COLUMBUS — Whether they be about Ohio State or the high school state tournaments, the tales about basketball and St. John Arena have always resonated with me.

Whenever I’ve heard anyone talk about Buckeyes’ teams of past — especially those that featured Ohio Valley natives like John Havlicek or Allan Hornyak — saying I was all ears doesn’t do how much attention I paid justice.

Then whenever people start talking about the past OHSAA State Tournaments held in the building, again, I’m dialed in for hours. Whether it’s stories about Bridgeport’s appearance in 1969 or Skyvue’s back-to-back trips in 1984 and 85, they never get old, regardless of how many times you’ve heard them.

It goes beyond teams from the immediate area, too. Hearing about Clark Kellogg’s 51-point and 24-rebound performance, for Cleveland St. Joe’s, in a loss during the 1979 state tournament is one that jumps out.

One of the common themes to all of those is St. John Arena. The venerable building on Ohio State University’s campus that makes you wish the walls could talk.

Over the years, I’ve been in the building many times. But, prior to Friday’s trip there to see the OSU men play Cleveland State, my trips had never included seeing a basketball game, involving males. I was in the building in November of 2016 to see the Buckeye women launch their season against Duquesne.

Prior to that, it was just for ‘Skull Sessions’ involving the Ohio State marching band leading up to Buckeyes’ football.

Each time, including Friday, whenever I’ve set foot in St. John, I spend a fair amount of time simply walking the concourse checking out the greats of Buckeyes’ past. And seeing the large pictures of Hornyak and Havlicek on the wall are always a highlight of the walk. Throw in pictures of Jack Nicklaus, Jesse Owens, Jerry Lucas and Bobby Knight and it’s like an Ohio State history lesson.

It’s because of that history and the atmosphere that the building, which seats just 13,726 people, creates that OSU head coach Chris Holtmann decided to approach Athletics Director Gene Smith and others about playing a game in the building.

“It was a fun night and something we anticipate doing on a regular basis,” Holtmann said after the Buckeyes’ 89-62 victory against the Vikings. “It was fun for our fans, basketball community and Buckeye nation.”

Holtmann stressed to the media contingent, which was jammed inside of the room that’s just a bit bigger than the average walk-in closet, that the Schottenstein Center is still the Buckeyes’ home.

However, some additional good news — for basketball enthusiasts of Ohio — that Holtmann offered was the fact that OSU is considering playing more than one game a season in St. John and it could possibly include a future Big Ten game.

“We want to get some feedback on how (Friday) was and I know logistically it’s a lot of work,” Holtmann said. “There are questions about the amenities and such, but we’ve tossed it around and we’re considering it. Is it something we’ll do? I think we’d like to make it an annual thing and possibly expanding it, but I don’t think we’ll ever make it more than two games.”

The amenities are certainly an issue because the Buckeyes’ locker room is located at the Schott. The players actually dressed across the street and were shuttled to St. John Arena. At halftime, they tucked themselves into a room along the floor that was formerly a locker area.

With Ohio State seemingly on the path to utilizing the building more, obvious thought process is the OHSAA should consider moving the boys and girls state tournaments there.

Whether it’s coaches, fans or even media types, there’s a large faction of people who think the state tourneys should be moved because it would create an atmosphere that the 18,000-plus seat Schott can’t because fewer and fewer people are attending the games.

After witnessing a game, in St. John, I am all for that. However, OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass and I talked — off the record — about this in August when we sat down for a question and answer session.

He publicly announced what he shared with me then via his Twitter account this week when the issue surfaced again this week, leading into the Buckeyes’ playing here.

The events — including the OHSAA State boys and girls basketball tournaments — at the Schottenstein Center are scheduled by an outside company. And it doesn’t give the OHSAA access to host its state tournaments at St. John, at this point in time.

Could that change? Possibly.

Snodgrass tweeted, “Working on it. Has simply not been possible due to lack of availability.”

In the last several years, the attendance at the boys’ basketball state tournament has dropped off significantly. Obviously, there are more reasons for that than just the building and some of those are being looked at by the OHSAA, including possibly making multiple-game sessions during the semifinal days.

Clearly, moving the state tournaments to St. John Arena wouldn’t be a cure all, but it might bring back some of the fans who aren’t involved with a competing school.

The same thing that Holtmann touched on — amenities and logistics — would be concerns, obviously, but something tells me that the number of tickets sold would far exceed any year other than those when guys named LeBron James or O.J. Mayo played there.

And, if for nothing else, it would provide another chance to hear some of the old stories that never get old.

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com