Chris Mack

The New Steward of a Xavier Tradition

By Josh Katzowitz

The office is clean. The work space is organized. The family portraits sit on an end table a few feet away.
It’s the framed photo on the wall hanging over the desk of Xavier basketball coach Chris Mack that is most striking, though. And the picture placement makes perfect sense when you’ve heard over and over again about the school’s mission, about how the athletic administration considers basketball and academics intertwined like a double helix in its DNA.
The photo shows David West – who, after Byron Larkin, might be the greatest player Xavier has produced – in his graduation robe and mortarboard. He’s receiving his diploma at a graduation ceremony six years ago, and he’s smiling widely.
The picture symbolizes best how the Xavier basketball program sees itself and what it wants others to see. A man who was a dominant – and feared – player on whatever basketball court he played. A multimillionaire NBA All-Star who spent all four year of his apprenticeship off Victory Parkway. A man who actually graduated from the school that he loved. Read the rest of this entry…

The Man in the Sweater Vest

Jim Tressel as Coach, Teacher and Bearer of Buckeye Tradition

By Josh Katzowitz

His dad was a hall of fame coach at Baldwin-Wallace College. He was born into a family that ingested a side of college football along with its Saturday afternoon oxygen. In fact, he played a little bit of quarterback himself in college and was good enough to earn the starting spot his senior year. Jim Tressel, as you might imagine, was born into college football. Read the rest of this entry…