Wittenberg Assistant Coach Chronicles Final Years Of Muskingum County Basketball Tournament
A great college basketball story finally has a conclusion, thanks to Wittenberg men's basketball assistant coach Randy Lincicome.
Randy Lincicome
Springfield, Ohio — A great college basketball story finally has a conclusion, thanks to Wittenberg men's basketball assistant coach Randy Lincicome.
A Tri-Valley High School graduate who currently works as a teacher at Mechanicsburg High School in nearby Champaign County, Lincicome published a book titled The Last Eight Years. The book follows a compilation called the Muskingum County Basketball Tournament Record Book, which chronicles the once-popular tournament from 1924-1956.
Picking up where the record book left off, Lincicome's text covers the final eight years of the Muskingum County Tournament from 1957 to 1964, including details of the championships, finals, outstanding coaches and players and records, as well as pictures and profiles of the final eight championship teams. Al Thrasher, who went to become an All-American at Wittenberg in 1964, is one of the many players included in the book who stood out to Lincicome.
"He was a tremendous ball player who proved it in high school and in college," Lincicome said.
After college Thrasher was drafted to play in the NBA and has been selected for induction into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.
While the book is about the Muskingum County Tournament, Lincicome believes anyone can relate by going back to their own county tournaments.
"I want readers to know what it was like, the excitement of county tournaments, since they no longer exist," he said. "It serves as a perfect Christmas book from a grandchild."
Available in numerous local areas, including Old Book Nook in Urbana and Village Pharmacy and Chet's IGA, both in Mechanicsburg, 278 copies of the original print run of 300 books have sold. Because of the popularity, Lincicome said he plans to print more copies soon.
"The book is good for memories," Lincicome added. "You can put it with your yearbooks. It takes 20 minutes to read and it is one of those books people can pull back and look at."
Written By: Holly Shaw '08
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