CINCINNATI – Roger Bacon’s 2002 state boys’ basketball championship banner will soon be in the hands of a lucky raffle winner.
Roger Bacon will host a raffle at Thursday's 47th annual sports stag for the ’02 Division II state title banner – one of the most famous in Ohio history because the Spartans upset LeBron James-led Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary 15 years ago this March in Columbus.
The raffle tickets are $20 and the school may limit them to 75 total tickets sold. The stag features special guest George Foster and starts at 6 p.m. at the high school.
The banner is being raffled due to the recent major gym renovation. The athletic department replaced all the state championship/state runner-up banners with a newer style of banner. The original banner hung for nearly 15 years.
“This is a very neat, one-of-a-kind memento that is a historic part of Roger Bacon,” said assistant athletic director Brandon Spaeth. “The best thing about it is that the banner only becomes more and more valuable as LeBron’s career moves along. The greater he becomes, the better the 2002 Roger Bacon boys basketball legacy gets.”
A then-tournament record crowed of 18,375 watched at the Schottenstein Center as Roger Bacon won 71-63 March 23, 2002. James scored 32 points but it wasn’t enough for St. Vincent-St. Mary, which had been 75-0 against Ohio teams in his first three seasons.
James guaranteed a victory. Scalpers charged $200. The stag was set for one of the most anticipated games in Cincinnati area high school sports history.
READ AND WATCH: WCPO's archive video from Roger Bacon vs. LeBron James
Former standout Roger Bacon and Miami University guard Josh Hausfeld will be inducted into the Roger Bacon Athletics Hall of Fame at tonight’s stag. Hauseld, a 2002 graduate, is the first player from that famous team to be inducted. He scored a team-high 23 points in that state final.
Several other members of the team are expected to be in attendance tonight. Varsity baseball coach Tim McCoy played on the team and has a reserve table of 25 for players and their fathers for tonight’s stag.
