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Ohio State guard Jaloni Cambridge’s hunger to win runs within her family – Andscape
Desmond Cambridge Sr. could see the signs of a winner in his daughter Jaloni early on.
Cambridge remembers a summer workout in 2008 when he was practicing with his oldest daughter, Jordyn, on an indoor court in their hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. They were working on ballhandling, specifically dribbling through the legs. In the corner, trying to copy her big sister, was 3-year-old Jaloni Cambridge.
“She couldn’t do it. She was crying,” Desmond Cambridge said. “I was like, ‘You’re not supposed to be able to do this.’”
Then he gave the toddler a choice.
“I said, ‘Look, you’re not going to be in here crying, because you’re disrupting this workout,’” Desmond Cambridge said. “‘So either you’re going to sit over here and try to do it and learn and take your time, or you can go sit over there in the bleachers.’”
Jaloni Cambridge wiped the tears off her face and decided to stay on the court. For the next 30 minutes, she practiced the crossover move until she could do it successfully.
“She didn’t say another word. That’s kind of like how I knew,” Desmond Cambridge said. “She’s one of those people who — there’s going to be things that she might not know how to do, but she’s willing to learn, willing to try to get better at it.”
Courtesy of the Cambridge family
Jaloni Cambridge would go on to become one of the top youth players in Tennessee, then one of the most coveted players in the country in the 2024 high school class. Now, the Ohio State sophomore is one of the best talents in all of college basketball. And after winning this season’s Big Ten scoring crown and earning a spot on the all-conference first team, Cambridge is ready to lead the No. 3 seed Buckeyes into the NCAA tournament.
“It’s basically like ever since she’s been little, she just gets better year to year,” Desmond Cambridge said.
To grow up in the Cambridge family home was to grow up in an environment with plenty of love and even more competition.
Jaloni Cambridge is the sixth of seven siblings. On a daily basis, anything that could become a contest did become one, from playing Connect Four or the latest video game to finishing dinner the fastest.
Each of Cambridge’s older siblings played college basketball at various levels. When it came to the basketball court, Cambridge learned quickly that she wouldn’t be given anything easy, even though she was much shorter than her siblings.
“It was understood that if you wanted to be a part of the family basketball games … there was no coddling. Jaloni learned that … I want to say around 4,” said Stephanie Dyer, Cambridge’s mom. “We let them know we’re very solution-oriented. We’re not going to sit around and mope about the problem. What can we do to fix it? Jaloni had to figure out how she could be faster and how to be more productive on the floor.”
Courtesy of the Cambridge Family
Cambridge plays with a persona that is boisterous and celebratory, traits required of a guard who at 5-foot-7 is capable of dropping 30 points on any given night.
It’s a stark difference, though, from the person she is once she takes off her athletic goggles.
“I’m definitely very laid-back,” Cambridge said. “I try not to do too much. I kind of fall into my role, however that comes.”
Dyer said Cambridge’s reserved nature stems from her being a younger sibling.
“Having to sit back and kind of figure out where she fits in within that group of siblings and kind of waiting your turn,” Dyer said. “It teaches you patience, to observe and to really pay attention so you can catch on, because it’s not a lot of one-on-one time with Mom and Dad because you have so much going on in the house.”
If you ask Desmond Cambridge what it looks like when Jaloni Cambridge is playing at her best, he will say it’s when his daughter makes the game look slow. It’s when she is seemingly playing with no effort, deploying her crafty style, utilizing her high IQ and tantalizing speed to facilitate or score in five-minute bursts on the floor.
Ask Jaloni Cambridge the same question, and her answer reveals a very different perspective.
“I feel like I’m at my best every time I’m smiling,” she said. “That normally happens every time during the game, because there’s always a reason to smile. I love this game so much.”
There are goals she sets for herself to improve her individual game — add a couple of points to her scoring average, improve her shooting percentage or 3-point shooting.
The joy for Cambridge, though, is derived from her experiences on the court. She’s able to separate the competition and the camaraderie in a manner that seemingly keeps her from being consumed by the sport itself.
Cambridge can be a “dawg” on the court, but she plays the game for her teammates and the places the sport has taken her.
“[It’s] the people. I have so many friends outside that I grew up with just from basketball,” she said. “I’ve been to so many places. The experiences and the advantages that I get just from making baskets — that’s really it.”
That distance Cambridge has created between herself and the game also has been a benefit in the locker room.
Kennedy Cambridge, Jaloni Cambridge’s older sister and a redshirt junior guard for the Buckeyes, calls her sister her “biggest safe zone.”
“When we lose a game, obviously she’s mad. But her first thing — I get really mad — she’ll come up to me and say, ‘This isn’t the end of the world,’” Kennedy Cambridge said. “‘Go home. We’re going to play again.’”
Last offseason brought turnover to Ohio State’s roster. The team lost a prominent leader in Taylor Thierry and a frontcourt piece in Ajae Petty to graduation. In April 2025, Cotie McMahon, a cornerstone of the program for the previous three seasons, entered the transfer portal, ultimately landing at Ole Miss.
Suddenly, Jaloni Cambridge, who in her first season was a unanimous All-Big Ten first-team selection, found herself having to step into an even bigger role as a sophomore than she likely anticipated.
Cambridge leaned on her experience from high school, which she began playing in the eighth grade, eventually facing a similar situation as an underclassman tasked with piloting a team.
Perhaps the most useful knowledge for Cambridge to draw from, however, was her time growing up as the second youngest of her siblings.
“I learned a lot from my older siblings,” Cambridge said. “It’s always a journey and a learning lesson, and it’s never going to go right at first. I just kept trusting myself and my teammates and the people that are in my circle.”
Kennedy Cambridge has been impressed by how her younger sister has handled the task.
“It takes a lot to not only carry your team but to do it at this level. Her being able to do that, that’s something that I don’t think that many people can do,” Kennedy Cambridge said. “Being a point guard is already hard. Being a point guard and being the person that also runs this team in and out, that’s a lot of maturity. I’m proud of her for that.”
Kirk Irwin / Getty Images
On Jan. 14, following an Ohio State win over Penn State in which Jaloni Cambridge had a game-high 33 points, reporters asked Buckeyes head coach Kevin McGuff how Cambridge’s game compared to that of program legend Kelsey Mitchell, who left Columbus as one of the best scorers college basketball had ever seen. Cambridge’s performances this season, both on the court and on paper, have drawn comparisons to Mitchell.
Cambridge has shied away from comparing herself to others — not necessarily because she finds such comparisons limiting but more so because she believes in every player being an individual.
“I know my game. I know what I’m capable of doing,” said Cambridge, who is averaging 22.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. “If I compare myself, I don’t want to be like everyone else. If you’re going to compare me to somebody, I want to be better than that person, then.”
In January, Cambridge became the first Ohio State player since Mitchell to score at least 25 points in three consecutive games — a feat she accomplished once more at the end of the month.
McGuff, though, highlighted a key difference between the two players.
“They are so similar in that they are so quick up the court and they have command of the ball,” McGuff said. “Kelsey was probably a score-first mentality. Jaloni might be a little more of a pass first, then score.”
It’s a classification that Cambridge agrees with. For someone who has an innate ability to score, she doesn’t necessarily have an inclination for it. Cambridge doesn’t believe in forcing the issue and needing to be the game-high scorer. She aimed to lead the Big Ten in assists this season, but ultimately she finished eighth.
It’s an interesting dichotomy for an Ohio State team that relies on her scoring for success.
“If I’m able to get to my spot, I’m obviously not going to pass that up,” Cambridge said. “When the ball is in my hand, there’s so much attention on me. So I know if it’s not going my way, I know that my teammates are open. It’s whatever’s open.”
Cambridge pointed to a late-game possession in the Buckeyes’ Jan. 19 contest against TCU. With Ohio State up one point and less than 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, a play was run for Cambridge to get downhill and attack the basket. Cambridge, without a clear opportunity at the rim, opted to dribble out and find teammate Chance Gray, who sank a crucial 3-pointer.
“Every shot that she takes, she wholeheartedly believes it’s for the best of the team,” said Kennedy Cambridge, who also played with Jaloni in high school. “Every play she calls, like, she’s doing it for her team. She’ll never take a selfish shot.”
Desmond Cambridge and Dyer have always placed an emphasis on their children to give back, however and whenever they can. When it became clear to them Jaloni was on a path to become a real star in the sport, they asked her how she wanted to give back to her community.
“One of the things she wanted to do was make sure that she hosted a camp in her city,” Dyer said. “We always talk about taking care of home first. You can never, ever, ever forget about the people who have been clapping for you since, you know, you were little.”
Courtesy of the Cambridge Family
Courtesy of the Cambridge Family
Beginning in Jaloni Cambridge’s senior year of high school, the Cambridges gathered some of their closest friends to help bring her vision to life. In 2024, the family hosted its first Jaloni Cambridge Dream Big Girls Basketball Academy camp in Nashville, Tennessee, which included a skills camp for players as well as a workshop for parents. Most important to the Cambridge family, the daylong event — now in its third year — is free to the community.
“It makes me realize how much of an impact I’ve made,” Cambridge said. “It’s only up from here. … I really just want to put smiles on people’s faces, no matter where they make it in life.”
As Cambridge prepares for her second shot at the NCAA tournament, she will have another chance to reintroduce herself and her game to a national audience.
Most important for her, though, is having another opportunity to do everything she can to lead this Buckeyes team to victory.
“Not everyone gets that opportunity,” Cambridge said. “Any chance that I get to step on the court with this team, I’m going to give it my all. So I’m excited to win.”
Fans got their first glimpse of the 2026-2027 Buckeyes during their spring game earlier today. In contrast to last year’s offensive takeover, it was the defense this year that shined for the most part.
With this, we still saw plenty of Buckeyes that proved that they are ready to play, and ready to play now. Here are three standouts from the Ohio State Spring Game.
Chris Henry Jr.
Coming into the game, most Ohio State fans had already penciled Chris Henry Jr., the No. 1 WR in the 2026 class according to ESPN, as the successor to Carnell Tate in the Buckeye offense.
Anyone that didn’t, probably should now.
The freshman wideout hauled in 4 passes for 96 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.
Playing all snaps on the outside, Henry Jr. looked very poised, showcasing smooth route running and breakaway speed. The connection between him and another Buckeye on this list was the highlight of the offense for the day. There is no doubt he should be an immediate contributor in this Ohio State offense.
Tavien St. Clair
After a subpar showing at the spring game last year, Tavien St. Clair showed flashes of the top-10 recruit he was just two years ago.
He dazzled early with two big completions to Chris Henry Jr., showing off his big arm in the process.
His touchdown pass to Henry Jr. was a beautiful look off from St. Clair, who launched it right to the right pylon to find the freshman wideout.
It was not all sunshine and rainbows for St. Clair on the day though, as he was forced into a couple three-and-outs as well as a few balls that could have been intercepted.
All in all, all tools are there for St. Clair to be great when his number is called, and another year of growth under Julian Sayin should help him get there.
Beau Atkinson
Buckeye fans were surprised when Beau Atkinson was basically a non-factor on the defensive line a season ago, as the hype around him coming from North Carolina was immense.
The player they expected to see last year was on full display, as the senior finished the day with a sack and an interception off a Julian Sayin batted ball at the line of scrimmage.
His high motor was one to watch early, as his get-off and confidence at the position looked vastly improved from last year. He is one to seriously watch to be the starter next to Kenyatta Jackson Jr. come September.
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A vulnerable woman, suffering from multiple health conditions and alcohol-related dementia, was “dumped” at a homeless shelter by an Ohio nursing home, prompting staff to call the fire department.
The woman, who was diabetic, managing a tibia fracture, and incontinent, arrived at the shelter carrying “a large bag of medications.”
Federal inspectors from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) documented the incident following an August 3, 2023, inspection, noting the woman was “unclear of what was going on, scared, and not sure who dropped her off there.”
The Eastland Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Columbus had involuntarily discharged the woman after she was caught drinking beer at the facility. While staff reportedly sought a substance abuse rehabilitation bed, none were immediately available.
Eastland staff failed to contact the county’s psychiatric bed board for alternative placement before taking her to the shelter, where she faced a waiting list of about 100 people.
The incident highlights a disturbing trend, described by industry experts as rare but increasingly common, where nursing homes transfer medically fragile patients to homeless shelters. CMS, which funds most nursing home care in the U.S., has previously faulted Eastland and six other facilities for similar discharge practices in recent years.
The shelter at first declined to admit the woman, leaving her outside in the late-summer heat. Staff eventually relented, letting her sit in the lobby with a glass of cold water while they summoned a city rapid response team, including the fire department and a social worker.
Neither Eastland nor the CMS inspectors could locate the woman by the time the report was published.
“In addition, the events of what occurred at the addiction recovery center or how/why Resident #83 ended up at the homeless shelter … could not be determined as the facility was unable to provide any additional information regarding Resident #83,” the inspection report says.
The administrator at Eastland declined to return phone calls about the inspection. Facility staff declined to provide contact information for Garden Healthcare, the corporate owner of the nursing home, which operates five other facilities, according to CMS data. It doesn’t publish any contact information online.
Most of the patients in these situations are older, homeless, unemployed and lack support networks of family or friends that might be checking in on them, according to Chip Wilkins, who leads the city of Dayton’s Long Term Care Ombudsman program, which acts as a legal advocate for long term care patients.
“We are starting to deal with it more and more. The facilities are so closely monitored on discharges, but yet they still try and send them to hospitals and not take them back. Or drop them off at homeless shelters,” he said in an interview.
“I would say certainly over the last six months there has been an uptick.”
Leilani Pelletier, the statewide ombudsman, said she didn’t have ready access to data that could confirm whether the discharges to homeless shelters have increased in frequency statewide.
But health care is as subject to macroeconomic forces like inflation as other sectors of the economy. And Medicaid, which pays for most nursing care, is under increasing cost pressure as federal lawmakers have reduced program funds.
The challenges nursing facilities in Ohio are facing reflect a broader and concerning trend affecting facilities across the country, said Scott Wiley in a statement, CEO of the Ohio Health Care Association, an industry trade group.
“This issue has been growing as more residents face unstable housing,” he said. “State oversight and resources are needed to help tackle the issue on a larger scale to find meaningful, long-term solutions for Ohioans who struggle with homelessness. It will require a collaborative approach that a single nursing facility provider is not equipped to manage on their own.”
The state ombudsman’s office gets copies of every involuntary discharge from a nursing home in Ohio. One of the first things they check, Wilkins said, is the proposed discharge location.
Homeless shelter discharges are priority cases because they’re almost always unsafe, he said. They can’t manage the 10 to 20 medications they might need daily. Some rely on wheelchairs or walkers.
“Invariably, that ends up being a horrible experience for the individual because they’ll go to the shelter, and typically, within two to three days, the shelter will send them to the hospital because they can’t meet their needs,” Wilkins said.
Often, the issues trace back to insurers, including Medicaid and Medicare, that cut off residents’ benefits. Sometimes the facilities cite aggressive behavior or substance use.
Homeless shelters aren’t built to handle medically fragile patients. They aren’t medical centers. Some may require residents to climb to a top bunk, a tall task for older patients.
Marcus Roth, director of communications of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said the practice puts the shelters in a tight spot. They’re tending to a population they’re not equipped to handle, but they’re also the de facto safety net.
“The emergency shelter system, to the extent we have a system, is often the only thing available when other interventions don’t work,” he said.
Pelletier emphasized in an interview that such involuntary discharges to shelters against residents’ wishes are rare. That said, she estimated about 13,000 Ohioans are discharged from a nursing home each month.
Nursing homes, she said, have legal obligations to make sure that discharges are “safe and appropriate.” And it’s not up to the facilities, she said, to unilaterally decide where a person should go.
Whether a shelter is “safe and appropriate” is a fact-specific question. Pelletier said there are instances where it could be, pending the care needs of the resident and abilities of the shelter. It’s the kind of thing that ombudsmen hone in on when reviewing discharges.
“The real issue is when people are discharged to a homeless shelter and there’s been no work or investigation done on if that would be a safe or appropriate discharge,” she said.
It didn’t matter that its patient was diabetic and struggled to manage his blood sugar. Neither did his history of glaucoma, cataracts, or suspected autism, or his 22 years of residency at the nursing home.
What mattered is that his insurance stopped paying, and the Laurels of Hillsboro wanted him out, according to a Dec. 29, 2025 CMS inspection of the facility. The facility was sold in July 2025 and rebranded to Hillsboro Health and Rehab, but state and federal records reflect the previous name.
The man told CMS inspectors in an interview that nursing home staff never told him he was being taken to a homeless shelter.
Federal law says nursing home residents must be given at least 30 days’ notice before a discharge, barring health and safety emergencies. But the patient at Hillsboro, who isn’t identified in the investigation, wasn’t given any. According to his former roommate, facility staff misrepresented the discharge, claiming he’d be going to an assisted living apartment as opposed to an emergency shelter that would only house him for up to 90 days.
The man wasn’t taught to manage his medications and showed up at the shelter without any needles to use. He struggled to see with his cataracts. He had no driver’s license, birth certificate or other documents he would need to get a job, income or housing.
“I can’t believe they would do someone dirty like that,” the patient’s roommate said to CMS inspectors.
Hillsboro, via a receptionist who declined to provide her name over the phone, declined to comment but said the facility is now in “substantial compliance” with the state.
In some of the facilities cited by CMS, the providers allegedly failed to ensure patients got their medications as they were discharged to homeless shelters. And some failed to provide patients their 30 days of notice before an involuntary discharge.
Meadowbrook Manor, in Trumbull County, sought to discharge a patient with an array of long-term illnesses and a history of substance use and homelessness, according to a July 8 inspection. He was given a 30-day discharge notice, but was sent to a shelter 20 days later regardless.
He was given two weeks’ worth of medications, but no prescriptions, medical appointments or care plan. The shelter staff identified a “mismatch” given the man had trouble walking and couldn’t climb a ladder to reach a top bunk, as the facility requires.
Meadowbrook staff refused to take him back.
At New Lebanon Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, a woman’s insurer sent her a termination letter for her treatment for a series of neural and spinal disorders, plus depression and arthritis.
While she was entitled to 30 days’ notice, the facility gave her roughly 24 hours before discharging her to a homeless shelter. The facility’s social services director said he didn’t know where the woman actually went, only that a friend picked her up.
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Friday, April 17, 2026 | 7:01 PM
Central Catholic lineman Jimmy Kalis warms up before the Vikings’ game against Pine-Richland on Aug. 29, 2025, at CMU. (Christopher Horner | TribLive)
Central Catholic’s Jimmy Kalis blocks as Chrys Black carries through the Harrisburg defense during their PIAA Class 6A state semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, at Mansion Park in Altoona. (Christopher Horner | TribLive)
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Jimmy Kalis will play his college football at Ohio State.
Central Catholic’s 6-foot-8, 285-pound star lineman, surrounded by family, friends and other supporters, gave a verbal commitment to the Buckeyes live on Rivals’ YouTube channel Friday evening.
He thanked many of the people who supported him along his journey, including teammates and coaches.
“I want to thank all of the schools that gave me a chance and believed in me,” Kalis said. “I am really thankful and blessed for all these opportunities I got.”
The soon-to-be senior chose Ohio State over a group of five other finalists that included Georgia, Texas, Clemson, Miami and LSU.
Kalis, a Rivals 4-star offensive tackle, collected more than 40 Power Four scholarship offers with Alabama, Cal, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Indiana, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Tennessee, Washington, WVU and Wisconsin among the others.
He is the No. 234 overall prospect and No. 21 offensive tackle in the Class of 2027, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking.
Kalis went through an extensive recruiting process that included visits to several of the top schools on his list.
In an interview with Rivals in February, Kalis said Ohio State was “very high on my list because they have been there and been very consistent since Day 1. They develop OL at a high level and have an elite culture and they take pride in getting guys to the next level.”
Kalis was part of a powerful Central Catholic offensive line in 2025 that helped the Vikings rack up 40.8 points per game.
Central Catholic went undefeated in Class 6A, finished 13-2 overall, defeated North Allegheny, 42-7, for the WPIAL title and advanced to the PIAA championship game before falling to La Salle College.
Kalis’ efforts were celebrated with numerous all-star honors including an all-conference second-team nod.
“It’s been an awesome ride watching Jimmy grow and mature,” Central Catholic coach Ryan Lehmeier said. “He’s earned this opportunity. He’s played really well throughout his career with us. He’s a great kid who is so focused on what he wants, and he’s worked so hard towards that. He’s been a delight to coach, and I hope all of our kids are able to reach their max potential. For guys like Jimmy to have this opportunity, I couldn’t be more happy for him.”
Kalis has had a strong support system, and throughout the recruiting process, he leaned on the experience of both his father, Todd, and older brother, Kyle.
Todd Kalis, a Minnesota native, attended Division I Arizona State as a 6-6, 300-pound guard and was selected by the Vikings in the fourth round of the 1988 NFL Draft. He played for the Vikings, Steelers and Bengals over his eight-year NFL career.
Kyle Kalis, recruited by Michigan out of St. Edward High School in suburban Cleveland, got an opportunity as a lineman (6-4, 305) in the NFL with Washington, Indianapolis, Cleveland, and Oakland from 2017-2020.
Jimmy’s mother, Kristen, was a former college basketball player. She is 6-1.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.
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