A big night for No. 22

by Sheldon Ocker

What No. 23 has done for the NBA, No. 22 has done for Revere High School, times three.

As any basketball fan knows, Michael Jordan wore No.23, and ever since, players – from top pros to high school sophomores — have fought to wear that number. It’s a little different with No. 22. Only a select number of basketball players have worn it for the Minutemen because it has been monopolized by one family.

Revere decided to honor the Nance family by retiring No. 22 during the first home football game of the season on Aug. 23.

Larry Nance moved to Bath Township when he played for the Cavaliers in the 1980s. Son Larry Jr. wore his dad’s No. 22, so did his brother Pete and his sister Casey. All three Nance offspring were star players at Revere and in college.

Casey, Revere Class of 2008, was a defensive specialist, though she also scored more than 1,000 points at Revere. She also had more than 1,100 rebounds and notably 281 blocked shots in her four years of high school. As a senior, she was a McDonald’s All-America nominee.

She attended the University of Dayton, where at 6-foot-5 she made the Atlantic 10 All-Freshman team in 2009 and the A-10 All-Defensive team in 2010. She underwent three surgical procedures on the same knee in 2010, but after a difficult recovery she returned to the court for the Flyers.

Nance has since helped coach the Revere girls’ team and currently is involved with the Revere Foundation.

Larry Jr., Revere Class of 2011, has played for the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Cleveland Cavaliers and now the Atlanta Hawks in his nine-year NBA career. A some-time starter, his value has been mostly as a do-everything guy off the bench. He spent his college career at Wyoming, where he averaged 16.1 points and 7.2 rebounds.

Pete, Revere Class of 2018, was named Ohio Division II Player of the Year as a senior, when Revere won its first district championship. He played four years for Northwestern before transferring to the University of North Carolina for his final season of eligibility. He played sparingly for the Cavaliers last season, spending most of the season on Cleveland’s G-League team. ∞