We've had some interesting "what ifs" in the recent history of Ohio basketball, so I thought we should put it to the test. So here's your chance, which would you rather have? The answer might be obvious but this could get some fun banter and hopefully no thread drifts ;)

Option 1: Gary Trent stays for his Senior season

Gary was the reigning 3x MAC Player of the Year, the only player ever to do so in the conference. But the 1994-95 team was a bit of a disappointment after winning the Preseason NIT and riding high early on. Jeff Boals' injury hurt the team and they settled for a postseason NIT berth and fell after two rounds. If Gary decided to stay, he'd undoubtedly had been the favorite to win another POTY award (though Bonzi Wells certainly would have had a say too) on a team returning Geno Ford, Curtis Simmons, Jason Terry and Gus Johnson all as upper classmen. And who can forget the incoming juggernaut that was Diante Flenorl. The Bobcats could have again been a threat in March. Anything was possible with Trent on your squad.

Option 2: Jeremy Fears stays at Ohio

That 2004-05 squad which blitzed through the end of the regular season and MAC Tournament was my favorite team to watch. Partly because I was on campus and saw it in person from the O Zone, but also because at any given moment anyone on that team could go off. Hell, even Fears hit six threes at home against Buffalo and he wasn't very good from deep. It seemed like anyone on that team was capable of something big. And almost everyone was coming from back for 2005-06. The gap in the middle lost with Terren Harbut graduating was big, but young Jerome Tillman was coming to the rescue. Sonny Troutman, Mychal Green, Leon Williams, Jeff Halbert and steadily improving Whitney Davis were all back. It's really a shame whatever happened that season happened, because I was primed for more March magic.

Option 3: John Groce doesn't take the Illinois job

It's been reiterated, established and discussed many times on this board just how good that 2011-12 team was. I remember how excited this board was when we got matched up with Michigan in the first round because it favored Ohio's matchups so well. We kicked their ass, man. And we had UNC in the Sweet 16. We HAD em. Now - bottle all that up and bring everyone back: DJ Cooper, Walter Offutt, Jon Smith, Ivo Baltic, Reggie Keely, Nick Kellogg, Stevie Taylor, TJ Hall, Ricardo Johnson...and sprinkle in future NBA first rounder Caris LeVert here and there. Is there enough PT to go around???

Option 4: Tony Campbell stays healthy

I think a lot people forget just how good that 2016-17 was before Tony went down. Tony was the returning MAC Player of the Year and newcomer Jason Carter fit into the team like a hand in a glove. Tony was the ultimate inside-outside big for Saul Phillips' system, bombing away from outside and having amazing hands and footwork around the rim. With Jaaron Simmons routinely penetrating and kicking to shooters Jordan Dartis and Kenny Kaminski, Ohio was a hard team to beat. They started out 11-3, including 3-0 in MAC play and a win at Georgia Tech. Close losses to fellow mid-majors Marshall, Iona and WKU were the only blemishes. Had Tony not been injured, I'd put money on him winning a second straight MAC POTY (that year Isiah Johnson won) and Ohio probably easily gets to the MAC Championship game, at the very least.

This was a hard choice, but I have to go with Groce returning for 2012-13. Would have loved to see what he could have done with that returning core. Trent was a close second.

Another year with Groce and LeVert on the roster. Would have been something.

Some real tough choices there. I went with the apparent controllable vs not.

Trent - He made the best/right decision for himself.

Groce - Same.

Fears - Not really sure, but there was always a wildcard factor there.

Tone - That injury was Real tough for the team and him. A great guy, great player and a great Bobcat.

LeVert, Bradds and who knows who else he was courting for the pipeline. Chicago Simeon kids were the next targets.

Yeah - But could we be 100% certain they would have ended up here?

Bradds and Levert were commits. Next level Simeon guys ended up at Illinois. I think so.

And if they did come then Groce has big follwing year - would they have stayed when Groce then cannot turn down Millions $'s the next year?

IIRC Bradds' first season would have been the following season in 2013-14, so it's possible we never see Bradds anyway. It does open up another possibility for who Ohio's coach would be following Groce though. Maybe JC is elsewhere by then.

Good point - But I stick w/Tone as my Rather choice....

I'm too young to know what the program was like in the Trent era to suppose what would have happened if he stayed, but it seems like the choice between Trent and Campbell is a wash. You get a closeout of their senior eligibility but there's no guarantee you get a championship out of it. I think we are at least NIT bound if Tony doesn't break his foot and I'll bet Jaaron leaves anyway.

I'd probably pick Groce staying for one more year if 2013 wasn't as good as it was. You can bash the non conference performance all you want, you can bash the no-show in the NIT all you want, but the MAC season was really freaking good. We lost only to Akron who was also extremely good that season.

At first I thought Fears staying all four years was the last choice, but you know what? That's where I'm going. Presumably him staying means you don't get any of the weirdness surrounding his inflated sense of self. I didn't think the 06 season was going anywhere but that was mostly because of rotation decisions that largely kept Leon and Jerome from playing on the floor together. The 07 team would have been a monster. Fears, Bubba, senior Troutman, MAC POTY robbery Tillman, Leon as your starters plus the best form of Whitney Davis off the bench and maybe butterfly effect means Johnnie Jackson and Antonio Chatman don't leave. You probably don't have a scholarship spot for Justin Orr, but you'd live with that and get senior year Fears, Williams, Bubba, and upperclassman Tillman.

I voted Groce in this case, but I would say my thought process goes like this:


1a) John Groce Returns for 2012-13
1b) Gary Trent 4th Year
2) Healthy Tony Campbell
3) Jeremy Fears stays at Ohio


I was a freshman when Gary was to be a senior. I'd have loved to be in the building for THAT.

Groce...I just agree with a lot of what was said here. I think that another 2-3 years with John would have truly established this program, recruiting wise, as one of the top 2-3 in the league, if not THE top program - perennially.

Tony...I think that team was special, and had the chance to win games in the NCAA Tournament with a healthy Tony. I also think that losing him, and not getting into the tournament there hurt recruiting momentum until Boals second year. It also hurt fan enthusiasm for quite some time in my opinion.