In 2016, Cleveland hosts the GOP Convention and the favorite to win an NBA title. Ohio boasts Anton Grady and Tyree Gaiter, two of the top basketball players in the Horizon League and D2, respectively, and the defending national champion football team.
We ran the Value Add Sports calculations on all returning Ohio athletes and emailed 569 sports writers and other experts—the most in any state—to help rank the 25 state players to watch on a list.
Three Ohio State Buckeyes football players lead the list, but others hail from Akron, Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Dayton, Evergreen High School, Kent State, Notre Dame College, Ohio State, Wright State, Xavier, and Youngstown State.
The state’s incredible high school football is led by Jon Milliken, a junior wide receiver and free safety at Evergreen High School (the Vikings).
While www.valueaddbasketball.com projects Cleveland State as being down a little this season, it does project Grady as the top center in the Horizon League.
While we do not possess the stats to rank D2 players in the Value Add system, Gaiter of Notre Dame College (see photo) would certainly rank as one of the top Division 2 players with over 20 points a game and 160 assists last year. An article on his All-Atlantic Region selection is here.
Gary Clark from Cincinnati plays as the top overall basketball player. He figured in the top 10 in the American Athletic in shooting, steals, blocked shots, offensive rebounding, and defensive rating.
In football, Joey Bosa destroys opposing offenses from the defensive end position to rank as the top player. Ezekiel Elliot can run over opposing defenses and ranks second, while quarterback Cardale Jones comes in at third.
Those are the top three reasons Ohio State has the preseason edge over Alabama and TCU to take another title.
- Joey Bosa, Ohio St., Foot, DE
- Ezekiel Elliot, Ohio St., Football, RB
- Cardale Jones, Ohio St., Foot, QB
- Gary Clark, Cincinnati, Basket, PF
- Keita Bates-Diop, Ohio St., Basket, SF
- Jae’Sean Tate, Ohio St., Basket, PF
- Jon Milliken, Evergreen (HS) Vikings, Football, WR/FS
- Anton Grady, Cleveland State, Basketball, C
- Tyree Gaiter, Notre Dame College, Basketball,
- Rachel Weber, Ohio St., Track/Field, 800m Run
- Trevon Bluiett, Xavier, Basket, SF
- JC Murasky, Ohio St., Track/Field, Discus Throw
- Troy Caupain, Cincinnati, Basket, PG
- Jalen Reynolds, Xavier, Basketball, C
- Lauren Burnett, Kent State, Track/Field, 800m Run
- Octavius Ellis, Cincinnati, Basketball, C
- Curtis Samuel, Ohio St., Foot/Track,
- Ryan Booth, Youngstown St., Track/Field, Shot Put
- Aliyah Everson, Ohio St., Track/Field, 200m Dash
- Dyshawn Pierre, Dayton, Basket, PF
- Anthony Johnson, Ohio St., Track/Field, 800m Run
- Reggie McAdams, Akron, Basketball, SF
- Jimmy Hall, Kent St., Basket, PF
- Maurice Harris, Akron, Track/Field, Discus Throw
- Zack Denny, Bowling Green, Basket, SF; Joe Thomasson, Wright St., Basketball, SF and Grant Benzinger, Wright St., Basketball, PF (tie)
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