Moment in Time (originally submitted to ThisWeek News for publication September 27, 2017)

George Linn graduated from Grandview High School in 1952, having excelled in 4 sports (baseball, football, golf, and basketball). It was his abilities in basketball that caught the attention of new University of Alabama coach Johnny Dee, who recruited several players from Ohio to play at the SEC school. Linn went on to achieve first-team All American honors in 1956, and was honored in January of this year as an Allstate SEC Legend. In 1955, in a game between Alabama and North Carolina, Linn gathered in a rebound as time expired in the first half, turned and fired the ball the length of the court, making the shot as the buzzer sounded. The 85 feet, 11 inches shot was for many years the longest in NCAA history. A brass marker was placed in the floor of the Alabama court to commemorate (shown in the lower right) the shot. In this photo, Linn reenacts the shot from the location it was launched (an Alabama assistant coach had run on to the court after the shot and scratched a mark in the floor where it was taken). The upper right photo shows senior captain Linn in the center (#99) with his Bob Dudley coached Grandview team, and the center inset photo shows him in action taking a shot in a game against Bexley in 1952. Linn also was an alternate on the 1956 gold-medal winning Olympic basketball team, and later that year was drafted to play for the Boston Celtics in the NBA.