First Posted: 2/22/2015
ADA – For just a second, it looked like old times.
Jimmy Conrad came down the floor at Ohio Northern, pulled up and knocked down a 3-pointer.
Only this was in the recent ONU alumni game and the opponent was the ONU junior varsity team.
“I enjoy coming in and it’s always good to see some old faces and act like we’re college kids all over again,” Conrad said.
Conrad, from Perry High School, was a first team All-American at ONU in 2003-04. Three times he made first team all-Ohio Athletic Conference and his senior year he was the Gregory Award winner for the OAC player of the year.
He finished his Polar Bears’ career second on the school’s all-time leading scoring list with 1,918 points, second only to Jeremy Thompson’s 1,978. Conrad is also the school’s best career free-throw shooter at 88.7 percent (399 of 450).
He ranks second in career steals (192), second in field-goals made (644) and third in free-throws made (399). He’s also fourth all-time in games played (109), sixth in 3-pointers made (231) and 10th in assists (301).
Last year he was inducted into the ONU Hall of Fame.
And, of all the ONU players I’ve seen over the last 29 years, I would rank D’Artis Jones No. 1 and Conrad No. 2. Jones led the Polar Bears to the 1993 National Championship.
Not only was Conrad stocked with passion for the game, he was the ultimate hustler and quick to dive on the floor for any loose ball.
And he always wanted the ball at the end of the game.
As a freshman in 2001, he was a key player on the team that finished 27-4 and reached the Holy Grail of the Final Four.
The Polar Bears, led by high-flying Kris Oberdick, lost in the Division III National semifinals that year.
“I guess the biggest memory for me (about playing at ONU) was my freshman year and the run we had to the Final Four and being able to host the (NCAA) Tournament games had here,” Conrad said. “That was probably the greatest atmosphere I’ve ever played in, filling this place (the King Horn Center) up and having three good games here. That was pretty special.”
Looking back, Conrad realizes how fortunate he was to be part of a Final Four team.
“Being freshmen, Bos (Chad Bostelman) and I got quite a few minutes that year and we were out there playing the game,” Conrad said. “We didn’t realize how special it was at the moment. Then, you get to the next year and you look back and see how difficult that was to do what we did. It was a pretty special year.”
Conrad also will never forget the plays Obderdick made. There were nights he would alternate between knocking down 15-foot jumpers and soaring over bodies to the rim to slam down dunks.
“He (Oberdick) put us on his back that year,” Conrad said. “I remember the Carthage game that sent us to the Final Four, he took over there at the end. It was quite impressive.”
The Polar Bears’ coach of that Final Four season, Joe Campoli, returned for the alumni game. With the ONU varsity game delayed for an hour, Campoli was glad to tell a few of his basketball stories.
One story Campoli told was how after the mammoth ice storm hit the region, he was given special permission to practice after the students were sent home. But there was a catch to the practice, Campoli said.
“The president told us we couldn’t use basketballs,” he said. “So with no basketballs, what do you do? I just had them run up and down the floor.”
Conrad said, “He (Campoli) was a great players’ coach. He realized this is Division III basketball and we weren’t getting money to play this game and academics came first. He let us have our freedom so he made it fun to play for him. We have a good relationship to this day.”
Conrad works as an accountant and lives in Columbus with his wife, Kendra, and their two boys, 4-year-old Cayden and 1-year-old Beckett.
After the alumni game, he spent time playing basketball with his 4-year-old, who was firing balls at the basket.
Conrad still plays basketball in two different Columbus leagues.
“I’ll do it while I can,” he said. “I enjoy getting out there and enjoy the competition.”
Asked if he still shoots plenty of 3-pointers, Conrad said with a laugh, “Oh yea, you have less chance for injuries staying out by the arc.”
