Caitlin Clark joins list of high-profile visiting athletes who have competed in Columbus
The hype surrounding college phenom Caitlin Clark's assumingly final game at Value City Arena against Ohio State on Sunday is a type of excitement that sports fans in the Columbus area are no strangers to.
Along with the fact that Clark has already played in front a sold-out crowd when the Hawkeyes took on the Buckeyes on the road last season, the area has hosted numerous other visiting high-profile athletes throughout the years.
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Whether these athletes were competing on the high school, collegiate or professional level, they caught the attention of fans who made it a priority to see them in action, even if it was while participating in a completely different sport than the one they're known for.
Note: This list centers around athletes who did not compete in Columbus on a regular basis, so will not include any Columbus-based athletes or frequent opponents of Columbus-based teams. The focus here is on one-offs – exhibition games, national team appearances, special events or Ohio State non-conference games.
LeBron James
Akron native LeBron James has made his loyalty to Ohio State football known on multiple occasions, showing up to football games at Ohio Stadium in Buckeye gear. Despite the fact there is no professional basketball team located in Columbus and James chose to forgo competing collegiately, the NBA's leading scorer has taken the court at Value City Arena.
During his time at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, James led the Fighting Irish to Ohio state semifinal games during the 2002 and 2003 seasons. Both years, the matchups took place on the Buckeyes' home court.
Additionally, throughout his two stints with the Cleveland Cavilers, James returned to Value City Arena for NBA preseason action.
NBA Hall of Famers: Bird, Jordan & Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
In addition to James' Cavs, other NBA teams have scrimmaged in Columbus.
Fans enjoyed Celtics legend Larry Bird visiting St. John Arena in 1989 for an exhibition game against the Washington Bullets. A year earlier, Micheal Jordan played at the same venue when his Chicago Bulls faced the New Jersey Nets.
When it comes to college hoops, there have been many stars that the Buckeyes faced within the Big Ten, but one of the biggest non-conference stars to make a road trip to Columbus was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, when Ohio State hosted the 1968-69 UCLA Bruins.
John Elway
Who is the greatest nonconference opponent to face the Ohio State football team? Arguably that distinction belongs to John Elway.
During the 1982 season, the Stanford Cardinal took a trip to a trip to Ohio Stadium, where they pulled off a 23-20 upset victory behind Elway's 400+ yard performance in front of what was a record-breaking crowd for Ohio State at the time. More than 89,000 people were in the stands to see the future No. 1 NFL draft pick make the game-winning pass with less than a minute on the clock.
Great golfers: Tiger Woods, Anika Sorenstam and Bobby Jones
The Memorial Tournament has brought many well-known golfers to the area, but none bigger than Tiger Woods.
Picking up his first win on the grounds back in 1999, Woods has the highest career earnings of any golfer at the event, winning the Memorial a record five times. He has taken part in the tournament on 18 different occasions, including the last time he was on the Muirfield greens in July 2020.
Other famous golfers have competed in the area. World Golf Hall of Famer and three-time Women's PGA champion Annika Sorenstam took part in the New Albany Golf Classic in 1999, and many years before that the most successful amateur golfer ever, Bobby Jones, won the 1926 U.S. Open at Scioto Country Club.
Mia Hamm & USWNT
While unprecedented crowds for college basketball are coming out to see Clark in action, there have been other women who have drawn the attention of central Ohio sports fans. The United States women's national soccer team has been a must-see team for a while now, and its popularity started after bringing home the 1999 FIFA World Cup.
Following the team's iconic victory, the USWNT took on South Korea on Oct. 3 of that same year in a match that is considered one of the highest-attended matches at what is now known as Historic Crew Stadium.
Mia Hamm, one of the biggest names on the team at the time, netted a goal in the match. This came six years after seeing her first international action in the area against Italy at Westerville North High School in 1993. Hamm would continue to have success in Columbus, scoring a hat-trick against Scotland in 2002.
The U.S. men consider Columbus their spiritual home and have visited here many times, but Hamm's star power is unmatched.
And, yes, the Crew have welcomed in popular and prolific players such as David Beckham and Kaka, but they don't fit the criteria for this list since they were here for regularly scheduled MLS games.
Bobby Hull & Stan Mikita
Similarly, Penguins star Sidney Crosby and many other NHL big names have journeyed to Nationwide Arena to face the Blue Jackets, so they don't count for this list.
However, long before there were the Blue Jackets, there were the Columbus Checkers of the International Hockey League.
In 1966, the team's first-ever game was an exhibition against the Chicago Blackhawks at the Ohio Expo Fairground Coliseum. In the lineup for the Blackhawks that day were future Hall of Famers, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita, though the game was almost canceled due to poor ice conditions.
1993 Big Bear Tennis Challenge
The 1993 Big Bear Tennis Challenge in New Albany fielded an all-star lineup.
Even though 18-time grand slam champion Martina Navratilova was scratched with an ankle injury, the women's side was still stacked with Billie Jean King, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Monica Seles and Virginia Wade. On the men's side, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Andre Agassi and Vitas Gerulaitis were the competitors.
Cooperstown's legends
Columbus has a rich baseball history. The city boasts its own minor league team in the Clippers but has welcomed in MLB stars and Negro League greats on occasion as well.
In 1946, Bob Feller's all-stars battled Satchel Paige's all-stars as part of a barnstorming tour. The tour's 11th stop was at Red Bird Stadium and proceeds went toward the Columbus Zoo.
Feller's team fell 4-3 despite Paige not taking the mound. (Paige was not in the lineup for the game, though he was scheduled to be until the last minute.) Fans still got to see Josh Gibson, who was also called the "Black Babe Ruth."
Ruth barnstormed in Columbus.
"When Babe Ruth used to come into town with the Yankees and play exhibition games, the players stayed at the Neil House," Clippers historian Joe Santry once told The Dispatch. "Everyone thought Ruth was a notorious ladies' man and his teammates thought at night he'd be out chasing girls.
"What he did every year he came was buy a brand new car and go to Lazarus and buy all the toys there. He'd then drive to St. Vincent's orphanage on the near east side and donate the toys and cars. The only thing he asked was that nobody ever knew this. It was between him and the kids. We didn't find out until we were told stories and shown pictures by older women who were children at that time."
Another Yankees great to play an exhibition here was Mickey Mantle, whose visit to Jets Stadium came in 1956.
Michael Phelps
Before competing at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, where he won four gold medals, the then 14-time gold medalist took part in the Columbus Grand Prix at the Ohio State Aquatic Center. During the meet, Phelps came out on top in the 100 freestyle along with the 200 freestyle and butterfly.
Many thanks to the Twitter users who submitted recommendations for this list.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Caitlin Clark, LeBron James among biggest names to compete in Columbus
