ESPN feature honoring 2002 Roger Bacon basketball team that beat LeBron James airs Sunday

On March 23, 2002, Roger Bacon became the only Ohio high school to beat LeBron James and the Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary's Fighting Irish when the Spartans notched an upset in the OHSAA Division II state championship game in Columbus.

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Twenty years later, members of the Roger Bacon team have reunited for a feature that will debut on ESPN's SportsCenter on Sunday morning during the 8 a.m. hour. The SC Featured segment titled, "The Chosen Ones," told the perspective of the Roger Bacon team, explores the story of the club, how it stopped James from winning a third-straight state title and the aftermath of one of Ohio's most unforgettable prep basketball games.

One of the feature's producers, Joshua Kramer, is a Cincinnati native who graduated from Princeton High School. During his time at Princeton, the Vikings' basketball coach was the late Bill Brewer, who led Roger Bacon to the state championship over James in 2002.

“I remember waking up the morning after this game took place and being utterly shocked by the result in the newspaper,” Kramer said. “This game is one of those stories that live in folklore in Southwest Ohio but is not well-known nationally. High school sports are a huge deal in Cincinnati and people take great pride in their schools and sports teams.

“I wanted this story to be shared with a national audience, not just to highlight this amazing accomplishment of defeating LeBron James, but also to honor coach Brewer, his family, and friends.”

The feature was shot in mid-January in Cincinnati and Cleveland. With many of the Roger Bacon players returning to Cincinnati for recognition of the 20th anniversary of the win, ESPN’s producers gathered them in a local sports bar to watch a replay of the game and then documented them being honored that night at halftime of a game at Roger Bacon.

Among the players from Roger Bacon’s championship team in the feature are Beckham Wyrick, David Johnson, Frank Phillips, Monty St. Clair and Josh Hausfeld. Some players from the current team also appear in the feature.

The feature is narrated by Tony Meale, author of the 2012 book "The Chosen Ones," on the 2002 Roger Bacon team.

“From everyone outside of the Roger Bacon team, the expectation was that LeBron and Saint Vincent-Saint Mary would win their third-straight championship,” said Luis Aldea, who co-produced the feature. “The main takeaway is that it's a story of perseverance. Any player, any team can be beaten on any given game day; even arguably the greatest basketball player ever, can and has lost.

“Also, the game of basketball created a bond that these former basketball players formed 20 years ago, and their friendship hasn't changed a bit.”

After the initial airing, the feature will re-air in other editions of SportsCenter Sunday night and on Monday.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ESPN to feature 2002 Roger Bacon basketball team on Sunday morning