Tag: Ohio Mr. Basketball

Ohio Mr. Basketball winners that have played for Ohio State

There have been plenty of winners of the Ohio Mr. Basketball award that went on to play for Ohio State. Take a journey through the names.

Ohio State has long been considered the big boy in the state, even when it comes to hoops. Sure, there’s Cincinnati, Xavier, Dayton, and other state schools that have had their time in the limelight, but the Buckeyes are still king. Not by the wide margin football is, but no other state school can boast as many NCAA Tournament appearances, Final Fours, and All-American players.

For that reason, Ohio State has long been a destination for the state’s best basketball players. To illustrate that point, of the 28 winners of the Ohio Mr. Basketball award, eleven of them have gone on to play for OSU, and that’s without the benefit of having three-time winner LeBron James who went straight to the NBA.

You might be surprised by some of the state prep players that were named to the prestigious award in high school and went on to make their mark on the banks of the Olentangy. We’re naming all eleven here so that you can impress your friends, especially with another being added to the list with incoming freshman Malaki Branham.

 

Incoming OSU freshman Malaki Branham named Ohio Mr. Basketball

Future Ohio State shooting guard Malaki Branham, a top-30 prospect in the 2021 class, has won Ohio Mr. Basketball for the 2020-2021 season.

It seemed like a foregone conclusion, but now it’s official. Ohio State incoming freshman from Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Malaki Branham, has been named Ohio’s Mr. Basketball for the 2022-2021 season. He is a fringe five-star prospect that’s ranked as the No. 6 shooting guard and 29th overall prospect in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

At six-foot, 4-inches, the versatile and talented guard averaged 21.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.8 steals during a campaign in which he led his Irish to a state title behind a 25-2 record. He capped it off with a 37-point performance in the state title game.

It’s the first time since LeBron James in 2003 that an Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary product won the award. King James took it home in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

The award that recognizes the best player in Ohio has been around since 1988, with Brahnam becoming the eleventh winner of the award to go on and play for Ohio State. He’s the first Ohio Mr. Basketball to choose to play for the Buckeyes since Kaleb Wesson in 2017.

“I’m biased I guess,” Irish coach Dru Joyce II told the Akron Beacon Journal, “but there’s nobody in the state better than him. He’s by himself.”

Brahnam himself was grateful and humble upon being announced as the award winner.

“The things that go through my mind knowing this are just being thankful for the people that have sacrificed and helped me to this point,” Branham told the Beacon-Journal. “My trainer Jason Dawson, my AAU coach [Danielle] Love, the shot doc, coach Dru and all of my family members. They sacrificed so much for me to be in this situation now, so I just want to thank them. There’s been good times and bad times, but all the people that I mentioned, they always encouraged me.
And to be on this list with LeBron just shows me that there is more work to be done. It makes me understand that there are more goals I want to accomplish and it’s going to make me work even harder than ever and not let anyone or anything get in my way.”
Congrats to Branham and it will be fun to see what kind of impact he makes on Ohio State’s team next season.

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