Updated 2018 Ohio Rankings: Northwest 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.
Northwest Ohio
Not a lot of large kids coming out what we consider to be Northwest Ohio. Therefore, the players who have more size tend to dominate at the high school level. For example, the highest rated Northwest Ohio player is Vincent Williams. At 6’6”, Williams bullies competitors around the basket, something we saw first-hand in the District Tournament. Austin Rotroff, a smooth and lanky 6’9” center from Wauseon, will also have his way next season. Now, Rotroff and Williams have skills to match their physicality. However, they are, without question, the most physically imposing players in the region. It helps their numbers and dominance during the winter.
The lack of size parity in Northwest Ohio means that non-regional games for Rotroff and Williams become more telling. Both play for elite AAU programs, in OBC and All-Ohio respectively. Therefore, there are plenty of chances to measure these two amongst fair competition going forward.
Recently, Rotroff and Williams took their high school teams deep into the postseason. Williams didn’t have his best showing against eventual State Champion, Massillon Jackson. It was in that game that Kyle Young and company were able to neutralize his inside presence by matching size and athleticism.
Rotroff, however, was a force of nature in the State Final Four. In consecutive games, Rotroff stood out as one of the top center prospects in Ohio. In large part because of Wauseon’s run all the way to the State Championship, Rotroff has vaulted 24 spots into #16 overall in Ohio’s 2018 class. Of the center prospects in 2018, Rotroff is second, only to Dylan Swingle.
Moving further down in the rankings, Northwest Ohio has a nice amount of both high-academic Division III prospects and JUCO or NAIA guys. Of the Northwest Ohio players that are ranked, exactly half fall between 126-171.
Jaiden Woodley, Caleb Kynard, Zach Pohlman, Seth Morgan, Drew Swerlein, and Ryan Christie, all attend strong high schools with strong academics and are candidates to make a Division III roster if they continue to show progress.
Also, Waite is going to be a team to watch next season in the Toledo City League. They have three guys who are talented enough to play basketball at the next level. Their trio of prospects (Carl Banks, Keyshawn Leach and Charles Robinson III) should draw scouts to the games and dominate the conference.