Mason set for Miami HOF induction

Thirteen years after Chet Mason’s All-Mid-American Conference career concluded at Miami University, the RedHawks will cement his legacy.

Miami’s athletic department announced July 30 Mason will be one of six “outstanding individuals” inducted to the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. The honor bestowed upon Brush’s boys basketball coach represents a message he tries to convey to youth in the South EuclidLyndhurst City School District.

“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is not all about the game of basketball,” Mason said. “People vote because of your character, also. Basketball plays a big part, but character plays a huge part, too.”

Nicknamed “The Jet” at Cleveland South High School, Mason attended Miami after he averaged a triple-double during his senior season when he shared 2000 Ohio Mr. Basketball honors with Medina’s Tony Stockman.

Mason made 117 career starts for the RedHawks under Coach Charlie Coles, the program’s second-most alltime. He and Ron Harper are the program’s only players to compile 1,000 points, 700 rebounds, 300 assists and 150 steals in a career. Mason’s 806 career rebounds rank first among Miami’s guards.

Mason was named the MAC Defensive Player of the Year and the RedHawks’ Male Co-Athlete of the Year in 2005. He was a first-team All-MAC selection that season when he led Miami to a regular-season league title and NIT berth.

At Miami, Mason gained perspective that helped him succeed during his international playing career.

“I was coming from the inner city of Cleveland, where it was predominantly African-American,” Mason said. “When I went to Miami, I don’t want to pick the number out of the percentage of African-Americans on campus, but it was short. It taught me this is what the world is like.”

Mason played in the NBA D-League for a handful of teams, had stints in the Continental Basketball Association and made an impact playing in a host of countries overseas. Mason was the first American MVP of the Adriatic League in Bosnia and won back-toback championships playing with Siroki Eronet.

After his playing career ended, Mason returned to Northeast Ohio aiming to give back to his community. For the past 12 years, Mason has hosted a free basketball clinic for students of the inner-city neighborhood where he was raised.

Entering his fourth year at Brush, Mason aims to teach his student-athletes to use athletics as a tool for success.

“No, I didn’t play in the NBA for years and no, I didn’t make millions and millions of dollars,” Mason said. “But, you know, I’m able to do a lot of things a lot of the millionaires are able to do as far as the way I give back and to even be blessed enough to get into a Hall of Fame, being only 37 years old.”

Alongside Mason, volleyball player Lisa Dankovich, swimmers Ted Goble and Kelly Harper King and runners Melissa Mayers Alonso and Darrell Sargent comprise the Miami Athletic Hall of Fame Class of 201819. They will be honored during an induction dinner Aug. 31 and recognized at halftime of the football game against Marshall on Sept. 1.

“It’s unbelievable,” Mason said. “It’s one of the best achievements I’ve had in my whole career.”

TIM PHILLIS — THE NEWS-HERALD Brush coach Chet Mason addresses his team in a timeout during a game against Garfield Heights Jan. 7 at Baldwin Wallace. Brush won, 63-60.