TODD PORTER
Canton Repository
May 11, 2008 12:50 am
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Did GlenOak High School graduate Kosta Koufos do anything wrong when he chose to leave Ohio State last month for the NBA draft?
Koufos withdrew from OSU in the middle of spring quarter, something men’s basketball coach Thad Matta told reporters he hoped wouldn’t happen.
Koufos’ departure prompted Ohio State athletics faculty representative John
Bruno to tell reporters he wished Koufos would have taken care of responsibilities in the classroom. That comment can be a bit misleading, and it rubbed Kathy Koufos, Kosta’s mother, the wrong way.
When Koufos left Ohio State to focus on predraft workouts and camps, he left the university with an accumulative grade-point average above 3.3.
“He was on the dean’s list,” Kathy Koufos said. “I’m not sure what the implication is if he was not academically successful in the classroom or what. That is not the case at all. ... He was not leaving academically ineligible.”
Matta told reporters last week he asked his players to withdraw before spring quarter ‹ if they were leaving. Kathy Koufos said that was a conversation Kosta never had or doesn’t recall having with Matta.
“If he had known it would have helped the university to not sign up for courses in the spring, that’s something we would have addressed,” Kathy Koufos said. “We’re Ohio State fans and sensitive to the fact we don’t want to do anything hurtful to the university. But I support my son, and I want to state for the record he was academically eligible and was on the dean’s list.”
The Koufoses struggled most with how the departure for the NBA would impact
OSU’s APR standing with the NCAA. They estimated, at most, Ohio State’s basketball program will take a two-point hit because of Koufos’ departure.
Kathy Koufos is a guidance counselor at GlenOak High School. The decision to leave college early was not easy.
“We had a lot of angst about this because education is very important to Kosta and to myself,” Kathy said. “However, this was the direction he was heading and has been heading for. Last year, he chose to honor his commitment to Ohio State and gave up a great financial opportunity because he wanted to go to school and be a part of the program. When that opportunity keeps coming up, you can’t keep giving it up.
“He will complete his education eventually.”
Koufos has hired Cleveland-based agent Mark Termini. Based on the interest that has been expressed in Koufos, playing professionally in Greece is looking like an option that is becoming more remote. Koufos measures in his socks a shade over 7-foot.
If he performs well in camps and in the NBA, don’t be surprised to see endorsement deals in the offering from Greece, where he is popular.
Marketing strategy
It would be wise not to assume Koufos’ success on the court translates into marketing deals. His Greek heritage and popularity there are in his favor.
He does not have character issues. If he plays on Greece’s Olympic team and fares well, that, too, could lead to endorsements.
But the most important thing Koufos has to concern himself with is lighting up predraft workouts and camps. With all players, what they do on the court drives the endorsement train off it.
Who is Termini?
Termini has been representing players for more than 20 years. He is one of the more respected agents in basketball circles. Koufos gave his NBA draft stock a shot in the arm in hiring Termini because he is that respected by NBA teams.
Termini first got involved in the NBA in the 1980s as a front-office employee with the Cavaliers. In 1984, Termini finished law school at Cleveland State. His first clients were Brad Sellers and Scott Roth.
Termini made a name for himself when he represented Jim Jackson out of OSU.
A prolonged contract dispute with Dallas eventually went in Termini’s and Jackson’s favor as the Mavericks met their demands for a salary of more than $20 million.
Great closer
On Monday, Douglas McCray was having a rather typical round of golf in the River Tree Church League at Lyons Den Golf Course. But his last two holes on the front side were anything but typical.
On No. 8, McCray hit a 5-wood from the white tees on the 175-yard par 3. His ball hit the cart path to the right of the hole, bounced over the green, hit the base of an oak tree, then a tree branch and fell back on the green rolling toward the hole.
“One of the guys by the green said it might be by the hole,” McCray said. “We went up and look, and it was in the hole. I’d call that luck.”
Call it what you want. It was a hole-in-one for the 59-year-old Wilkshire Hills resident. But his luck wasn’t done.
On the par 4 No. 9, McCray hit one of the best drivers he’s ever hit about 100 yards away from the green.
“I was ready to let the hole-in-one go as blind luck,” McCray said. “My partner said I was going to birdie the ninth hole after that hole-in-one. We were all laughing because of the way the hole-in-one went.”
He followed the drive by knocking a 9-iron flush. The ball hit in front of the green and rolled in the cup for an eagle. McCray finished his round using three strokes on the final two holes and ended up with a 39, his best score for nine holes.
“I don’t think there was any skill involved if you look at the overall score,” McCray joked. “I’m pretty much a duffer who got lucky on the last two holes.”
McCray didn’t buy a lottery ticket that night ‹ but not for a lack of being asked to.
“All the guys in our foursome wanted me to buy them lottery tickets,” he said.
Good relationship
It was as clear as the brand new exhibits at the Pro Football Hall of Fame that Stark County’s crown jewel and the NFL have a relationship that’s as strong today as it was 45 years ago when the Hall opened.
The Hall and Executive Director Steve Perry worked with NFL owners to sell them on this new two-gallery expansion and renovation. The league owners listened to Senior Vice President of Business Affairs and General Counsel
Gary Gertzog and agreed to raise most of the $3.6 million needed for the project.
League owners don’t throw that kind of money at something without an authentic belief that the people in Canton are being fine caretakers for the league history and future as it relates to the Hall. NFL owners had a board meeting at the Hall a year ago.
“They get what this is all about,” Gertzog said.
Porter is a columnist for the Canton Repository. Reach him at todd.porter@cantonrep.com.
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TODD PORTER Star Beacon