Division III

OHSH was supposed to have all of the divisions out by now, but getting married in a little over a week put that to a halt. Obviously, that is far more important. I know my fiance would love to hear that statement. She usually asks me when does basketball season end. She loves to ask that because she knows the answer. My lovely fiance is in Portland, Oregon at the present time.

Today, we will take a look at the revamped D3. One word comes to mind, loaded. Last week, OHSH gave you the teams that were entering from Division and today we will look at the D2 teams that will be bumping down to join the party.

Here is a brief reminder of some of the teams moving up from D4:
Oak Hill, Worthington Christian, Columbus Africentric, SE Charleston, Hamler Patrick Henry, Plymouth, Georgetown, Manchester, East Canton, and Tipp City Bethel.

Teams moving out of D3 up to D2:
Cincinnati North College Hill, Northwestern, Columbus Bishop Hartley, and Indian Valley.

Teams with 225 boys, which is just two over the limit to be in D3:
Milan Edison, Keystone, Dayton Thurgood Marshall, and Upper Sandusky.

Thurgood Marshall will still be a major player in D2, but may even be better with Taft moving to D3.

Teams moving down to D3:
Cincinnati Taft, Orrville, Amanda-Clearcreek, Pomeroy Meigs, Galion, Fairview Park, Youngstown Liberty, Cortland Lakeview, and West Muskingum.

Taft is a heavy favorite with all its talent, but don't sleep on Orrville. The Red Riders return three starters including 6-foot-1 senior Jacob Bolyard (20.2 ppg.), 6-foot-6 junior Zach Wasson (14.8 ppg.), 6-foot-3 senior Chase Hoobler, and 6-foot-6 junior Max Pirman who has a ton of talent.

For Taft, Cameron (14.3 ppg.) and Kevin Mitchell return at guard along with 6-foot-8 senior Cory Hunter, 6-foot-5 senior Shawntez Johnson, and 5-foot-9 junior Marquez Johnson.

By the way, the Senators will welcome three new additions including 6-foot-6 sophomore Adolphus Washington (12.7 ppg.), sophomore guard Orlando Berry, and sophomore big man Dwayne Stanford. Those are three of the highly touted freshman class of Cincinnati Roger Bacon. Josh Lemons, one of the others, is now at Cincinnati Lasalle, and Daryan Martin has not yet relocated to my knowledge.

Division III was less than exciting last season, but count on 2010 to deliver in Ohio's underappreciated division.

Early favorites in no particular order:
Cincinnati Taft
Orrville
Cleveland Central Catholic
Middletown Madison
Liberty-Benton
Plymouth
Oak Hill
Smithville
St.Henry
Ottawa-Glandorf
Wheelersburg
Anna
Centerburg
Piketon
Zane Trace
Peebles
East Canton
Twin Valley South
Campbell Memorial

This is just a few to keep an eye on.

Division IV

Today we will start with Ohio's smallest division (IV).

Columbus Africentric has moved out of Division IV

The defending Division IV state champion Oak Hill Oaks are moving back to Division III after a two-year stay in IV.

Plymouth, who is led by 6-foot-3 senior Brook Turson, will be two boys over the limit and moving up to D3. Turson averaged 22.1 points per game in earning 1st Team All-Ohio accolades and leading his squad to the regional.

S Charleston SE from the Southeast will be moving out of D4 as well. SE is led by 6-foot-5 senior J.P. McFarland and his 14.6 points per game.

Tipp City Bethel will also be on the move heading to D3.

Manchester, a team in SE Ohio, will be moving to D3.

Hamler Patrick Henry will be moving back to D3 after an unproductive two-year stay in D4.

East Canton will be moving up to D3, which is a tough break for a team returning quite a bit.

The 2007 D4 state champions, Georgetown, are also heading to D3. 6-foot-4 senior Jess Chadwell returns with his near 26 points per game average.

Worthington Christian, a team that lost stud Brian Hecker, will be moving out of D4 as well.

Two teams that were right on the money line were Caldwell and Haviland Wayne Trace. Both schools are right on the 128-mark, which is the maximum to be in D4.

Now, who are the teams of impact heading down to Ohio's smallest unit?

Spencerville and Maria Stein Marion Local will be dropping to D4 out of the NW along with Bucyrus Wynford (6-foot-5 senior Tyler Brause returns with his 13.2 points per game). Toledo Ottawa Hills is also dropping down.

Ridgedale out of the Central District will be reuniting with its former D4 company after a two-year stay in D3.

Rittman returns to D4 out of the NE District.

I'm not sure any of the teams moving in will impact D4, but certainly some of the teams moving out are playing a role with Plymouth and Oak Hill departing.

Divisional Breakdown

Starting today OHSH is going to take a look at each division for boy's basketball and how they have changed, stayed the same, and who will be the new teams to watch out for in each respective division.

Many new faces will be seen in each division with the new enrollment figures being released.

Here is the break down:
Division I: 400 or more boys
Division II: 224 to 399
Division III: 129-223
Division IV: 128 and less

Updating the Goodies

Earlier I reported Niko Fautimus transferred to Youngstown Christian when in fact it was just his brother Lois.

Also, former Roger Bacon guard Josh Lemons (sophomore) is reportedly been participating at open gym at Cincinnati LaSalle.

Wednesday's Goodies

There are a ton of issues to get to and I very little time. I'm trying to head up to Huggins Camp today, so I will try and wrap this up quickly but effectively.

The "mass exodus" at Roger Bacon appears to be true. Top sophomores-to-be Adolphus Washington and guard Orlando Berry are playing for Mark Mitchell at Taft. The Senators are now a Division III squad. This will be interesting.

I'm not sure what Josh Lemons, Daryan Martin, Dwayne Stanford (the other sophomores-to-be) are doing. Word has it none are at Bacon.

Seniors Willis Fleming is rumored to be at Fairfield, and senior Greg Williams is rumored to be at Princeton.

This leaves senior Jorian Hudson and junior Jared Bryant left on the Bacon roster.

I honestly don't understand. Bacon could have been great.

In other news, it appears Poland's Niko and Lois Fatimus have transferred to Youngstown Christian along with Canfield's Casey and Spencer Carroll. The Carroll brothers have a legitimate reason with their father Dolph being the head coach at YC.

The transfers will join John Pecchia, Anthony Walker, Caleb Yanno, and Victor Shaw in a loaded Eagles line up.

How about Carrollton? Can someone please explain to me what is happening with this mess. Two seniors have transferred to Huron? I'm guessing Ricky Palmer and A.J. Dalton? The Warriors played extremely well at Huggins Camp and won the tournament with Kristian Cross making the All-Star team. If anyone has any information on this craziness please let me know.

I'm pretty sure it's official that Dayton CJ's Ryan Bass has transferred to Dayton Dunbar to join Geron Johnson in what will be a lethal backcourt.

Wheeling Shootout Results

http://www.jjhuddle.com/news/articles/2009/6/16/ohio-dominates-wheeling-shootout-massillon-jackson-wins-championship

Soon To Be Mrs. Guru

Future Mrs. Guru (July 3rd)