27 MAY 2021 · My guest on this episode of Nobody’s Safe w/Brady Laber is Byron Larkin who is all-time leading scorer at Xavier University and since 1998 has been the radio analyst for the Musketeers. Byron is part of a famous family from Cincinnati, Ohio that includes four boys that all achieved athletic success. We first talk about Mr. and Mrs. Larkin (Robert and Shirley) and how they had just three rules for their sons when it came to playing sports. We talk about each one of his siblings including the eldest of the five Larkin children and the only girl who’s name is Robin. She didn’t play sports and was more into concentrating on her academics. Oldest brother Mike specialized in football and went to Notre Dame where he was a team captain as a linebacker under head coach Gerry Faust. Next in line was Barry who was a Hall of Fame shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds. Byron was next oldest and Stephen is the youngest of the group and he was mostly a career minor league baseball player who did play one game with the Cincinnati Reds. We get into Byron’s career starting with his time in high school at Archbishop Moeller High School. He was a Parade All-American football player. The 1986 team he played on won a state championship and a mythical national championship. His basketball career was very successful at Moeller as well. He looks back on playing for head coach Danny Ragland who he credits as being the best coach he ever played for during his career. After a recruitment that includes offers for both football and basketball, Byron commits to Xavier University for basketball. He talks about some of the interesting recruiting visits from coaches during his recruitment including from head coaches Bob Staak (Xavier) and Rollie Massimino (Villanova). We talk about some of the great highlights of Byron’s playing career at Xavier starting with the second game of his freshman season against Pitt where he has a breakout performance. Another highlight is his 45 points performance in the 1986 Midwestern City Conference tournament game against Loyola-Chicago. Byron credits his greatest moment during his college career when he helped lead Xavier to its first ever NCAA tournament win in 1987 against Missouri. We also talk about how he passes Anthony Hicks as the program’s all-time leading scorer and finishes his career with 2,696 points. You can’t talk to a Xavier basketball player without bringing up Crosstown Shootout against the University of Cincinnati. Byron is proud to boast that he is 3-1 against the Bearcats. Byron’s post-Xavier highlights we cover include a tryout for the Cincinnati Bengals, his six-year professional career overseas, having his jersey number 23 retired and Hall of Fame induction at Xavier University. In closing we talk about Byron’s broadcasting career as the radio analyst for Xavier games with his longtime play-by-play partner and dear friend Joe Sunderman. You can follow Byron on Twitter @blarkxu23 and keep up to date with Xavier on its athletics website at goxavier.com You can follow Brady Laber on Twitter @BradyLaber1 please use the hashtag #NobodysSafe Check out the Nobody’s Safe website at nobodysssafe.fireside.fm to listen to all episodes on demand and in their entirety. For more information on Stove Leg Media go the website StoveLeg.com or send an email to Podcasts@stoveleg.com Intro music for the podcast was provided by bensoud.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices