All Ohio Showcase Preview
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As the season continues to come closer, I will be previewing some of the early season events/showcases for our subscribers to checkout. This preview will look at the All Ohio Showcase. Hosted by All Ohio basketball club and Reynoldsburg High…
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Continue ReadingAs the season continues to come closer, I will be previewing some of the early season events/showcases for our subscribers to checkout. This preview will look at the All Ohio Showcase. Hosted by All Ohio basketball club and Reynoldsburg High School Summit and Livingston locations, the event features many of the top teams in Columbus and across the state and will be a highly touted event.
(Livingston Campus)
11:00am- International vs Northside Christian– The first game of the event will feature 2 small school sleepers in Columbus. International is a rising team in the CCL and has one of the finer bigs in the area in Kj Jones Kj Jones 6'8" | C Columbus International | 2024 State OH (Jr) to build around. Northside Christian on the other hand has one of the best 2025s in the state in Landon Vanderwarker (So) along with several returning guys.
12:35pm- Grove City vs Chaney– The Greyhounds are bringing back most of their production from last year and will be a tough matchup for Chaney. Kevin Gallagher Kevin Gallagher 5'11" | CG Grove City | 2024 State OH (Jr) and Daniel Fetty Daniel Fetty 6'3" | SG Grove City | 2023 State OH (Sr) make up their phenomenal backcourt. Chaney returns back to Columbus and has a fantastic athlete in Josiah Gonzalez Josiah Gonzalez 6'2" | SG Youngstown Chaney | 2023 State OH (Sr) who will force Grove City to adjust and account for defensively.
2:10pm- Columbus South vs New Albany– The Bulldogs from South have a younger team that is guard heavy and succeed last year getting 15 wins. Lajames Washington (Jr) and Maurice McCall (Jr) both return and are the leaders for this group. New Albany will look different after graduating some key guys from last season. Role guys are returning but the question will be how well can they defend the speed in the Bulldogs’ backcourt.
3:45pm- Walnut Ridge vs. Westerville Central– Ridge has a young core of guys led by Dominique Aekins Dominique Aekins 5'8" | PG Walnut Ridge | 2024 State OH (Jr) and Bryden Hodge Bryden Hodge 6'0" | PG Walnut Ridge | 2025 OH (So) to lead the Scots. Central is junior heavy, but has an interior threat in Buba Bangura Buba Bangura 6'2" Westerville Central | 2023 OH (Sr) that will certainly challenge Walnut Ridge on the glass and open some opportunities for the guard play to score.
5:20pm- Taft vs Archbishop Hoban– A non-Columbus matchup, Taft debuts in Division II with a solid returning group led by Kieran Granville-Britten Kieran Granville-Britten 6'7" | C Princeton | 2025 State OH (So) and Eian Elmer Eian Elmer 6'6" | SF Taft | 2023 State OH (Sr). Hoban has most of their top guys returning and are led by Jonas Nichols Jonas Nichols 6'3" | SG Hoban | 2024 State OH (Sr). Both teams are in my preseason Top 10 in their respective divisions and will create quite a fun matchup.
6:55pm- Harvest Prep vs Richmond Heights– The 2nd to last game of the evening will feature a small school battle. Harvest Prep has an experienced team led by Brandon Roddy Brandon Roddy 6'1" | PG Harvest Prep | 2025 State OH (So) and is my #5 team in Division III to start the season. Richmond Heights is the defending Division IV state champions and have talent themselves in Dorian Jones Dorian Jones 6'4" | SG Richmond Heights | 2025 State #61 Nation OH (So) and transfer Hosea Steele Hosea Steele 6'4" | SF Richmond Heights | 2024 State OH (Jr).
8:30pm- Africentric vs Lutheran East– The finale will bring together my #1 team vs #3 team in Division III. Africentric will have the home court advantage and bring a solid 1-2 punch in Xavier commit Dailyn Swain Dailyn Swain 6'7" | SF Africentric | 2023 State #81 Nation OH (Sr) and transfer Cortez Freeman Cortez Freeman 6'2" | SG Africentric | 2024 State OH (So) from Canal Winchester. Lutheran East is loaded with talent and is led by Jesse McCullough (Jr) and Cody Head Cody Head 6'1" | CG Lutheran East | 2023 State OH (Sr) in this one. The Nubians ability to defend McCullough will go a long way in determining how competitive this will be.
(Summit Campus)
11:00am- Centennial vs Whitehall– The first matchup at the Summit campus will feature two teams looking to rebound in the new year. Centennial won only 4 games last year, but they return some promising pieces that should allow them to be more competitive. Isaiah Skinn (So) and Henri Young Henri Young 6'7" | PF Centennial | 2023 State OH (Jr) are guys to watch. Whitehall lost 2 of their best players to transfer and now must try to rebound with a new group.
12:35pm- Independence vs Groveport– This matchup will feature two teams looking to continue growing. Independence returns Geramiah Thompson (Jr) from a season ago. Groveport has some newer faces that will be leaned on as they lose out on several guys from a solid team last year.
2:10pm- Northland vs Dunbar– Northland will be the home team against the visiting Wolverines from Dunbar. The Vikings lost one of the better guards in the CCL last year but will reload with some returning talent and the addition of King Kendrick (Fr). Dunbar has plenty of guard play led by Antaune Allen (Sr) and Antone Allen Antone Allen 6'4" | SF Dunbar | 2023 State OH (Sr) as well as rising sophomore Bj Hatcher Bj Hatcher 6'1" | PG Northmont | 2025 State OH . Expect this game to be up-and-down.
3:45pm- Wayne vs. Buchtel– The Warriors get an afternoon showdown with my #1 Division II team to start the year. Murray State commit Lawrent Rice Lawrent Rice 6'4" | PG Huber Heights Wayne | 2023 State #184 Nation OH (Sr) and Juan Cranford Jr (Jr) both will have their hands full against a Buchtel team with talent all over the floor. The senior trio of Khoi Thurmon Khoi Thurmon 6'1" | PG Buchtel | 2023 State OH , Christian Harmon Christian Harmon 6'5" | PF Buchtel | 2023 OH , and Amire Robinson Amire Robinson 6'4" | SF Buchtel | 2023 State OH will be a lot for the Warriors to account for.
5:20pm- CVCA vs Pickerington North– This game will feature one of the nation’s best 2025 prospects in Darryn Peterson Darryn Peterson 6'5" | CG Huntington Prep | 2025 State #4 Nation WV (So) for CVCA. He will go against a Pick North team that is somewhat younger than past seasons, but still has the talent to be competitive. Arness Lawson Arness Lawson 6'1" | PG Pickerington North | 2025 State #306 Nation OH (So) leads this young group as does Jeff Amapps Jeff Amapps 6'3" | SF Pickerington North | 2023 State OH (Sr) who will likely be tasked with defending Peterson.
6:55pm- Pickerington Central vs SPIRE– The defending Division I state champions begin their title repeat tour with a game against SPIRE. The Tigers will lean heavily on Ohio State commit Devin Royal Devin Royal 6'6" | PF Pickerington Central | 2023 State #49 Nation OH (Sr) as well as Gavin Headings Gavin Headings 6'8" | PF Pickerington Central | 2023 State OH (Sr) and Juwan Turner Juwan Turner 5'10" | PG Pickerington Central | 2024 State OH (Jr). SPIRE has players from across the country on their roster, and also has an Ohio tie in Donovan Hunter Donovan Hunter 6'7" | PF Spire | 2023 State OH (Sr) who transferred over from Westerville Central.
8:30pm- Reynoldsburg vs. St. Vincent-St. Mary– The event ends with one heck of a battle between the host Raiders and St. V. Reynoldsburg is one of the youngest teams in the state, but has so much talent nonetheless in Jordan Fisher Jordan Fisher 6'5" | SF Reynoldsburg | 2025 State #392 Nation OH (So) and Toby Nwokolo Toby Nwokolo 6'6" | PF Reynoldsburg | 2025 State OH (So) among others. St. V begins life in Division I with some key players from their Division II state championship team, led by Kent State commit Lance Hayes Lance Hayes 6'4" | SG St. Vincent-St. Mary's | 2023 State OH (Sr), Kevin Hamilton Kevin Hamilton 5'8" | PG St Vincent St Mary Hs | 2023 State OH (Sr), and Darius Stratford Darius Stratford 6'8" | C St. Vincent-St. Mary's | 2023 State OH (Sr).