Ohio Class of 2025 Division II recruiting recap

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While some Division II programs are still actively recruiting players from the class of 2025, most players have already made their commitments to those programs known. In this article we'll break down the biggest news and notes from Division II commits.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Minford Duo commit to national powerhouses</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Minford duo of [player_tooltip player_id='1888322' first='Bennett' last='Kayser'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1432013' first='Myles' last='Montgomery'] played together all four years of high school for the Falcons and were teammates on the grassroots circuit for Midwest MHC. Kayser is our highest ranked Division II commit this year and he's going to the defending national champions Nova Southeastern. Kayser was originally committed with Montgomery to play for West Liberty and the Hilltoppers also secured the commitments of Montgomery's grassroots teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1462535' first='Cam' last='Williams'] of Cincinnati Elder and local product [player_tooltip player_id='1408521' first='Aiden' last='Davis'] from Steubenville, a finalist for Mr Basketball. Both Nova Southeastern and West Liberty made it to the Division II elite 8 in Evansville and with these top recruits they should be set to continue to contend on a national level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Louisville Leopard grads spread across the GMAC</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Division III state champion Louisville Leopards had a senior laden group that will be playing at the college level. Forward [player_tooltip player_id='1540137' first='Brayden' last='Gross'] is going to Walsh (alongside Brusnwick forward [player_tooltip player_id='2292857' first='Aidan' last='Shaker'], Bishop Ready wing [player_tooltip player_id='1954721' first='Kayden' last='Schaffer'], Massillon Jackson wing [player_tooltip player_id='1462537' first='Kyle' last='Monterrubio'] and Canton Central Catholic Guard [player_tooltip player_id='2729861' first='Luke' last='Vlacovsky']) while Point Guard [player_tooltip player_id='1540136' first='Beau' last='Siegfried'] is going to Ashland. [player_tooltip player_id='2702467' first='Tate' last='Aljancic'] is committed to Malone (alongside [player_tooltip player_id='1432036' first='Austin' last='Niekamp'] of Marion Local and [player_tooltip player_id='2458392' first='Crew' last='Cain'] of North Canton Hoover) for basketball and baseball while [player_tooltip player_id='2308137' first='Ashton' last='Marshall'] is going to Walsh for football. The Leopards have had success in the GMAC recently with Will Aljancic playing for the conference champion Findlay Oilers and has hit the portal with dozens of Division I school's recruiting him. 2024 grad Hayden Nigro also redshirted for the Walsh Cavaliers and will be re-joined with Gross next season. Other GMAC commits include [player_tooltip player_id='1506017' first='Kenny' last='Scott'] to Ohio Dominican and [player_tooltip player_id='1491484' first='Riley' last='Cervenka'] to Lake Erie.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ashland goes across Ohio for four commits</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We already mentioned [player_tooltip player_id='1540136' first='Beau' last='Siegfried'] from the Canton area going to Ashland and the Eagles also grabbed Sandusky point guard [player_tooltip player_id='1672052' first='Jason' last='Henlon'], Cincinnati wing Nate Riep and eastern Ohio forward [player_tooltip player_id='1429077' first='Nohah' last='Nichols']. Ashland has had a lot of success with central Ohio prospects and are bringing in players from all over the state in the class of 2025 as they look to get back to the top of the GMAC.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Border States grab top guard talent</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While many top players stayed in-state at programs like Walsh, Ashland and more, border state programs also did an excellent job recruiting guards. We already mentioned the trio of prospects headed to West Liberty in West Virginia and state champion [player_tooltip player_id='1432010' first='Micah' last='Young'] is headed to Concord in West Virginia. Newark grad [player_tooltip player_id='1832081' first='Braylon' last='Morris'] is headed north to Hillsdale in Michigan while Dublin Coffman grad [player_tooltip player_id='1721059' first='Colin' last='McClure'] heads south to Thomas More in Kentucky. Both [player_tooltip player_id='2042514' first='Ryan' last='Calo'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1469018' first='Jaden' last='Calloway'] are headed east to Pitt Johnstown and Gannon next season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Out of region commits sprinkled across the country</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While most non Division I commits stay within close driving distance of home, some prospects find good fits further across the country to play at the next level. Sharpshooter [player_tooltip player_id='1462536' first='Mitch' last='Finefrock'] of Massillon Jackson is headed to Frostburg State in Maryland while fellow northeast Ohio standout [player_tooltip player_id='2047484' first='Nasir' last='Hines'] is headed to St Thomas Aquinas in New York. Medina grad [player_tooltip player_id='1453532' first='Kellon' last='Johnson'] will head west to Colorado School of Mines. Moeller forward [player_tooltip player_id='2459407' first='Brady' last='Franz'] moved to Ohio from Texas and will now head to Coker in South Carolina. Fellow Cincinnati forward [player_tooltip player_id='2052130' first='Emontae' last='Weah'] is headed down south to Miles college in Alabama.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->