Hare played for the Flyers from 1991-95, scoring 1,323 points. He ranks 25th in school history. He ranked 16th when his career ended.
Hare played during a four-year period in which Dayton won a total of 32 games, but his thinking now about that time mirrors when he said then.
“From the time I step out of my car at the arena and walk into the building until the time I walk out of the building and get back into my car,” Hare told the Dayton Daily News in 1995 before Senior Night, “I’m going to savor and enjoy each moment like I never have before— whether they be moments or glory, frustration or sadness,. Winning is great — and I sure wish we’d would have won more than we did — but it’s the relationships that I have made with people that have made my experience a good and rewarding one.”
Twenty five years later, Hare admits the struggles were difficult. However, he has a lot of individual success to be proud of, and his son Landon, now a junior at Piqua High School where Hare is the athletic director, is now old enough to appreciate it.
Landon has become a UD fan — not only because of his dad’s history with the program but because he has attended basketball camps on campus and met players and coaches. Chip is too old to have many highlights on YouTube, so his son has sometimes had to do a little more research on his dad.
“We were watching the team play in Maui last year, and someone hit a 3,” Chip said, “and he said, ‘Hey, dad, did you ever hit a 3-pointer?’ I just looked at him and said, ‘Yeah. I really haven’t shared that stuff with you. Just Google it.’ He did. He knew what our team records were. He knew we struggled. He met coach (Jim) O’Brien at one point when he was coaching with the Pacers. He had met some other guys. He didn’t really understand my specific role and what my stats were.”
Hare doesn’t have too many mementos around the house to remind his family of his playing days. He has a jersey he wants to get framed. He has an old picture WHIO’s Mike Hartsock gave him from the coaches show. He does have some framed photos of campus on the wall.
As big as the Dayton experience was and is for Hare, he’s been a busy man in 2020. Athletic directors around the state have dealt with a year like no other. The coronavirus pandemic forced the Ohio High School Athletic Association to cancel the winter sports championships and the spring season. The fall season took place only because schools, athletes and parents jumped through many hurdles to make it work.
Hare said everything has come down to the partnerships athletic directors have with their coaching staffs and community and even other communities. Everyone has come together to make sports happen.
“It still continues to be hard,” Hare said, “but it’s one of those things. It’s a necessary evil. You have to believe what we’re doing is making a difference. I firsthand have seen kids have general appreciation for the opportunity to play. While winning is important, we have found those things have taken a back seat to getting out there and playing.”
As of mid-November, the plan was to continue with winter sports, though a number of schools throughout Ohio paused athletic activities because of the rising number of COVID-19 cases throughout Ohio.
“We’re going to move forward,” Hare said. “We’re going to do everything we can to get through this season without a shutdown. You may be in a situation where an individual or a team may have to quarantine. You’re going to have to go through those hurdles. It’s our hope we can finish the winter season as we did the fall season without much interruption.”
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