Hall of Fame Inductees
- Induction:
- 2023
Joe Roberts was a three-year letterwinner and starter for head coach Fred Taylor from 1958-60, averaging 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds over 72 career games. He was the starting forward on Ohio State’s national championship team in 1960. He scored 19 points in the region final and added 10 points in the win over Cal-Berkeley in the championship game. Roberts was the first African-American captain in program history. He and Dick Furry were co-captains of the 1959-60 team that went 25-3 and in addition to winning the national title, won the Big Ten title with a record of 13-1. He led a team that included greats like Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and Bobby Knight.
The Columbus, Ohio, native earned his bachelor’s degree in biological studies and physical education from Ohio State in 1960 and later went on to get three separate master’s degrees from Western Michigan and Cal State-East Bay. He was drafted in the third round of the 1960 NBA Draft by the Syracuse Nationals (now Philadelphia 76ers) and would play parts of four seasons in the NBA and ABA.
Roberts passed away in the fall of 2022 at the age of 86.
