Roger Ertel is a 1954 graduate of Sunman High School.  Roger began his basketball career in 3rd grade at St. Nicholas School.  Upon entering Sunman High School, he excelled on the varsity basketball team earning letters all four years.  Roger was the playmaker guard on the team.  During his senior year, he scored 286 points in 19 games for an average of 15 ppg and had a 75% free-throw percentage.  His career total at Sunman was 498 points with a single game high of 22 points.  He was selected as a member of the All-County and All-Sectional teams both his junior and senior years. 

 

Like all the other county teams during those years, Sunman could not beat the Milan Miracle team in the tournaments.  Milan coach Marvin Wood said that the secret to beating the Tiger team was to stop, or slow down, that pesky guard named Ertel.  Roger was selected as a Ripley County All-Star and played in the inaugural 40 – 8 Tri-County all-star game in 1954.  Roger now becomes the 9th player from that team to be inducted into the Ripley Co Hall of Fame.

 

Like many great athletes, Roger was also known for his baseball skills.  He earned letters all four years at Sunman and continued playing after graduation in the highly competitive Tri-County baseball league.  He was very involved coaching in the Sunman area little league program and the St. Nicholas school basketball teams.

 

After high school, Roger worked for 10 years then joined the Army and served in Korea.  While there, he continued to play both basketball and baseball in various Armed Service leagues.  Roger retired in 1995 after a 30-year career with Monsanto in Cincinnati. 

 

Roger and his wife Barbara have been married since 1969 and have two sons, Roger Jr. and Matt, and a daughter Nicole.  He currently lives in the Delhi area of Cincinnati.