Ohio and Akron will have a rivalry deeper than the names on the front of the jerseys.
The rivalry within a rivalry.
That’s the underlying story for Ohio and Akron on Tuesday night in The Convo.
Sure, the Zips are probably the biggest rivals for the Bobcats, but there will be a deeper level of distaste in the first matchup between the two teams this season.
In many ways, the game will focus on two players: "Big Tone" and "Big Dog."
Ohio forward Antonio Campbell, known as "Big Tone," is an integral part of the Ohio roster with an average of 16 points and nine rebounds per game.
And then there’s Isaiah “Big Dog” Johnson, an Akron forward averaging 12 points and eight boards per game.
Campbell is better on paper, theoretically, but Johnson has been named player of the week twice this year.
Perhaps there’s animosity between the two; perhaps there isn’t.
The reality is simple: Johnson was supposed to go to Ohio. Campbell came instead.
Gas money
Johnson and I went to Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati, and occasionally I’d pick him up before class.
He was also in our newspaper production class, which wasn’t exactly ethical, but it was easy to get quotes.
I remember asking him one time why he wouldn’t go to Ohio instead of Akron, and his answer was simple.
When he was supposed to go on an official visit, there was an ice storm, and he couldn’t get to Athens safely. He committed to Akron instead.
Eventually I learned that Ohio signed another big kid from across the river in Kentucky. It was Campbell.
The two actually played each other in a high school all-star game, and I remember thinking, “Oh, Campbell is so much softer than Big Dog. He’s not as effective inside, and he’s not as strong.”
Biased? Yes.
It was a thought that I kept, really, until this season.
But then I saw how Campbell transformed.
Despite an Ohio squad lacking Maurice Ndour, who graduated and went on to almost make the Dallas Mavericks' roster this summer, Campbell is still a presence at the low post. Clearly his numbers show it.
But the recognition he deserves doesn’t.
When the two teams play Tuesday, it’ll just be another rendition of that same battle between the big men. These days there aren’t any ice storms to separate the talent.
One of them will outplay the other.
Only this time I’m pulling for Big Tone. No offense, "Dog."
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
