Three-time All-American John Rinka had many memorable games for the Lords basketball program. The one on Tuesday night, December 9, 1969 at The College of Wooster was, perhaps, the most memorable.
It was the third game of the 1969-70 campaign, Rinka's senior season. A week prior, the Lords opened their schedule with a loss to Capital and then followed with win against Baldwin Wallace. Rinka scored 44 and 41 points in those two games, but that paled in comparison to his next performance.
The game at Wooster was touted as a battle between two of the best guards in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). There was Rinka, Kenyon's 5-foot 9-inch catalyst, and there was Tom Dinger, Wooster's 6-foot junior, who was earning comparison to Rinka.
On this night, however, there was no comparison.
Rinka overwhelmed Dinger and the Fighting Scots by scoring 69 points during a 27-of-43 (62.8 percent) shooting spree. Those numbers were not only Kenyon single-game records, but OAC records as well. Rinka was a perfect 15-for-15 at the free throw line and contributed eight assists during the Lords' 118-112 victory that night.
To this day, those 50-year-old records still stand atop both the Kenyon and OAC record books.
What makes Rinka's performance that night even more impressive was that it occurred in a basketball era that had no three-point field goal and no shot clock.
The records were just a few of the many Rinka racked up. In 1969-70 alone, he established Kenyon single-season standards for points (942), scoring average (41.0 ppg), free throws made (234), free throws attempted (263) and free throw percentage (.890). Those marks have also stood the test of time. They remain Kenyon records and, with the exception of one, remain OAC records, as well.
Rinka owns just about every Kenyon career scoring record, too. His career total of 3,251 points still ranks ninth best in NCAA history, regardless of division. His career scoring average of 32.8 points per game ranks sixth best, just below a short list of names that include Pete Maravich, Austin Carr, Oscar Robertson, Travis Grant and Calvin Murphy.
A Milwaukee native, Rinka was drafted in the seventh round by his hometown Bucks of the NBA. For various reasons, however, he didn't like the fit and instead tried out for the ABA's Utah Stars, who cut him, mainly due to his height.
Rinka was an inductee into the Kenyon Athletics Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class (1988). He was also a member of the inaugural induction classes for the the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame (2006) and the Small College Hall of Fame (2017).
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