Stop the presses: OSU senior not ready to be yesterday's news

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Saturday afternoon was a little bit about putting a red-headed, nose-picking snowboarder on a magazine cover. What do they call him? Shaun White. The Flying Tomato.

He has his own commercials -- several of them. He's famous for doing parlor tricks on a strip of polyurethane.

He's 20. And he's finished.

Ron Lewis is feelin' it after his dramatic 3-pointer. (AP)

He might not know it yet, but Carrot-Top-on-snow is about to be quietly retired by our youth culture. His shtick is played out, about to be replaced by the Who's Next of the moment.

Shaun White is two years younger than Ohio State's Ron Lewis, so you can imagine how worthless the Buckeyes' senior guard feels. In a basketball youth culture that rewards its own brand of punk nose-pickers, Lewis had the audacity to take up a scholarship for five years at two different schools.

This season he has been wallpaper behind five of the best freshmen in the country, one of them the likely No. 1 NBA Draft choice. Lewis has no pro future to speak of.

What's wrong with this guy? Not one magazine cover.

Even worse, for most of his playing career it sounds like he has been unassertive, quiet, just sort of there.

"Quite honestly, he showed up on our doorstep," Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said of Lewis, who came in with the coach's first recruiting class three years ago. "I didn't know anything about Ron."

Twice, they say, Lewis has demanded the ball in the huddle this season. The first time was more than two months ago, a last-second shot that beat Tennessee. The latest a 23-foot 3-point bomb with two seconds left to push No. 1 Ohio State to overtime Saturday against Xavier.

A flying tomato of his own to keep the Buckeyes alive in the tournament.

They won, of course, 78-71. You don't hit a shot like that and blow a No. 1 seed and No. 1 ranking, given that big of a second chance.

We know Shaun White. We loathe Shaun White. Ron Lewis is no Shaun White. Lewis' substance is a shot for the ages that extends a 19-game winning streak and books a trip to the Sweet 16.

"Thank goodness he showed up (at Ohio State)," Matta said. "I told him he's one of the better guards in the country."

He was on Saturday. Ohio State was outplayed for most of the second half against highly motivated Xavier. The Musketeers fans are still bitter at Matta for leaving their program for Ohio State.

Xavier was about to nail down one of the biggest wins in its history. The Muskies were on fire from beyond the arc. Justin Cage, one of Matta's former players, made all eight of his shots and scored 25. Xavier was up by 11 with 7:19 left, by nine with less than four minutes left.

The Thad Five looked mostly lost. Greg Oden was in the process of fouling out.

At that point, Lewis became everything he wasn't throughout most of his career. Aggressive, assertive, the man. In the final 3:50, he scored 10. Two free throws after going to the basket against former Columbus (Ohio) Brookhaven teammate Drew Lavender. A conventional three-point play after driving hard against Xavier freshman Derrick Brown.

Cage gave the Buckeyes a chance missing the back end of a one-and-one with 9.3 seconds left. Two free throws were all he missed in the game. Make that last one and Ohio State's done.

Oden had fouled out moments earlier, providing what could have been an ignominious end to his short career. After his fifth foul, Oden shoved Brandon Cole to the ground. The officials missed it. Good for the Buckeyes, because the resulting technical would have done them in too.

But something clicked with Lewis. In the last six games, he has averaged 17.3 points. He had 24 Saturday when Mike Conley Jr. found him with a pass far away from the basket.

"I had all the confidence in the world," Conley said. "When I got the ball I tried to look for him."

Lewis launched what could have been the final shot of his career.

"It was just a glorious moment," he said.

All championship teams seemingly run into a game like this as they make their way through the bracket. Matta was asked if this is that game or is there genuine concern?

"I'm a super positive guy, so I'm saying this a positive thing," Matta said.

Make it more than positive, make it lucky. Lewis is the only remaining recruit from that first class. Matta was hired in July 2004. He needed a guy to drive the ball. Lewis was it, although more, better players would follow.

Now after those five years at two different schools, Lewis' scholarship will be worth something more than a couple of game-winning shots. On Monday, he will graduate with a degree in sociology.

The audacity.