As Revere football fans’ cheers and yells quieted between the first and second quarters of the season-opening game, Casey Nance, Larry Nance Jr. and Pete Nance stepped onto the track alongside their loved ones. Three signs printed with a basketball jersey stood between the field and the crowd, one for each of the three siblings. As they approached their signs and some crowd-goers screamed “Nance” from the stands, the press box announcer revealed that Revere High School’s Basketball Programs would retire the number 22 in their honor.
As the children of Larry Nance Sr. (a former player for the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers) Casey Nance, Larry Nance Jr. and Pete Nance grew up going to Revere and playing basketball for the school. All three went on to play college basketball, and Larry Jr. and Pete made it their profession after entering the NBA in 2015 and 2023, respectively.
Their histories as both students and players “have been a shining example of excellence at Revere and beyond . . . and have made the Revere community so proud” according to Revere High School’s Basketball Programs. The siblings all wore the number 22 throughout their high school basketball careers to represent their father, Larry Sr., who wore the same number throughout most of his NBA career.
Casey, the oldest of the three, is a 2008 Revere graduate. In the four years she played for Revere High School’s girl’s basketball team she graduated with 1,037 points, 281 blocks and 1,113 rebounds, set single-game and single-season records at Revere and was named the Tri-County Coaches Association Player of the Year in 2008 and a McDonald’s All-American nominee her senior year. For her, retiring the number 22 is an honor and a celebration of her, her brothers and her community.
“[It is] a celebration of the support that, not only I, but my brothers as well have received from the Revere community. Growing up here we always felt so welcome and supported by everyone around us. This honor is not only a great one for us or my parents but for everyone who played a part in the journey along the way [such as] coaches, classmates, teammates [and] fans in general. It’s really just a physical manifestation of that,” Casey said.
Larry Jr. is a 2011 graduate who, during his last two years at Revere, helped score a record of 40-6 overall and 28-0 in league games. He left the school as an all-time leader in blocked shots for a career, a season and a game. Larry Jr. was named Second Team All-Ohio, First Team All-Suburban League and First Team All-District before college and later the NBA. To him, retiring the number 22 represents the impact he and his siblings left on Revere.
“Between me, Casey and Pete, we left a lasting impact . . . on the athletic program at Revere. To me, it’s more than just one of us. One of us wouldn’t have done it alone. . . . Casey covered the women’s program [and] me and Pete covered the men’s,” Larry Jr. said.
Pete, a 2018 Revere graduate, played Varsity basketball throughout all four years of his high school career. He left with 1,347 points, 983 rebounds and 340 blocks and was named Ohio Division II Player of the Year, USA TODAY First-team All-state, Touchdown Club of Great Akron Boys Basketball Player of the Year and a finalist for Ohio Mr. Basketball Award before going to college and later the NBA. For him, the number retirement demonstrates the skills he, his siblings and his team portrayed during their time at Revere.
“We were recognized as having good enough careers here at Revere. Nobody else will wear the number 22 ever again, which is a really cool thing for our family. We spent a lot of time here and came up all the way from kindergarten through graduating and that’s just a special honor for our family. . . . To me, it’s more of a testament to who I played with and the team that I had while I was here. . . . I think we did a lot of special things together and those are moments of my life that I’ll cherish forever. I know that I didn’t do this alone,” Pete said.
Though basketball is a large part of the Nances’ lives, their memories at Revere extend beyond the court. For Casey, the friendships and relationships she made throughout the years proved more valuable than the goals she scored and the blocks she made. In games, in the locker rooms and on the buses are too memorable moments for her.
“When I look back on my time at Revere, more than any win, stands out . . . the friendships that I’ve made. My best friend I made right here at Revere High School. . . . Ultimately, that is my hall of fame: to have the people around me that I met in 2008 still be with me as friends and family today. . . . Anytime I got to just spend time with my teammates, whether that be on the bus or in the locker room are probably my favorite memories; just laughing and enjoying each other’s company,” Casey said.
Being on a team allows people to meet and make connections with others. For Pete, his basketball memories and being a part of a group sharing similar interests and goals make up his Revere memories.
“A lot of the relationships that I built [were] through basketball. Two of my best friends to this day are from my team that I played on my senior year here, . . . and without that experience of playing basketball, I wouldn’t have them,” Pete said.
Being on the court is not the only time players can interact with one another. Whether on the court, in the locker rooms, on the bus, or watching his older sister play from the stands, Larry Jr.’s memories while attending Revere vary.
“My first dunk my junior year was pretty cool. But really, most of my memories aren’t even of me playing. It’s from Casey playing and watching people play. . . . My favorite memories are really goofing off with my friends; I was definitely more of a class clown,” Larry Jr. said.
While playing basketball for Revere and the University of Dayton, Casey struggled with knee injuries throughout high school and college. She has dealt with three different surgeries over her basketball career and through it all she has had coaches and family by her side.
“My very first knee surgery came after my sophomore year in high school and I can remember it happened at a home game here at the old high school. And then in college, I went on to have two additional knee surgeries. So just dealing with that and recovering and going through the hard work to rehabilitate and then get[ting] injured again was challenging, but lots of great coaches [and] lots of family support helped get me through and made me come back bigger and stronger every time,” Casey said.
Larry Jr. was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease—an inflammatory bowel disease that impacts one’s digestive tract—during his sophomore year at Revere. Before his diagnosis, he had stopped growing and felt sick.
“I stopped growing and got real sickly my freshman year of high school. . . . We figured it out, got some medication for it and started to grow again. And that’s when basketball became ‘All right, I can really do this’,” Larry Jr. said.
Kory Rorabaugh was the Head Varsity Girls’ Basketball Coach during Casey’s time at Revere. When Rorabaugh began teaching and coaching, Casey was in eighth grade and, when she showed interest in and discussed with Rorabaugh about playing basketball in high school, Rorabaugh began “doing cartwheels and giving [Casey] high fives in [her] mind.” For Rorabaugh, being part of Casey’s basketball journey and watching her grow from a “raw young player learning the game” into a Division I player as a result of her “tremendous character, her determination, her willingness to learn, listen and be coachable” was one of Rorabaugh’s “greatest joys in life.”
Dean Rahas, Revere High School’s Head Boys Basketball Coach, coached Larry Jr. and Pete. Though they both played for several years under Rahas’s guidance, both had specific moments Rahas recalled. Larry Jr. led his team to victory during a game against Wadsworth High School in his junior year and Pete led his team to winning Revere’s first district championship in boy’s basketball during his senior year.
“[Larry Jr.’s] defining moment was his junior year. We were playing at Wadsworth [and] we were down 19 at halftime. We came back and won. We were down one with maybe eight seconds; he got fouled and he made both free throws and put us up by one. We ended up winning that game. After that moment he kinda went uphill. He really took off after that. [With] Pete we won the district championship with the buzzer. The school’s first district championship in school history. That was incredible,” Rahas said.
The number 22 is a symbol of the Nance’s impact on Revere, its community and its basketball team. It serves to cement the sibling’s legacy and it will inspire students to continue working hard.
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