The Chosen Ones – An oral history of LeBron James’ only loss to an Ohio team in his

Twenty years ago, there was a basketball player in northeast Ohio who was beginning to make some noise. The “Kid” from Akron, as he was known, appeared to be a surefire superstar. Then, in February 2002, the 17-year-old junior for Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. On it, he was anointed “The Chosen One.” Instantly, LeBron James became a household name and the basketball landscape changed forever.

We all know what LeBron has become: a player widely considered one of the greatest of all time. But this isn’t that story. This is the story of the only team in the state of Ohio to get the better of him — for one day and one day only. This is the story of “The Chosen Ones,” the one Ohio team that beat LeBron James in high school.

The Plan

Bill Brewer, head coach of Division II Roger Bacon, a small Catholic high school outside Cincinnati, knew prior to the 2001-2002 season that he had a group with potential for a special run. During Brewer’s memorable tenure, though, his most notable move happened off the floor. The coach heard that a school featuring a young phenom named LeBron James could be making the move from Division III to Division II. So when the state released this information, confirming the move, Brewer immediately called St. Vincent-St. Mary. Brewer knew his team would have to defeat the two-time defending state champions from Akron in order to get to where they wanted to go.

Peggy Brewer (Coach Brewer’s widow): Back in, I think, April or May, when Bill realized St. Vincent-St. Mary was going to move up to Division II, he really wanted to play them early. And he worked hard to make sure he got that game scheduled in December. And I honestly didn’t think anybody could be as big as he was saying. I was like, “He’s not the next Michael.” And I think Bill said, “Yeah. He is.”

Josh Hausfeld, Roger Bacon guard (1998-2002): St. V. was going from D-III to D-II, and we had an open game, they had an open game, so Coach Brewer, within the first 20 minutes of the schedules coming out, called them and said, “Hey, we want to play you guys.” That was probably one of the most important things that Coach Brewer and our coaching staff did was scheduling that game.

Beckham Wyrick, Roger Bacon forward (1998-2002): I think, for one, just to give us a look at LeBron in person. I think it was just to gauge, really, how we would do versus them. And I don’t think many people outside of the people inside our locker room gave us much of a chance to compete in that game.

The Opponent

Sure, we all know LeBron was far more talented than anyone else at the time. But he was by no means the whole team. St. Vincent-St. Mary had several Division I college prospects and was looking to capture a third straight state championship.

Tony Meale, author of “The Chosen Ones”: When St. Vincent-St. Mary would play, it was pretty much a circus, in the best way possible. Imagine the Harlem Globetrotters as a high school basketball team with the best player in prep history. They would outscore teams, they would gamble on defense, they were going for steals — and every other play, it seemed like it was a chance for LeBron to just take flight. It was the Showtime Lakers meets the Harlem Globetrotters. It was just a sight to behold. It was something that none of us had ever seen. You’re just thinking, “How are these kids still in high school?”

Austin Carr, color commentator for the game, longtime Cleveland Cavaliers TV analyst: They were the matinee act of the country. And they were traveling around the country playing all these teams and winning. Everybody was expecting the same thing to happen, that they were going to win the championship again.

Wyrick: They were a really, really tough team. They were the team to beat, for sure. I think that was something that motivated us as a team from southwest Ohio.

First Game

Roger Bacon and St. Vincent-St. Mary met at Kent State University in front of a packed crowd. The goal for this game, they said, wasn’t necessarily to win. It was to prove to themselves that they belonged on the same court as LeBron James and his star-studded supporting cast.

Hausfeld: When we played him the first game, the refs were taking pictures and getting autographs with him. He was larger than life.

Roger Bacon lost the game 79-70, with Brewer’s players certainly meeting their initial goal for Game 1. They would be ready to see St. Vincent-St. Mary again in the playoffs.

Brian Neal, Roger Bacon assistant coach (1997-2005): Although we didn’t win that game, our guys left that locker room thinking, if we did get a chance to play them again, we would have a great chance to win.

Frank Phillips, Roger Bacon forward (2000-2002): That first game was pretty big for us. We did lose, but it was just being able to get the feel for LeBron and the team. And the environment. It was a large crowd, so just being able to be around the huge crowd was shocking for us as well.

Hausfeld: It got all the distractions out of the way, and, again, it gave us confidence that we could beat them.

Wyrick: I can remember specifically going up to a couple of their players after that game and saying, “Hey, see you again in March.” And I don’t know whether or not they took that seriously, but that was something that I looked forward to from that point on.

The Cover

In February 2002, the 17 year-old phenom appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was anointed “The Chosen One.” Little did LeBron and his teammates know, but this fueled Roger Bacon even more, as the veteran squad awaited a second shot at LeBron and St. Vincent-St. Mary.

Peggy Brewer: Well, the fact that LeBron James was on the cover as a junior in high school was pretty amazing. But I had also heard about the Sports Illustrated curse, so I was kind of hoping that cover of the magazine ended up being a curse for him.

Carr: To me, that’s a lot to live up to. But after I watched him play two or three times, you could see that he was special. To see a guy his size, that young, that could do the things he could do. It was amazing to me.

Hausfeld: I just remember thinking they only put professional athletes on that, and so when there was a high school player — not only a high school player, but a guy we played, a guy we knew very well in the state — I just remember thinking this guy must be larger than life. You know, I only thought they put Michael Jordan on that thing.

Wyrick: As a motivational tool, LeBron being on that cover was really useful for us. When we would get together over at a teammate’s house before or after a game, after that cover came out, there could have been a Sports Illustrated cover dart board overlay. Motivational factor at play, for sure.

The Guarantee

Fast forward to March 22, the night before the 2002 Ohio Division II state championship game. The rematch that the Roger Bacon team had been waiting nearly three months for had arrived. Earlier that night, LeBron had made a “guarantee” that he would not let his team lose the next day. It was on.

Hausfeld: We were all in a hotel room, and we happened to watch the news, and they showed that press conference. We all just kind of lost it. We jumped up and down like high school kids and said, “There’s absolutely no way we’re going to lose now.” It’s that bulletin board material that we weren’t expecting to get.

Wyrick: We were already motivated enough, but when [LeBron] made that guarantee, that put another layer on the cake.

Phillips: [LeBron] did have a target on his back. Good players recognize good players. But still at the same time, we felt like we had a really good team and were going to be able to withstand his onslaughts of offense.

Hausfeld: I just remember we had a chance to do something special. I knew we were going to win, and I knew we were going to be talking about this for the rest of our lives.

Phillips: Sitting in the hotel. It was hard to go to sleep. Tossing and turning, playing the game out in my head. I definitely was picturing dunking the last second of the game. Like, I visualized that.

The Rematch

It was an unusually early start time, an 11 a.m. tip in Ohio State’s Value City Arena. But that didn’t stop a sellout crowd of over 18,000 people from attending. Brewer and his Roger Bacon squad were ready for whatever St. Vincent-St. Mary would bring.

Wyrick: When we all went out for the matchups, everybody was saying, “Hey, I got 34, I got 21,” or, “I got this guy,” and I called out, “Hey, I got The Chosen One, I’ll be guarding The…