Tag: Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary

Former Ohio State star named head coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary

A captain and national champion heads home. #GoBucks

If you play football at Ohio State, chances are you know a thing or two about the game. Plenty of former Buckeyes have taken this path. From Eddie George at Tennessee State to Stanley Jackson at Westerville North High School, there is no shortage of former players ready to teach the game to the next generation.

The latest to jump into the coaching ranks is none other than Doran Grant who was a captain on the 2014 national championship team. Grant has been named as the next head coach at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary. Grant, an alum of the school, starred for the Fighting Irish from 2008-2011.

At Ohio State, Grant saw action all four years before becoming a starter in his junior season. As a cornerback, he totaled 140 tackles, nine interceptions, and one touchdown while wearing Scarlet and Gray. Grant would be drafted in the 2015 NFL draft in the fourth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Grant told the Akron Beacon Journal how excited he was to lead his alma mater.

“It’s a place I’ve always loved and adored even before I got there,” Grant said. “I had multiple family members go there, so when it was my time, I just fully embraced it. I was so happy to be there and it’s exactly how I feel right now. It’s like going there for the first time. I’m just so appreciative to be there. I honestly can’t wait because I’m going to give St. Vincent-St. Mary every ounce of energy I have.”

Grant takes over a team that went 5-5 in the regular season while taking a first-round loss in the first game of the Ohio High School regional tournament to end the season at 5-6. Grant will look to turn things around on the football field and give back to the community and program that helped make him the man he is today.

Ohio State basketball commit Malaki Branham drops 37 points, takes home state title

Ohio State commit Malaki Branham scored 37 points in the state high school championship to lead Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary to the title.

You may still be stuck in a corner, licking your wounds over the shocking loss by the Ohio State basketball team to No. 15 seed Oral Roberts in the NCAA Tournament, but don’t fret. We’re here to tell you that there is help on the way next hoops season.

That assistance and upgrade in talent comes in the form of Akron St. Vincent- St. Mary forward Malaki Branham. That’s right, the same school that produced LeBron James is sending a player to Ohio State, and he’s a good one. Branham is currently ranked as the No. 29 overall prospect in the 2022 class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, and he offers a unique skill set that should get him on the floor immediately in Columbus.

But before all of that, Branham had one more high school game to play, and it was a big one. His Vikings played Columbus St. Francis-DeSales in the Ohio state high school Division II championship game Sunday night, and Branham came to play.

In his final prep game, the 6-foot, 4-inch, 175-pound shooting guard put up 37 points and led his team to the title by a score of 72-50. What might be even more exciting for Buckeye fans is the fact that Branham put the team on his back once it really mattered. St. Vincent-St. Mary trailed in the contest midway through the third period before Branham took things into his own hands, scoring 16 points in a short burst to help his team pull ahead by twelve by the time the period was over.

Game over thanks to a killer instinct the OSU program could desperately use.

In a season where OSU seemed lost as to what to do, and who to put the ball in the hands of at the end of games, a player of Branham’s caliber could be the medicine Ohio State needs to turn around some late-game fortune next season.

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