In Toby Keith’s new song, there is a line in the bridge verse that says, “I like to hang out with regular Joes.”

Meet the Ironton Fighting Tigers regular Joe. His name is Dennis Gagai.

Despite All-Ohio status, being named to the state all-tournament team last season and being named the Southeast Ohio District Player of the Year and first team All-Ohio this season, Gagai remained a quiet, low-keyed player and leader.

Ironton first-year coach Mark LaFon said trying to separate Gagai from the rest of the team wasn’t as easy as with other teams and their star.

“The thing that separates him from other great players is he’s like other kids on the team. When you watch a team, the best player acts like he’s the best player, With Dennis you don’t get that feeling. When you watch him, he’s just one of the other guys,” LaFon said.

But after you watched the game for a while, you realized Gagai was the best player. You understand why he averaged 21.6 points a game, why he was a four-year starter and why he set the Ironton all-time career scoring record with 1,542 points.

However, listening to Gagai you revert back to the “non-star” status.

“It’s a great accomplishment. I realize that. But it’s something I’ll cherish later in my days. But I’m not going to let it affect my game. Right now it’s just another stat,” Gagai said.

The season didn’t look so bright at the outset. Gagai was the only returning starter from a 26-1 team that finished as the Division III state runners-up. Not only was Gagai the lone returning starter, Ironton had no lettermen.

On top of that, last season’s Ohio Coach of the Year Roger Zornes retired and the schedule was one of the toughest in the state.

LaFon said Gagai was only positive as he faced the challenge with such a young and inexperienced team.

“The thing I’ve said about him is that I asked him to accept some situations that he wasn’t used to. He had to be a leader as the only guy back. I put in a

new system. It was kind of hard to buy into the first half of season when we weren’t setting a lot of plays for him. I had to get the other kids to learn our sets. If I ran just for him, they’d all look to him to shoot. He accepted it,” LaFon said.

All season long Gagai faced junk defense geared to stop him. Double and triple teams were nothing new. Through it all, LaFon said Gagai maintained his patience and composure and stayed within himself and the system.

“In the South Webster game, they took Dennis away and tried to make our other players beat them That was a tough role to accept, but Dennis is the type of kid who did and found a way to score in it,” LaFon said.

“With the way the season started with the coaching change and all the players who were gone, Dennis said ‘I want to enjoy the process we’re going through.’ He wanted to see how we would do against the competition. He was very positive. That kind of shocked me. I’ve never been around a kid who could step up when the game was on the line, and not just by scoring. He’d get a steal or a rebound. He finished things with a big play or a big shot.”

Gagai wasn’t na•ve about Ironton’s situation, but he had confidence in his teammates. While most critics and fans predicted between seven and 10 wins, Ironton went 15-5 and finished 19-6 and regional runners-up, four points shy of a second straight state tournament berth.

“I knew we’d be a lot quicker. We didn’t have the same type of athletes we had last year and we didn’t have big man to depend on like last year, but we had big man (Michael Phillips) who could pass and was smart and could create for others,” Gagai said.

“We had a whole new team and a whole new style with a new coach. (LaFon’s) offense was a moving type offense that created more shots for everyone. Everyone on other floor last year was an offensive threat. Everybody on our team last year had experience. We needed everyone to be a threat on offense this year, too.”

Ironton began the season 3-0 but soon found itself at 5-3. Gagai said he didn’t push the panic button.

“Actually, I knew if we played as well early as we did at the end, we would have had a one-, two-loss season. After the first few games, I knew we had a lot of work to do. After the football players came out, we got motivated and worked and that’s what got us to (where they finished),” Gagai said.

Gagai said the biggest thing about his new teammates was experience, or lack of. He knew there would be an adjustment period as they learned their roles.

“I learned to be more patient. I couldn’t show I’m frustrated because the team looked to me. If they see I’m frustrated, it effects them,” Gagai said.

While everyone else was thinking a .500 season would be a major accomplishment, Gagai wanted to return to the state tournament.

“Since I was a freshman, I didn’t know what the competition would be like. I realized that if you work hard and work toward a goal, you can accomplish it,” Gagai said.

Besides patience, Gagai showed he could be a good poker player, too. His facial expression never changed whether he just missed a 3-point attempt or hit the shot at the buzzer to win the game. He said LaFon enabled him to relax on the court.

“(LaFon) allowed me a couple of bad shots when we needed a basket. At the beginning of the year, I did feel pressure. I had to see what we would be like from the first four or five games. I didn’t feel pressure later because everyone was filling their roles and I didn’t feel pressured to score. I just went out and played,” Gagai said.

Of course statistics don’t make a player, talent does. And it’s that talent that had college coaches following Gagai like a blood hound during hunting season.

So far, Shawnee State, Rio Grande and Walsh have made offers. There’s also be conversation with Marshall, Duquesne and West Virginia. Gagai’s 39-point performance against Huntington (W.Va.) High caught the attention of WVU coach John Beilein who was in the stands to watch Huntington center Patrick Patterson.

“I’ve had five to six offers, mostly NAIA and Division II. I’d like to go to West Virginia because their offense is right up my alley. Marshall has started talking and I like that,” Gagai said.

Playing at the Division I level isn’t a must for Gagai who was the No. 1 player on Ironton’s golf team that advanced to the state tournament last fall.

“If I go NAIA or Division II, I’ll probably play basketball and golf. If I play Division I, I’ll only have time for basketball.”

Wherever he plays, you can bet they’ll know Dennis Gagai isn’t just another Joe.