O’Shea says goodbye to quartet of seniors

by Chris Littmann
For The Post

Despite working together for one season, Central Michigan forced Ohio men’s basketball coach Tim O’Shea to say goodbye to his first group of seniors sooner than expected.

The loss to the Chippewas ended the careers of seniors Patrick Flomo, Jon Sanderson, Jason Crawford and Alex Liatsos.

Though the seniors are not making the trip to Cleveland, O’Shea said the four Bobcats made solid contributions to the team this season.

“The reason I got into coaching was that I like the relationship with the kids,” O’Shea said.

All four players were recruits of former coach Larry Hunter, who now is an assistant at North Carolina State.

“I wanted to thank Alex, Jon, Jason and Patrick for being such wonderful seniors and embracing me as a new coach here,” O’Shea said.

 

Minnesota recruits treated to a show

Hoping to get a taste of what they will experience starting next season, Ohio signees Jeff Halbert and Stephen King traveled from Minnesota to watch Ohio take on Bowling Green Saturday.

Halbert and King, who both are playing in their respective high school basketball tournaments, saw Ohio win a slugfest against the Falcons 85-78.

Halbert said the fan support at The Convo is excellent.

“The O-Zone was into it — they really rocked the house,” Halbert said. “I don’t think any other school in the MAC is going to have this many people at every game.”

King said he knew about the type of fans the Bobcats get for home games.

“I had heard about their crowds, so I kind of expected it,” King said.

Halbert, who played AAU basketball with Ohio point guard Zach Kiekow in Minnesota, said he enjoyed the experience and hopes to contribute to the team next season.

“I felt this was the place for me,” Halbert said. “I feel I can fit in and get some positive minutes as a freshman.”