Updated 2018 Ohio Rankings: Northeast Ohio
Within Ohio, there are five regions, largely cast around heavily populated metropolitan areas. Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton/Cincinnati, and Southeast Ohio, all have their own basketball identities. The game is played differently in each state region, and the prospects of which they produce are, in turn, unique.
While there are certainly statewide trends in Ohio’s 2018 class, there are also regional trends. Don’t believe me? Just watch.
Northeast Ohio
The Northeast Ohio region is ultra talented, especially at the top, with 23 of the best 75 players coming from this area. It seems as though much of this is due to a few schools being such juggernauts in the sport. Case in point, all four State Championships were won by teams from this region.
But it’s not just last season. The Cleveland-area hails coaches and programs with serious longevity. It seems like Garfield Heights, VASJ, Lakewood St. Edward, Akron St. Vincent St. Mary, Lorain, and St. Ignatius, always have players near the top of the list. Then you add Shaker Heights, Cleveland Central Catholic, Archbishop Hoban, Benedictine, Brush, Cornerstone Christian, and Cleveland Heights to the list, and it’s just overwhelming with the amount of power programs up there in the Northeast.
Currently, there are seven schools in the Northeast region with multiple players in the 2018 rankings. It’s a number that would be drastically higher if you consider the entire rankings from 2017-2019. Point being, these schools are loaded and the level of competition fluctuates heavily between conferences and schools.
So in these 2018 rankings, the talent discrepancy is notable. Half of the top kids in the Cleveland-area come from those schools listed above. It’s not a bad thing whatsoever, there’s great matchups in the District playoffs because of it. It’s just hard for some other teams to compete.
Moving past the 21 players we consider to be likely Division I/II talents from the region, you’ll find a nice list of kids who could eventually join that tier. This group is headlined by two guards that excel around the basket in Jordan Burge of Lutheran East (#62) and Chris Jefferson of Benedictine (#68).
Going into the summer, you can watch a ton of these top 2018s from Cleveland on a loaded OBC team that features Dwayne Cohill.