St. Charles basketball got its start under the watchful eye of Father Raymond Bauschard, later the founding pastor of St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Columbus. He led calisthenics and taught the fundamentals of basketball at the Sacred Heart grade school building where the high school classes were conducted the first two years.
St. Charles fielded its first basketball team, coached by Joe Karrow, in 1927. At that time, Joe Karow was a dental student at OSU. The team posted a 9-7 record in its inaugural season. The following season, led by captain John Smith, the Carolians won 12 of 17 games. Then, in 1928-29, ace sharpshooter John Smith helped bring St. Charles the Catholic High School League championship – the school’s first athletic crown – with a perfect 10-0 hoop record. Besides St. Charles, league members were St. Mary, Rosary, and Holy Family in Columbus, Newark St. Francis and Delaware St. Mary.
St. Charles narrowly missed winning the Diocesan Basketball Tournament, which was a major event in the pre-World War II years when diocesan teams did not participate in the state-wide tournaments. Besides the Catholic League members, participants included St. Nicholas and St. Thomas in Zanesville (since merged into Rosecrans High School), Ironton St. Joseph, Mt. Vernon St. Vincent, Portsmouth Holy Redeemer, and Corning St. Bernard.
After defeating Delaware St. Mary 28-7 and tournament co-favorite St. Vincent 17-16, the Carolians collided with always-tough St. Nicholas in the semifinals. After losing two starters on fouls, St. Charles was finally stopped 29-24 in overtime. St. Charles ended the season with a stellar 14-2 record.
Art Wiles coached St. Charles basketball the next two seasons. The 1931 season was highlighted by the opening and dedication of the St. Charles gym, termed one of the finest gyms in the state for that time. Following coach Wiles, former St. Charles captain, John Smith, returned to lead the 1932 and 1933 campaigns. Smith was followed by Paul Hughes in 1933-34. Captain that season was Tom Key, former sports editor of the Columbus Citizens-Journal. Hughes was followed by Jack Holloway. In his second campaign,1937-38, Holloway led St. Charles to an 11-6 record, the best in seven years. One of the stars of that team was sophomore Bob Duffy, destined to be one of the greatest basketball players to come out of Central Ohio.
A man who was to become one of the most popular and successful coaches in Central Ohio took on the head coaching duties at St. Charles in the fall of 1938. That man, of course, is John T. Ryan, better known as Jack Ryan. No one has had a greater or more lasting impact on St. Charles athletics than Ryan, who served the all-boys school for 26 years.
By coincidence, he was a graduate of Sacred Heart, where St. Charles held its first classes and where he coached several grade school teams. A graduate of Rosary High School, Ryan became head coach of all sports at St. Charles while studying for a degree at The Ohio State University. He was hired by Father Kerrigan on the recommendation of Notre Dame all-American Jack Cannon.
Ryan guided St. Charles to a best-ever 15-1 record in his first season. He followed with a 21-1 record in the 1939-40 campaign and matched that record the next season. His 1941-42 quintet surged to a 20-2 record. That gave Ryan a brilliant 77-5 basketball record in his first four years of coaching. Included in that record were two 29-game winning streaks.
The first two teams were led by the aforementioned Bob Duffy, who, in his senior year, set a city one-game scoring record of 45 points, an unheard-of feat in those days. He also set a one-season scoring record of 482 points. Duffy later won All-American honors at Tulane University and played two years with the Boston Celtics. Other members of those teams were Jack Meder, John Lorms, John Simon, Jack Grannan, and Walt Plank. Plank led the city in scoring in 1940-41 when he was the team captain. Don Potts captained the Carolians the following season.
Well over 12 million men served in the U.S. military during the dark years of World War II. One was Jack Ryan, who served a 44-month tour of duty in the U.S. Coast Guard starting in June of 1942. His departure left a big gap in the St. Charles athletic program since he coached all three major sports. To fill the vacuum, Bus Woodward was hired to coach basketball. Woodward had an outstanding cage squad in 1943-44 when the Cardinals compiled up a 20-3 record.
With the war won, Jack Ryan resumed his coaching duties at St. Charles in the fall of 1945. St. Charles enjoyed 16 winning basketball seasons under Ryan during his last 18 years at the school. His best string in this period occurred from 1946 – 1952. His teams won 102 games, lost 28, and won the Catholic League crown four years in a row starting with the 1946-47 squad.
St. Charles was one of the charter members of the newly-organized Central Catholic League and promptly won the league’s first basketball championship in the 1950-51 season. The 1955-56 squad saw one of Ryan’s finest basketball teams earn a 17-5 record and a Central District runner-up title. With a starting unit of captain John Dorrian, Leo Gutmann, Felix Borowitz, Chuck LeBel, and Jim Klunk, St. Charles lost to favored Columbus South 68-64 in a thrilling overtime battle before a roaring crowd in the Ohio State Fairgrounds Coliseum. The Cardinals eventually earned CCL championships in 1958 and 1961.
As fate would have it, St. Charles played its (temporarily) final OHSAA basketball game in the district tournament against Aquinas, the Columbus Diocese’s only other all-boys school at that time. Aquinas closed its doors for good in June, 1965. In a game reminiscent of the bygone era, Aquinas won the game 28-26. During the next four years, St. Charles was operated exclusively as a seminary prep school. Even in those years, sports activity was encouraged by Father Ralph Huntzinger, the school principal. He organized an annual state basketball tournament for seminary prep schools. St. Charles won the State Seminary Championship in 1967 and were runners-up in 1968.
The Cardinals returned to interscholastic sports in the 1969-70 school year when St. Charles again became a general prep school. Given the task of rebuilding the school’s athletic program was Rosary graduate Jerry Connor, who was assigned both head coaching and athletic director responsibilities. Under his direction, St. Charles once again became a prominent name in Central Ohio athletics.
The Cardinals returned to CCL play in the 1973-74 basketball season and finished third with a 6-4 record. St. Charles went on to win a Class A sectional tournament championship and runner-up honors in the district tournament. The Associated Press named Coach Connor Central District Class A “Coach of the Year” and juniors Mike Hausfeld and Eric Stinson were picked for first and second team honors, respectfully. Connor’s last team, 1974-75, brought St. Charles its first CCL Championship since the reopening of the school. This senior laden team was again led by Hausfeld and Stinson, who were both voted All-Ohio at seasons end.
Wally Teeters assumed the coaching reins for the next decade. His basketball Cards made an immediate impact on the state basketball community. In the first game of the 1975-76 season, the Cardinals faced defending AAA state champ Linden McKinley. With three starters returning, Linden was expected to make a title run for the second year. A corner jumper by Paul Kunzen midway through the third quarter, however, broke open a close game, and St. Charles went on to a 64-49 victory that sent shock waves through Central Ohio and the state.
The team ran through CCL competition the next two years, posting back-to-back 10-0 records. The 1975-76 edition further achieved school history by winning the school’s first basketball District Championship. Led by first team All-Ohio selection Marquis Miller, the Cardinals established themselves as a state power with top five rankings in both the AP and UPI polls. Miller gained further honors his senior year when he was named AA State Player of the Year in Ohio. To honor his accomplishments, his uniform number (45) was eventually retired in 2012. He is the only player to have that honor bestowed on him in St. Charles basketball history
Alas, the storybook 20-3 season came to an end with a nail-biting 76-75 loss to Wheelersburg at Ohio University’s new Convocation Center. Unfortunately, the scoreboard and clock broke during the first quarter and tournament officials resorted to wrestling tactics of “throwing in the towel” to end each quarter. The Cards narrowly missed out on made baskets at the end of both the first and third quarters when the towel “hit the floor” before the shots went through the net.
The 1980-81 Cardinal team was, as one newspaper put it, “as fast as the wind.” Although small in stature, that team put on quite a show as they almost reached perfection. Their 17-3 record was marred by three one-point loses. One game remembered by most fans from that era was at Wehrle, when at the conclusion of a hard-fought contest, 6’2” Cardinal center Alvin Peoples hit a 12’ turnaround jumper over 7’2” Wehrle center Troy Hitchcock. The Cardinals, led by Rodney Tention, went on to win the CCL but were upset in the first round of tournament play.
Jumping-jack Derek Sharp led the Cardinals in the 1981-82 season to yet another CCL Championship and a surprise District Championship. The tournament run was highlighted by the stunning overtime defeat of #2 state-ranked Bexley in the semifinals at the Coliseum. Many fans still talk about Sharp’s driving the lane, taking off from just inside the foul line, and dunking over three Bexley players. The dunk rallied the Cardinal’s confidence and spurred them to victory.
The 1985-86 season brought Jim Lower, previously the JV coach, to the controls of the St. Charles basketball program for the next nine years. Lower coached the team for the next nine years. The apex of the Lower years was the early 1990s where his teams won a CCL championship and two Central District championships, highlighted by a run to the Division II State Championship Game in 1992. That season, led by the vaunted “Cain and Kitsmiller” combination, marched through the CCL unblemished and nearly did the same for the entire regular season. Their only loss occurred on the road to super talented, Division I Groveport. They boasted such a deep lineup that future NBA player Calvin Booth was used in a reserve role. After coasting through the District and surviving a hard fought one-point scare in the Regionals to Kettering Alter, the Cards destroyed Van Wert in the school’s first ever appearance in the State Tournament at St. John Arena. Unfortunately, an extremely talented Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph team ended the dream, breaking open a close game that was tied heading into the 4th quarter, to post a 61-48 defeat of the Cardinals. They finished the season with an unprecedented 25-2 record.
Coach Lower’s second District Championship in the 90’s was earned two years later. Led by 1994 Wright State signee Thad Burton, the Cardinals peaked at just the right time, defeating top-seeded Beechcroft, led by District Player of the Year Mitch Hankins. They then defeated Marysville to claim the title. St. Charles eventually made it to the Regional Finals but were finally sidelined by a tough Ironton squad in the Convo at Ohio University.
Wally Teeters returned to the head coaching position for the 1994-95 season, and his fast-paced, defense-oriented squad surprised many an expert by winning both the CCL and the school’s fifth District Title. Central Ohio basketball fans still marvel about the coolness of Cardinal guard Jacob Daniel who, with one second on the clock, calmly sank three free throws to force overtime and ultimately a win against talented Whetstone, a squad with three Division I college signees, before having to beat CCL rival Watterson a third time in the District Final. That season would conclude on the campus of Wright State with a tough loss to Kettering Alter.
In 1997-98, Coach Teeters introduced “Co-motion Basketball.” That fast paced style produced Central Ohio’s highest point total ever in one game as the Cardinals ran to a 128-110 victory over #2 state-ranked Zanesville Rosecrans behind All-Ohio guard Eric Jenkins’ 44 point effort.
St. Charles basketball hit a rough patch in the first decade of the 21st century, compiling only three winning seasons. Part of this can be attributed to the Cardinals moving up to Division I. Former Cardinal Captain Jacob Daniel took over as head coach for the 2009-10 season and steadily turned things around. After finishing with a 7-13 record in his first year, Coach Daniel went on to post seven straight winning seasons, including a 17-6 finish by the 2012-13 squad. Coach Daniel and the Cardinals were just getting started, as they went on a surprise tournament run the following year and won their first Division I Sectional Championship. The run included going on the road to upset higher-seeded Thomas Worthington and Groveport. The next season, St. Charles finished the 2014-15 campaign 17-3 and were finally CCL Champions again, ending a 20-year drought that started after the 1995 championship. They also secured a 12 seed and home court for the Division I Sectional Tournament. Following that performance, St. Charles finished the 2016 season 22-2 with another outright CCL championship, compiling the most regular season wins in school history (20). They were awarded the 8 seed in the Central District tournament and won their second Sectional Title in Division I by defeating Reynoldsburg and Grove City. The win over Reynoldsburg was simply historic. The game had to be played at Columbus Academy due to damage incurred to the home stands by “The Man Cave” storming the court after Tavon Brown’s buzzer-beater to secure the outright CCL Championship over Bishop Watterson. The Cardinals set three school records, including FG% in a game (71%), 3FG made in a game (15), and 3FG% in a game (79%). The Sectional Title victory over Grove City earned Jacob Daniel his 100th win as head coach.
St. Charles then met 7th seeded Dublin Coffman in the District Semifinals in front of a packed crowd at Olentangy Orange HS. Leading after the 1st quarter, the Cardinals lost All-CCL point guard Johnny Wallace to injury and saw their lead evaporate by half-time. Coffman eventually gained a double-digit lead in the 3rd quarter before the Cardinals began clawing their way back. The score was back and forth throughout the 4th quarter, with the Cardinals trailing by two points with 30 seconds remaining. Two missed shots in the final half-minute proved to be the difference, as Coffman ended the Cardinals’ dream season. The 2015-16 Cardinals broke season records for 3FG% (41%) and FT% (74%) and were ranked as high as 12th in the AP Division I State Poll. Jacob Daniel was named Central District Coach of the Year, and for the first time in school history, AP State Coach of the Year.
Incredibly, the 2017 edition of St. Charles Basketball once again surpassed the previous season’s accomplishments. The Cardinals, led by the big three of 4-year letter-winner Braden Budd, 6’7” Hillsdale signee Tavon Brown, and 6’11” Belmont commit Nick Muszynski, compiled a 24-3 record, including another 20-win regular season. St. Charles also went unbeaten in the Central Catholic League for the first time since 1992. This gave the program its third straight outright CCL title, which had not been done since the Wally Teeters’ squads of 1980, 1981, and 1982. After losing the season opener at Reynoldsburg in ugly fashion, St. Charles won 13 straight games before dropping a 3-point game to a one-loss Hilliard Bradley team in the Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic at Ohio Dominican. This did not deter the Cardinals though, as they finished the regular season unbeaten. St. Charles was awarded the 8th seed in the Division I tournament once again and beat a feisty Briggs squad and Tri-Valley team to win another Sectional Title. The Cards then had a much-anticipated rematch with 10th seeded Reynoldsburg in the District Semifinal. This game went back and forth, but the Cardinals avenged their opening night loss and beat the Raiders 45-41 to advance to their first ever Division I District Championship.
In the District Title game, St. Charles would face off with a similar, yet smaller Hilliard Davidson squad who had gone on a strong run in the tournament. Davidson, in their previous game, had upset defending state champion Westerville South, and were playing in their 2nd straight District Title game. However, Davidson’s momentum would end there, as the Cardinals held them to a championship game record low 19 points. Nick Muszynski out-rebounded the entire Davidson team in the win. Unfortunately, the #2 ranked team in the state, Pickerington Central, ended the dream season in the Regional Tournament. Led by future North Carolina players Sterling Manley and Jeremiah Francis, the Tigers pulled away from the start in route to a 75-53 win.
The 2017 St. Charles Cardinals finished the year as District Champions, the first time since 1995 and first ever in Division I; Central Catholic League Champions for the 3rd straight season and undefeated for the first time since 1992; and finished with 24 wins, the most since the 1992 State Runner-Up season. Nick Muszynski was also named All-Ohio, the school’s first all-state player since 1998 and the only one ever in Division I.
The 2020 squad started slow, going 5-5 in their first 10 games. While many may have counted out the Cardinals, they came out hot the second half of the season. St. Charles won 13 straight games, including a 4-0 record in the second half of the CCL to capture their 20th league championship and secure the 12 seed in the Central District Tournament. The Cards took down Big Walnut in their opening tournament game but got upset in the second round by a tough Delaware Hayes squad.
Following a historic 11-year run, coach Jacob Daniel retired just before the 2021 season. This saw long-time assistant Mike Ryan take over the program. This, however, was not the biggest news of the season. The 2021 season will always be known at the “Covid-19” season, where no game was safe from cancellation. Due to multiple stoppages and shutdowns, the Cardinals did not open play until December 28th against league rival Bishop Watterson. Coach Ryan got his first official win over the Eagles 55-51 in front of a parents’-only crowd. The Cardinals ended up missing 7 games due to cancellations but finished 6-2 in the Central Catholic League and earned their 2nd straight CCL Tittle, the 21st in school history.
The 2022 campaign proved to be an historic one, as it saw the final game in historic St. Charles Gymnasium. The Cardinals battled Bishop Watterson in front of a standing-room only crowd. As only one could have it, the game called at half time due to perspiration on the floor, ending the gymnasium in very fitting fashion! The 2022 season included replacing 3 of the top 6 players, and top 2 scorers. The Cards grew all season long, and grinded out their first two tournament games to earn their 2nd ever trip to the Division I Central District Championship against 2nd seeded Gahanna-Lincoln. The first 6 minutes went back and forth as St. Charles post Chase Walker and Gahanna’s Sean Jones went point for point. The Lions proved too much though and ended the Cardinals season 66-39. Walker was named All-Ohio and CCL Player of the Year after his dominant junior season.
Basketball has always been one of St. Charles’ most consistent winners since opening in 1923. We wish the 2024-2025 squad the best of luck in adding to the tradition detailed in “The History of St. Charles Basketball”.
