When Archie Aldridge graduated from Middletown High School in 1973, he was No. 2 on the all-time boys basketball scoring list, and he was No. 1 on the Miami University all-time list when he graduated in 1978. Here is where he stands on those lists today:
Middletown High School
1. Jerry Lucas, 2,463
2. Archie Aldridge, 1,514
3. Butch Carter, 1,350
4. Mark Current, 1,344
5. John Fraley, 1,329
Miami University
1. Ron Harper, 2,377
2. Wally Szczerbiak, 1,847
3. Devin Davis, 1,828
4. Eric Newsome, 1,679
5. Damon Frierson, 1,644
6. Michael Bramos, 1,515
7. Landon Hackim, 1,493
8. Archie Aldridge, 1,490
9. Juby Johnson, 1,459
10. Tim Pollitz, 1,411
SOURCE: School record books
Nearly 50 years ago, Archie Aldridge attended his first Middletown High School boys basketball game. Even before he walked into Wade E. Miller Gym, his attention was captured by a pair of size 16 bronzed basketball shoes — those worn by Middie great Jerry Lucas a decade earlier — with a state championship net draped over them in the lobby’s trophy case.
His father, Thomas Aldridge, getting a little impatient, said: “Come on boy. Let’s go.”
When Aldridge, then an impressionable 10-year-old, walked into the gym, he was mesmerized by the number of fans sitting in the balcony, the sound of the raucous pep band, and anticipated looks on the faces of the students and the size of the players running their pre-game warmups.
“That night changed my life forever,” Aldridge said. “It made me a basketball fanatic.”
From that night forward, Aldridge dedicated his every moment to improving as a basketball player, much in the same way as Lucas. Aldridge recalls wadding up pieces of paper and shooting them through his mother’s lampshades, and twisting hangers and taping strings to them to make them resemble a hoop.
He was the city’s best — and probably its only — shooter of folded socks through a clothes hanger.
And now, Aldridge, 58, forever will be linked with Lucas when his high school jersey, No. 51, is officially retired during a halftime ceremony Saturday night when the Middies host Winton Woods at Wade E. Miller Gym. When Aldridge graduated in 1973, his jersey was retired, framed and hung in the athletic office with ones worn by Lucas and Butch Carter.
The school felt it was time to hang banners from the rafters, signifying the retired jerseys. MHS Athletic Director Gary Lebo said it’s “nice to recognize the school’s outstanding players.”
So Aldridge’s banner will hang next to the Lucas jersey that was retired three years ago.
“It almost doesn’t seem real,” he said of the jersey retirement. “Even to be mentioned with Lucas is unbelievable. I mean, Lucas. Incredible.”
When Aldridge slowly walks toward midcourt Saturday night, he probably will be overcome with emotion, he said. He may look skyward — toward the heavens, not his banner — and think of his father, who died in 1994, and his uncle Larry Aldridge, who died in 2009.
As a sophomore on the Middletown varsity team, Aldridge was known as a “super sub.” He remembers one game when the Middies played Hamilton Taft and the great Kevin Grevey scorched them for 28 first-half points. Coach Paul Walker, infuriated with the defense against Grevey, during a locker room rage, hit Aldridge on the head and asked if he could guard Grevey.
The startled Aldridge had no idea, so he nodded his head. The first time Grevey shot in the second half, the coaches told Aldridge to commit a hard foul, a blow to his chest. Aldridge laughs about it now and said he “held” Grevey to 14 second-half points and 42 for the game.
A star was born that half.
Aldridge finished his career as the school’s second-leading scorer with 1,512 points, 949 behind Lucas. In 1973, his senior year, he led the nation in scoring average (34.2 points) and was named Ohio’s Class AAA Player of the Year.
Addul Shakur Ahmad, then known as Ricky Martin, was one year ahead of Aldridge at MHS. He called Aldridge “a force inside” because of his ability to block shots and rebound.
“He made my job easier,” Ahmad said with a laugh. “He was solid as a rock.”
Aldridge was inundated with college scholarship offers, and he said at the time, he didn’t have a mentor to help him through the process. He chose Florida State, which he called “a mistake.” He played one season in Tallahassee, but he was homesick, and transferred to Miami University. Because he transferred to a Division I school, he had to sit out one season, in compliance with NCAA rules.
During that first year, Aldridge said he was in “a state of depression” and there were times when he just hid. He thought the “world was gonna end.” But he said he learned to work harder and to be more humble.
His sophomore season, he was named second-team Mid-American Conference and then first-team MAC the following season when Miami finished 20-6, but wasn’t invited to the NCAA Tournament or NIT, a snub that still bothers Aldridge.
In 1978, his senior year, Aldridge led Miami to the biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament in the first round, when the Redskins, as they were called them, defeated defending national champion Marquette 84-81 in overtime. Aldridge said the victory was even sweeter because former Marquette coach Al McGuire had earlier strongly criticized the NCAA for matching Marquette against Kentucky in the second round, with Marquette being given a first-round opponent in Miami that was supposedly not even worthy of providing an adequate tune-up game.
After beating Marquette, Miami was hammered by Kentucky, the eventual national champions, 91-69.
When Aldridge graduated, he was Miami’s all-time leading scorer with 1,490 points, a record that was broken by Ron Harper.
His coach at Miami, Darrell Hedric, said Aldridge was a “hard-nosed player” and a tenacious rebounder and consistent scorer, despite his 6-foot-4 body.
“You could always count on him,” said Hedric, who coached at Miami for 14 seasons. “He was just a great player.”
Aldridge was drafted by the Washington Bullets in the NBA, but chose to play overseas for two seasons. Then, during a phone conversation with his grandmother, she told him to “leave that ball alone” and return home.
He worked 31 years as a substitute teacher in several school districts, including Middletown, Franklin, Carlisle and Lakota. He also worked as a corrections officer at Lebanon Correctional Institution.
All of those years in athletics took their toll on Aldridge’s body. He’s permanently disabled because of his hip, and it’s painful to watch him get off the couch. A cane or walker are his constant companion.
He’s divorced and has four children: Quinn, 34, Adam, 28, Ashayla, 12, and Ayanna, 6.
Most of his afternoons are spent in his Middletown apartment. He loves to read and write poetry, and he hopes to make a living as a motivational speaker so he can weave sports stories into life’s tales.
Then he grabbed his cane and tried to push off the couch. There are pictures of a much younger — and leaner — Aldridge towering over a Kent State player for a rebound hanging on the wall, along with numerous awards. He’s in about every hall of fame.
The pain on his face was evident, clearer than the pictures.
“I’d give all of this up if I could get my health back,” he said.
Earlier, Aldridge remembered a fire that swept through his Bavarian Woods apartment complex Father’s Day weekend. Most of his belongings were ruined, but Middletown firefighters were able to save his sports awards, which, unlike the clothes and furniture, are irreplaceable.
And who knows, one day another 10-year-old boy’s imagination may be captured by Aldridge’s accolades.
Just like those bronzed shoes.
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