-announced that the Rotary Final Four Basketball Brackets have raised more than $600.00!
John Flynn is in first place in the Men’s bracket and Sue Hetrick is in first place in the Women’s Bracket. See the attached for all players!

Tom Hatch
-announced that tonight’s program at the North Water Brewery would be Rhonda Boyd presenting City of Kent’s Chimney Swift Project.

Theodore Roosevelt High School Student of the Month
Principal Dennis Love presented senior Caylinn Oldham as Roosevelt’s Student of the Month for March. Among the major points he made about Caylinn’s academic achievement included her 4.0 GPA, which includes rigorous Advanced Placement and other challenging advanced course work. Caylinn is currently enrolled in the Career Paths for the Teaching Profession, along with Advanced English 12, Personal Finance, College Math, and Art 2.  Caylinn’s goal is to become an Early Childhood teacher after graduation from Kent State University.

She is described as a kind, considerate, and engaging role model by all her teachers. She always displays a positive attitude and work ethic. In addition, Caylinn is an accomplished tennis player for Roosevelt. She works extremely hard, pushing herself and teammates to be the best they possibly can be. She has been selected as Captain of the team due to her leadership. In addition to her athletics, Caylinn has served as a mentor for 9th. graders at the school. She was accompanied by her parents Bryn and Eric Oldham.

Rotarian Birthday’s
Jeff Roegher acknowledged the following Rotarians with March birthdays, reminding them they were to share their first music concert attended and then their best music concert attended:
David Myers:              Oz Fest/Tom Petty
Dennis Love:               B.B. King/Dave Matthews
Randy Smith:              Cleveland Orchestra/Jimmy Buffet
Brian Grubich:             Rod Stewart/OU’s Numberfest Concerts
George Joseph:           The Beach Boys/Maynard Fergusons

Those absent, but acknowledge were Bill Russel, Debby Krutz, and Rachel Kerns.

Program
Todd Kamenash introduced Steve Sefner. During the pandemic, he reflected on the upcoming 20th. Anniversary of Kent State’s Men’s Basketball Elite 8 achievement in the NCAA Final Four Tournament. He had broadcasted well over 1000 basketball and football games for KSU including the 2001-2002 run to the Elite 8. Over the years, he has worked in a variety of positions in broadcasting, corporate sponsorship, marketing promotions, and management. He enjoys public speaking and serves on the Board of Directors for his local Chamber of Commerce. His reflection on the 2001-2002 team led him to write a book titled The Golden Dream: The Story of the 2001-2002 Kent State Men’s Basketball Elite Eight Season.

The book had been a two-year project, mostly done during the pandemic. This necessitated many ZOOM calls to the former players, coaches, and others associated with the team that year. The book came out last year in anticipation of the 20th Anniversary of the Elite Eight run. It is available through Amazon. Some of the points he made included:

-The 2000-2001 team had beat Indiana in the first round of the tournament and expectations were running high for the next season. In April, Coach Gary Waters announced he was going to Rutgers’s as their head coach. Athletic Director Laing Kennedy tried to convince Coach Waters to stay, calling him “the glue that kept the team together.” In fact, as Steve pointed out in his presentation, some players wanted to go with Coach Waters.

-Laing Kennedy involved the team members with the process of hiring a new coach to take Waters' place. This included identifying what they wanted in a coach as well as participating in the interview process. Everyone was cautiously optimistic at the hiring of Stan Heath. The goal was to keep the culture intact that Coach Waters had established, and Coach Heath was willing to take on the challenge.

-The addition of Antonio Gates to the roster was another new piece to the team. In retrospect, it was a great move as he is remembered by the players as a great teammate. In an interview with Antonio for the book, Steve related that he never once talked about his storied career in the NFL after Kent State, but talked in detail about every game, or plays in games he remembered. He indicated that his trophy case has plenty of football trophies, but they surround a prized basketball, sitting front and center, signed by all his teammates and coaches from the 2001-2002 Kent Men’s basketball season.

-The season made a turning point when the team sagged to a 4-4 record and Gary Waters called two players and admonished them to quit disrespecting the efforts of their new coach and themselves by how they were playing. The players went to Coach Heath and the whole team made a commitment, resulting in a 21 game winning streak.

-In making it to the Elite Eight, Kent beat #10 seed Oklahoma State, #2 seed Alabama, and #3 seed Pitt, before falling to #5 seed Indiana. -The players on the team were not the tallest or talented but were extremely dedicated. They worked hard.

-Though losing the game with Indiana in the Elite Eight, The National College Basketball Hall of Fame recognizes the 2001-2002 Kent State Men’s Basketball Team as one of the top Cinderella stories of all time!
 
Responder
Nancy Whitehead thanked Steve for “great memories of a great time” in Kent State Basketball.