Ohio University Southern's men's basketball players still talk about their big victory in Kentucky.

The win wasn't on the basketball court, but in the lives of more than 80 high school and junior high student-athletes whom the players helped lead to Christ at June's Kentucky FCA Convention in Georgetown, Ky.

"The feeling I got seeing those kids go up during the alter call was 100 times better than playing in (the University of Kentucky's) Rupp Arena," said Derek Withrow, a junior guard from Flatwoods, Ky. "To be in there with those kids, seeing them praising and crying and hugging, it was something I'll never forget."

Five Ohio Southern players worked as Huddle Leaders at the convention. Trailblazers coach Ron Reed, a 30-year supporter of FCA in eastern Kentucky, arranged the trip with Steele Harmon of FCA in Lexington. Ohio Southern, located in Ironton, Ohio, just across the Ohio River from the Bluegrass State, is a two-hour drive from Georgetown.

"We have a lot of good Christian kids," Reed said. "I try to emphasize that basketball is just a training ground for life. On the floor, you can get what you can't get in the classroom."

Ohio Southern isn't a Christian college, but the men's basketball roster features 12 Christian players. Withrow heads the school's FCA Huddle, drawing on his experience at Russell High School, which features one of the stronger Huddles in Kentucky. Withrow had attended the state convention as a Huddle member and as a Huddle Leader, but this was the first time he had his teammates working with him. Freshmen Nathan Hudson, Aaron Patten, Greg Mauk and Rickie McDonie also served as Huddle Leaders.

"It really helped bring us together," Withrow said. "We had a riot of a weekend with all the praise and worship. It was such a refreshing and fulfilling experience."

Hudson played high school basketball at Harvest Christian in South Shore, Ky. Combining basketball and Christianity was nothing new for him, but the magnitude of impact he and his teammates made at the convention left him overwhelmed.

"It's good to recover spiritually," Hudson said. "It's good to be with the guys and to keep our priorities straight and to help others do that, too."

The players made an impression on Steele Harmon, the Kentucky FCA representative who headed the convention. Harmon said he plans to invite the team back to FCA Leadership Camp in Asbury, Ky., this summer.

"Those guys did such a great job loving those kids to Jesus," Harmon said. "You could see Jesus shine through them."

As a Huddle Leader, the players led devotions, made sure the group was where it needed to be when it needed to be and, as Withrow said, "got the kids to talk about themselves and their Christian walk, if they had one." Withrow said he was blessed as much as anyone.

"My Huddle taught me things," Withrow said. "I want to go back and keep maturing as a Christian. I'd been there as a student, then as a Huddle Leader. It's funny how God prepares you for things like this. God has shown me that if I'm not a witness, pouring out my heart, what good is my basketball ability?"

Working the state convention has made a close team even closer. After hearing the players who worked the convention, several more said they want to go next year.

"We've talked about it a lot," Withrow said. "We're pretty good to talk about it on road trips. This is a team where if I pull out a Bible and read it on a road trip, I'm not the only one. It's very uplifting to be a part of a team like this."

Reed intentionally stresses to recruits that they will do as much off the court as they do on it. Ohio Southern players worked a National Youth Sports Camp last summer and some have worked camps with former University of Kentucky standout Cameron Mills.

Reed said he stresses character through Christ.

"It's so much easier to be good than bad," Reed said. "There's no guilt, no remembering what you said when you told a lie. The answer for most of the world's problems is for people to treat one another as they would want to be treated."

Harmon has known Reed for more than 30 years and said even Reed's high school teams were ardent difference-makers at FCA events.

"I'm really blessed to know Ron," Harmon said. "His teams have always been this way. The way they show love is incredible."

Withrow heads the team's Christian contingent, but has plenty of help. The players considered forming a Christian band, but discovered that all three players interested play the same instrument: bass guitar.

"That's unusual," Withrow said. "Usually, nobody wants to be the guy in the back playing bass."

Withrow's Christian walk has been "unusual." Last year, he led his grandfather to Christ.

"It's usually the other way around," Withrow said. "I was asked to speak at church and when I was going back to my seat I looked up and there he went to the alter to give his life to Christ. It was a real blessing."

Withrow said he marvels at God's ability to reach junior high and high school kids at a state convention or his elderly grandfather at a church service.

 "It just shows that God is for everybody," Withrow said. "That's the way it's supposed to be. The peace that He gives can't be described."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tim Stephens is an FCA area representative in West Virginia, as well as a regular contributor to the FCA website.