“I definitely wasn’t ready to go out there and dominate,” Rose said. “It did give me the experience I needed.”
Rose wasn’t on the opposition’s scouting report just yet, and heads weren’t turning until his sophomore season.
Once he hit the court junior year, that’s when things really started to take flight.
“I couldn’t have the mindset I had throughout high school without learning how to work through the hard times and playing with my teammates,” Rose said. “You can’t succeed in literally everything you wish you could do. It’s just not possible.”
Rose eyed what some say was the impossible during his senior season — this past winter — when he began to close in on the longstanding Middletown Christian all-time career points record.
It was a feat that lasted for over 40 years done by former MCS star and 1981 graduate Tim Parks, who scored 1,401 points in a three-year stint following his transfer from Preble Shawnee.
“Basketball has always been the main sport on campus,” Middletown Christian athletic director Nathaniel Bond said. “Everyone comes out to the home games, and it makes for fun times and memories.”
The MCS boys basketball program had been searching for a boost since the playing days of Parks.
Parks helped lead the Eagles to their only state title in 1978-79, when they were a Division II squad in the Association of Christian Schools International prior to joining the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
Bond said the program recently got that boost it was looking for.
“The opening game of this past season, the gym was packed,” he said. “Fans were full of anticipation because many knew that Jared had the opportunity to score his 1,000th point of his career.”
Middletown Christian coach Eric Gwynn felt the vibes, too.
“Jared developed a mid-range game and a 3-point game as his career progressed,” Gwynn said. “He’s one of the hardest working kids I know. He’s a great teammate and a great guy to be around.
“He’s got an on switch. Every time he steps onto the gym floor, he’s ready to compete. His competitive nature always stood out.”
The record breaker
Rose played sparingly his freshman season and scored only 85 total points.
Though his role changed the following year.
“He transformed into the team’s leading scorer and rebounder,” Bond said. “As Jared and the team got better and better, the excitement grew within the school community as well.”
Rose averaged 17.9 points and 9.5 rebounds as a sophomore before taking another step forward his junior season, when he upped his point average to 22.4 a game while bringing down around nine boards a contest.
“Jared was the type of player that was able to score a lot off of second-chance points and rebounding,” Gwynn said. “Once he got into high school, he started doing that immediately. He was just a workaholic at the game. He tried to figure out how to get points that way.”
Rose ended up scoring his 1,000th career point at home in Middletown Christian’s season-opening victory over Tri-County North with a 25-point performance.
As Rose’s senior campaign continued, many MCS followers stayed tuned to how many points he needed to surpass the school’s all-time scoring record.
In the last minute of Middletown Christian’s final home game of the season against Miami Valley Christian Academy, Rose did just that.
He needed 28 points to do it.
“I wanted that moment in front of our fans,” he said. “The whole team knew how many points I had to get.”
Rose’s best friend, senior point guard Jon Battles, controlled most of the ball-handling duties throughout the season.
“He kept telling me, ‘It’s OK. I’ve got you. I’ll get you the ball,’” Rose recalled.
“The first half was close. It was a good game. I had a good first half. I think I had 17, so I was feeling kind of comfortable to where I didn’t have to force it (in the second half). I was just able to let it come to me.”
Rose credited a lot of Middletown Christian’s momentum heading into the halftime break to Battles sinking a half-courter at the buzzer.
“We were up by 10 at the half because we went on a crazy run,” Rose said.
“Second half, I’m not scoring as fast, but I was still getting points.”
Rose was sitting at 25 points with about two minutes remaining.
“I was getting scared and antsy,” he said. “Everyone was trying to calm me down.”
Battles stepped back in to ease Rose’s nerves.
“Jon was like, ‘Just trust me, bro. I got you. Just let it come. It will be OK.’”
Rose missed a layup that resulted in a loose ball heading out of bounds.
“One of my teammates was able to grab it and throw it off (a MVCA player),” Rose said. “We ended up with an inbounds under our basket with about 45 seconds left.”
Rose got the inbounds pass, went up strong to the hoop, made the bucket and got fouled in the process.
That put him at 1,401 career points, tying Parks.
“I had to make the free throw to break it,” Rose said. “Everyone was going crazy already, and I’m freaking out in my head. I was so scared.
“I’m just trying to compose myself just to be able to make the free throw.”
Rose took aim, and he drained it.
“It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt,” he said. “We had a timeout, and the whole team came out and surrounded me and everything.”
Rose finished his senior season with an average of 24.2 points and 10.7 rebounds a game — 1,485 points in his career. He also set the school record for most free throws made with 264.
“Jared is most definitely one of the greatest basketball players in the history of Middletown Christian,” Bond said. “In order to break it, Jared had to put in a lot of hard work and dedication. Opposing teams knew that Jared was the focal point of our team, so their game plans were designed to stop him.
“He continually played against their best defender and faced double teams,” Bond added. “They made Jared earn his points, and he persevered to overcome it and deliver.”
Rose credited his teammates for him achieving the accolade.
“Working together as a team and encouraging my teammates is probably the most rewarding thing,” said Rose, who is looking to play basketball at the next level and approach a degree in business management.
“Even if we lost, we knew that we were giving it everything that we could.”
Passing the torch
Parks, who is enshrined into the Middletown Christian Hall of Fame, said it’s always good to be remembered.
The number he donned as an Eagle — No. 24 — was retired in February of 2007.
“It was neat because people never forgot about the record,” Parks said. “For some reason, people remembered it throughout the last 40 years.
“It was kind of funny because you never really knew when the actual record was broken,” Parks added. “There really was no recognition. There was no, ‘Hey, Tim. You just broke the record.’
“It was one of those things that just kind of happened at some point. There was no social media, either.”
Parks played in 56 games and averaged 25 points a game during his career at MCS. He went on to play a couple years of college basketball at Baptist Christian in Shreveport, La., and later transferred to Gordon College in Massachusetts.
Parks currently owns two trucking companies and is the author of Major League Baseball’s Ballpark Passport. He’s also on the Middletown Christian Hall of Fame committee.
Parks recalled attending one of Rose’s games this past season to pay homage. He said the junior varsity game prior went into multiple overtimes, which forced the varsity game to run late.
“I knew (Rose) was going to be getting close to the record, so I wanted to see him play,” Parks said. “I got to see him play for about a quarter before my fiancé and I had to be somewhere. I’m glad I got to catch a little bit of the game, though.
“Holding the record for so long, it was such an honor,” Parks added. “Some of the best times of my life were during my days of playing at Middletown Christian. I’ll always be grateful for the time I spent there when I played.”
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