 400 tickets made available to them.
Where did the other 2,100 tickets go? Players' families received 100. The coaching staff received 210. The OSU president's office and Board of Trustees received 120. Another 1,370 were allocated to ``big contributors and other people deemed important to the university's future'' and package tours to St. Petersburg, offered through the OSU Alumni Association, Buckeye Boosters and a travel agency.
There were 200 set aside in a ``flex'' pool for emergencies.
None of them come cheap. The face value of each ticket is $100. Scalpers and ticket brokers were asking between $400 and $5,000 per ticket, depending on seat location.
What they're writing back home: Richard Baker remembers how much Ohio State's first Final Four trip meant to everyone involved.
``It didn't mean a ... lot,'' Baker said. ``A lot of people didn't even know it was going on.''
What if they threw a Final Four and nobody came? Not quite. But this is probably as good an example as any of just how drastically some things change.
Sixty years ago this week, Baker and his OSU teammates headed to Evanston, Ill., for the NCAA championship game, leaving half of the first Final Four field back at the Palestra in Philadelphia, where they had lost in the semifinals.
If OSU coach Harold Olsen hadn't been a member of the committee that started the tournament, the Buckeyes probably wouldn't have even accepted the invitation to play.
``Down deep, the only reason we went was because of our coach being on the committee,'' Baker, 81, said from his winter home in Gulfstream.
He is more excited about the Buckeyes' current Final Four trip than he is about his own.'' - Columbus Dispatch columnist Bob Hunter.
Weather report from Columbus: Spring arrived at the OSU campus Wednesday. It was The sky was sunny with scattered clouds and the temperature rose into the low 50s. More of the same is expected today.
For the fans: The Buckeyes arrive at Tampa International Airport by charter today at 4:15 p.m. They'll deplane at the Raytheon Aircraft Building. The team will stay at the Suites at Mainsail Village in Pinellas County. Ohio State will be the first to take the court at Tropicana Field for Friday's public practice sessions. Practice begins at noon.
Great moment in Ohio State NCAA Tournament history: And what happened in that 1939 Final Four that Richard Baker remembers so well, if not so fondly? The Buckeyes, after thumping Villanova, 53-36, in front of its their the home Philadelphia fans, bowed to Oregon 46-33 in the championship game at Evanston. Ohio State's first Final Four season ended with a 16-7 record following the school's second Big Ten championship.
By the way: A year ago, during an 8-22 season, the Buckeyes were forced to play zone every game because they couldn't keep up with fast point guards and C Ken Johnson was constantly in foul trouble, trying to block every shot.
The addition of G Scoonie Penn, who sat out his transfer year from Boston College, has shored up the perimeter defense. And Johnson, a 6-11 junior, has picked his spots and has been a major factor in Ohio State's remarkable turnaround to a 27-8 record. In the South Region final win against St. John's, he swatted seven shots.
``Ken Johnson and Jason Singleton have been playing phenomenal for us,'' said G Michael Redd, the Buckeyes' leading scorer. ``They haven't been recognized until now. But it's a great combination.''
Johnson seldom takes an ill- advised shot, yet scored 12 points against St. John's. But nobody talks about his offense.
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