Ohio
Top Southwest Ohio junior boys basketball players heading into the 2025-2026 season
It’s almost hoops time in Ohio as the season is just around the corner. Four Southwest Ohio boys teams reached the Final Four of the state tournament across seven divisions last season, and with tons of talent spread across Cincinnati we could be in for a repeat in 2025-2026.
The Enquirer has already broken down the top 25 Southwest Ohio seniors to watch, and so it’s time to turn our attention to the juniors. Though it can be difficult to earn playing time as an underclassman, these players made the cut last year and had a huge impact on their teams.
Continuing The Enquirer’s previews and breakdowns of the year to come, here are the top 10 Southwest Ohio juniors to watch, listed alphabetically, for the 2025-2026 season. Watch for a separate story for Northern Kentucky and Indiana juniors.
Eli Beck, Madeira
A star on the baseball diamond as well, Beck was already the Mustangs’ leading scorer as a sophomore with 12 points per game. His ability to get to the rim for quality shots helped him shoot over 63% from the floor last year. He shoots well from three at over 38%, but he only took 44 threes last year. Beck was selected second-team all-conference in the Cincinnati Hills league in 2024-2025, and should continue to improve this season.
Bryce Curry, Lakota West
One of two sophomores who helped lead Lakota West to the state Final Four last season, Curry uses his length and athleticism to impact the game. At 6-foot-4, his ability to finish above the rim led him to average 11.9 points per game on 52% shooting, also grabbing 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals a game. Curry was named to the all-conference first team in the Greater Miami Conference and an All-Ohio honorable mention. With fellow junior Josh Tyson also returning for the Firebirds, Lakota West will be a threat to make a deep tournament run once again.
Keion Griffin, Taft
Griffin earned first-team All-Ohio honors last season in Division IV after leading the Senators in scoring with 17.9 points per game. His outside shooting and defense make him dangerous as he shot above 35% from deep and averaged 2.2 steals and two blocks a game. Taft returns all five of its leading scorers from last year, with Griffin looking to put up monster numbers yet again.
Jayceon Kibler, Wilmington
Although he missed the back half of last season, Kibler finished as the leading per-game scorer in the Southern Buckeye Academic and Athletic Conference with 19 points per game on 36% three-point shooting. As a freshman Kibler was already a first-team all-conference pick for the American Division in the SBAAC, and as long as he stays healthy he’ll be in the conversation for player of the year in his junior season.
Isaiah Mack-Russell, Winton Woods
Mack-Russell is a high-impact transfer for a Winton Woods team that already brought back a lot of talent from last year’s 23-2 season. The 109th overall player in the 2027 class, according to 247 Sports, he averaged 18.8 points per game at Toledo Central Catholic last year. He has several Division I offers, including Ohio State, Cincinnati and Dayton. Mack-Russell looks poised to be a major weapon in another deep Winton Woods run.
Braylon Settelmayer, Goshen
Settelmayer won Player of the Year in the SBAAC’s American Division last year, averaging 12.5 points, 7.8 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and two steals per game. He was also an OHSAA Division III all-state honorable mention as he led Goshen to win the American Division with a 9-1 conference record. With the team returning its top three scorers and Settelmayer there to run the offense, expect another strong season from Goshen.
Monsanna Torbert, Taft
The star quarterback for the Senators was also the second-leading scorer on the hardwood last season with 14.7 points per game. Torbert’s 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals a game were also good for second best on the team as he earned first-team all-conference honors in the Cincinnati Metro Conference’s Red Division and was named a Division IV All-Ohio honorable mention.
Josh Tyson, Lakota West
Tyson led the Firebirds’ offense last year en route to a state Final Four appearance, netting himself second-team All-Ohio honors. With 15.5 points per game on lights-out 60% shooting, including 42% from three, Tyson’s offensive firepower also granted him a spot as an all-conference first-teamer. As the team’s leader in assists as well, Tyson is more than capable of burning opponents if they try to force the ball out of his hands.
Chris Washington, Purcell Marian
In his sophomore campaign, Washington torched opposing defenses on his way to 22.1 points per game. Adding 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and two steals, he earned his place on the Miami Valley Conference’s all-league first team. In his final regular-season game last season, Washington scored 38 points on 13-of-14 shooting, including 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. If he picks up where he left off, he’ll be at the top of the list for MVC Player of the Year.
Grant Waters, McNicholas
An All-Ohio special mention and first-team all-conference selection out of the Greater Catholic League-Coed, Water used deadeye shooting to lead the league in scoring. Splashing in 90 threes on nearly 41.9% shooting, he averaged 18.2 points per game as a sophomore. With just one other GCL-Coed first-teamer returning for the 2025-2026 season, Waters is primed to make another run at athlete of the year.
GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN) – Over 100 athletes came together for the 5th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational Saturday morning in Girard.
These athletes represent five different schools across Trumbull County to compete and spread the message of inclusion, achievement, and sportsmanship.
The Invitational continued its long-standing tradition of honoring the legacy of Randy Suchanek while celebrating the dedication and accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes throughout the region.
“You can hear all the excitement for this, for the athletes that are here today,” said superintendent Bryan O’Hara. “They work hard all year long to participate. We’ve always worked hand in hand with the rotary to get this accomplished is a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Participating schools included Ashtabula, Geauga, Columbiana, Kent-Portage and Trumbull Fairhaven
“There’s a lot of nice participation from girard students as you see behind us, and a lot of participation from the community helping out,” Girard-Liberty Rotary co-president Andy Kish added.
O’Hara added that the event keeps everything in perspective, seeing the athletes compete in the spirit of fun, along with the courage and determination that they show.
Alex Sorrells contributed to this report.
Out of prison, Indiana’s caviar king back on Ohio River to find fishing holes taken
David Cox, of English, Indiana, says once he began setting his nets again after a two-year prison sentence and a three-year ban on commercial fishing, all of his once-secret spots were taken.
Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?
In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.
At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.
There were warnings in 1977
But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.
Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.
But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.
So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?
The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.
There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.
In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.
Here’s where to check
Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.
Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish
The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.
Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.
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It isn’t over until it’s over. That’s the case for both the UCLA Bruins football program recruiting and for quarterback Brady Edmunds. Edmunds is currently committed to head to Ohio State but he took a visit from UCLA offensive coordinator Dean Kennedy earlier this week.
Kennedy met Edmunds on Thursday despite the fact that the quarterback has been committed to the Buckeyes since December of 2024 but could the UCLA Bruins be making a run at flipping the quarterback?
Edmunds has only had an official visit with Ohio State but could UCLA heave a heat check on the 6’5” quarterback? New UCLA head coach Bob Chesney is off to an unbelievable start to his recruiting with the Bruins and flipping a recruit of Edmunds’ caliber would be his most impressive move yet.
247 Sports has Edmunds as the No. 16 quarterback in the class, which would give UCLA a clear predecessor for Nico Iamaleava whenever the Bruins current starting quarterback decides to head to the professional level.
It’d be a full circle moment for the Bruins, as Edmunds was originally recruited to Ohio State by former UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, who bailed on UCLA to go run the Buckeyes offense. Ohio State is a great spot for a developing quarterback, as the Buckeyes produce tons of NFL talent, especially at the wide receiver position, which would help Edmunds put up some gaudy numbers in Columbus.
Chesney and the Bruins have geography on their side, Edmunds attends Huntington Beach High School in Southern California, which could potentially become a factor if Edmunds views UCLA as a program on the rise that’d be much closer to his friends and family than out in Ohio.
Time will tell if Kennedy’s visit will make a difference but UCLA’s recruiting has made waves in the first offseason under Chesney and the new regime.
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