“Micky Arison figured Norris was one guy who would know what to do with a trophy,” Norris Cole Sr. said. “He’s been lifting them up all his life, going back to the Salvation Army teams in Dayton when he was a little kid. After that it was middle school and then two state titles at Dunbar and a Horizon League title with Cleveland State.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the NBA bracket, Oklahoma City guard Daequan Cook — also from Dunbar —got his hands on the Western Conference trophy when the Thunder pushed aside San Antonio to advance to the finals.
That didn’t surprise his mom, Renae.
“This is a dream come true and I’m not just saying that,” she said Monday night from Oklahoma City.
“Earlier this year when my youngest son (Tavyonne Hunt) was winning the state title with Dunbar, I said ‘I’ve just got this feeling that my oldest boy is going to be going for a title this year, too.’ And now it’s happening.”
Not only are there two players from Dayton vying for the NBA crown this year, but there’s almost a third if you count the Heat’s Chris Bosh, who spent a lot of time here since childhood and, as Cole Sr. put it, “he knows as much about Dayton as Norris does.”
The prospect of two Dunbar products facing off for the NBA crown has prompted a thought that Bing Davis, the nationally-acclaimed local artist and once a notable prep and college hoops player himself, voiced for everyone here:
“Dayton may be the only city in America that can be sure it will be celebrating its NBA champion this year. Other cities can’t be positive they’re going to be able to pop the champagne corks, but there is absolutely no doubt in Dayton. One way or another, we’ll have an NBA champ here.”
And Renae Cook took that thought a little further when she offered: “This could be history in the making. I don’t know if two high school teammates ever played against each other for the title.”
Two prep teammates from here — Bill Hosket and Don May of the 1964 Belmont High state championship team — did win the 1970 NBA title as New York Knicks teammates.
As for two teammates playing against each other, Davis also wondered if it had occurred before but said, “Regardless, it’s something Dayton can be proud of. We have a real presence in this series.”
The 6-5 Cook, who started 22 of 57 regular-season games this year, averaged 17.4 minutes and 5.5 points a game for the Thunder. Cole — a starter in two of 65 games — averaged 19.4 minutes and 6.8 points.
“Dayton couldn’t have two better representatives in the finals than Daequan and Norris,” said Dunbar coach Peter Pullen. “They’re good kids and they’ve never forgotten their hometown.”
Renae agreed: “That’s one thing I’ve always told Daequan. Always remember where you came from. You have been blessed. Norris has too. Some people like to put Dayton down — say nothing good, nothing positive happens in the city — but they prove it differently.”
Since he was a first-round draft pick out of Ohio State five years ago, Daequan has come home every year and put on a summer basketball camp for local kids. He also looks out for his alma mater.
“I’ve got a shoot-around coming up Saturday and the day before yesterday I got my shipment of shirts for the kids that Daequan always sponsors,” Pullen said.
Norris Sr. said his son — who was a first-round pick last June — plans to host a camp at the Dayton Kroc Center this summer and another one in Cleveland.
Just before the end of the NBA lockout that kept players out of preseason camp this year, both Cook and Cole returned to Dayton to headline a day at Kemp Elementary to raise awareness for homeless students — and the programs that help them — in the Dayton Public Schools system.
Soon after that, Cole was making his NBA debut in Miami, where, in Bosh, he found a teammate who called Dayton his second home.
Bosh’s mom Freida grew up here, graduated from Patterson Co-Op in 1977 and won the prestigious Debutante Ball in Dayton, the white dress and scholarship affair put on the past 63 years by the local alumnae chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
When Bosh was growing up in Texas he’d come to Dayton regularly to visit his grandmother Gloria White, who lived on Dennison Avenue. She died this past February and Chris was here to bury her.
“Chris spent every summer here,” said Mae Worthy, who used to live next door to Gloria and had Freida baby-sit her three kids. “Gloria would have all her grandkids here and I remember her packing all of them into the car with her to go places. Chris loved coming to Dayton and even after he was grown he liked coming back here to visit.”
Over the years, he got to know Mae and her husband James and also became familiar with the Worthy’s grandson, Jerel — a star defensive lineman at Michigan State who was drafted this past April by the Green Bay Packers.
“When I talked to Chris at his grandmother’s funeral, he told me, ‘All I ever heard about when I came to Dayton was how you could cook,’ ” beamed Mae, who cooks regularly for her church and the Wayne High School football team during two-a-days and is especially is known for her German chocolate cake and sweet potato pies, which regularly took top honors at the Montgomery County Fair.
“Chris said, ‘Could I get you to come down to Miami sometime and cook for my Heat? I know they’d love it. ... I’ll send my jet to pick you up,’ ” Mae said with a chuckle. “I told him, ‘Wait a minute, let me sit in the chair and check my breath.’ When I calmed down, I said I’d love to do it.”
She said she’s been following every move of Bosh’s roller coaster ride through the playoffs. He suffered a lower abdominal strain during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals and missed the rest of that series and the first four games against Boston. He came off the bench Saturday to score 19 points — hitting three of four 3-point shots — to boost Miami to the 101-88 victory.
“They wouldn’t have won that game without him,” Mae said.
She believes — now that he’s back and again completes the Heat’s Big Three threat with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade — she’ll eventually be heading to Miami to cook for the NBA champions.
While Norris Cole Sr., thinks she’s right, he said, “Either way the world championship ring is coming back to Dayton Dunbar. There will be no misses on that one.”
Although Renae Cook hopes the series goes the other way, like Cole Sr. she said “I’m proud of both Daequan and Norris ... Now all I can say is ‘Let the best man win.’ ”
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