by Bill Rogers

One of the many things Middletown residents have to take pride in is the plethora of amazing athletes that have been born, raised, and fostered in this city. Middletown is home to some of the biggest names in basketball, football and track and field in the state, country, and world. Middletown student athletes compete today in baseball, basketball, football, soccer, golf, swimming, tennis, track and field, cross country, volleyball and wrestling.

Perhaps Middletown's most famous alumni, Jerry Lucas is an NBA hall of famer, a gold-metal-winning Olympian, and now a world-renowned memory education expert.

In his time at Middletown High School, Jerry Lucas led the school through back-to-back undefeated seasons and Ohio state high school championships in 1956 and 1957. His team suffered their only loss in the 1958 state finals. In his time playing for MHS he broke nearly every existing high school record.

While Lucas was offered more than 150 athletic scholarships, he decided to go to Ohio State on an academic scholarship in 1958. He led the team from his sophomore through senior years to a 78-6 record over 3 NCAA seasons, taking the team to the finals every year.  Lucas was All-American all three years, Big Ten Player of the year all three years, and was named ahead of all his college peers and even professional athletes as Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year in 1961.

Equally well known to today's NFL fans is Cris Carter, 4 time All-Pro, and one of only four players in in NFL history with over 1,000 receptions. Recruited out of Middletown High School for both football and basketball, Cris decided to accept Ohio's State's offer and focused on football in college. After his last year at Ohio State in 1987, he left with the school record for receptions and has been inducted in the Ohio State Varsity Hall of Fame.

Recruited to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1987, Cris Carter went on to an extremely successful football career, playing for two years with the Eagles, 11 years with the Minnesota Vikings, and a brief year with the Dolphins. He played 8 straight Pro Bowls, and can now be seen hosting HBO's Inside the NFL and works as the NFL Analyst for Yahoo Sports.

Older brother of Cris, Butch Carter was a star basketball player for Middletown from 1973 to 1976, and was named Ohio's "Player of the Year" his senior year. Playing Guard at Indiana University from 1976 to 1980, Butch made the game winning shot in the National Invitational Tournament against Purdue, earning him the MVP award for the tournament. Butch played professional basketball from 1980 to 1986, playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, and Philadelphia 76ers.

More notable than Butch's career as a basketball player is his career as a coach. After leaving the NBA in 1986, Butch returned to coach for Middletown High School for two years from 1986 through 1988, turning around a losing team to a team with an 18-3 record in 1988. Acknowledged for his two year turnaround by being named Ohio Basketball High School Coach of the Year, Butch Carter is the only person to be named both Player and Coach of the Year in Ohio.

Butch Carter went on to become head coach for the Toronto Raptors, leading them to their first winning season in the 1999-2000, and taking them to their first NBA playoff appearance.

Todd Bell was a standout football player in Middletown, recruited out of high school to play for Ohio State as a four-year starting defensive back. Best remembered in his college football career for scooping up a blocked punt against Michigan in 1979 and running it in for the game winning touchdown, Bell earned the team a spot in the 1980 Rose Bowl.

In 1981 Todd Bell was recruited by the Chicago Bears, playing for them from 1981 to 1987, when he signed a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played an additional two years with the Eagles before breaking his leg against the Bears in 1989, an injury that prematurely ended his career.

Todd Bell suffered a fatal heart attack in 2005, and is remembered in Middletown by Todd Bell Memorial Way, a stretch of road running alongside Rosa Parks Elementary School.

Other Middletown notables include Gay Brewer, a professional golfer on the PGA Tour from 1961 to 1972 and winner of the 1967 Masters Tournament. Brewer retired from the PGA Tour with 11 tournament wins.

Howard Jones is a renowned early football player for Yale from 1905-1907, the team going undefeated in his 3 years playing for it. Better known for his coaching career, Jones coached for Syracuse, Yale, Ohio State, Iowa, Southern Carolina, and Duke, and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame's inaugural class of inductees in 1951.

Charlie Root played professional baseball for sixteen seasons from 1926 to 1941 for the Chicago Cubs, and holds the club record for career wins with 201. In 1932, he threw the pitch that Babe Ruth predicted he would hit into the seats in the 1932 World Series at Wrigley Field in Chicago.