Coaches Association Newsletter March 2024

North-South Game Coaches Announced
Greg Nossaman, Boys North-South Game Director, and Adam Priefer, Girls North-South Game Director, announced the North-South Game Coaches. To be a nominee to coach in the North-South Game, a coach must be an OHSBCA member, must be nominated by a District Director, and coached in the 2023 District Finals.

The Coaches are Roger Jury of Hopewell-Loudon, Chris Hassinger of Medina, Anthony Calo of Olentangy Orange, Nathan Copas of North Adams, Steve Suter of Hopewell-Loudon, Jordan Eaton of Olmsted Falls, Corey Small of South Gallia, and Klarke Ransome of Marysville.

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Girls South Coach Corey Small South Gallia High School Coach Small has accumulated an overall record of 143-129 in 12 years as a head coach at South Gallia. His teams have won 2 league titles, 4 sectional championships, and 1 district championship. This year, his team finished with an overall record of 20-5.	Boys North Coach Chris Hassinger Medina High School Chris has served as both the boys coach and girls coach at Medina High School. He has an overall record of 222-120. Chris has won 4 league titles and 4 district championships during his time at Medina. This year, his team finished 14-11.
Girls South Coach Klarke Ransome Marysville High School Klarke has an impressive 87-17 overall record in his 4 years at Marysville. His teams have won 3 league titles, 4 sectional championships, and 1 district championship. His team finished with a record of 22-4 this past season.	Boys North Coach Roger Jury Hopewell-Loudon HS Roger recently completed his 28th year as a head coach (Cardington-Lincoln, Marion Harding, & Hopewell-Loudon). He has a career record of 363-281. His teams have won 6 league titles, 2 district championships, and 1 regional championship. This year, his team finished with an overall record of 22-3.
Girls North Coach Steve Suter South Point High School Steve Suter has an overall record of 118-128 in his 11 years as a head coach which included stops at Arlington (Boys), Clear Fork (Girls), and Hopewell-Loudon (Girls). His teams have won 2 league titles and 1 district championship in 11 years. This year, Hopewell-Loudon finished with a record of 8-16.	Boys South Coach Anthony Calo Olentangy Orange HS Coach Calo just recently completed his 12th year as the head boys' basketball coach at Olentangy Orange High School. His overall record at Olentangy Orange is 175-113. His teams have won 2 league titles and 2 district championships.  This year, Olentangy Orange finished with a record of 26-2 and lost in the regional finals to Delaware Hayes.
Girls North Coach Jordan Eaton Olmsted Falls High School Jordan Eaton has spent 10 years at Olmsted Falls winning 6 league titles, 8 sectional championships, 5 district championships, 2 regional championships, and 1 state championship.  His team finished 26-3 and won the Division 1 State Championship, beating Springboro 52-45 in the championship game.	Boys South Coach Nathan Copas North Adams High School Nathan has spent 13 years at North Adams as the head boys' basketball coach. He has a career record of 191-128. His teams at North Adams have won 2 league titles and 2 district championships. This year, his team finished 21-5 and lost in the regional semi-finals to Harvest Prep.

OHSBCA North-South All-Star Game
The OHSBCA featured event is the Ohio North-South All-Star Game. The Boys have been playing this event since 1958 and the Girls since 1981. The top players and coaches in the state participate in this annual event. 

The player selection is done by the following procedure: The State is divided into 16 Districts, eight southern and eight northern. One player and alternate are selected from each district – One Player from Division I & II / One Player from Division III & IV. District must designate the First Player and Second Player. Voting is done at the Local level with each school receiving the number of votes as they have state members in the Association. Twelve players will be select for the North and Twelve players will be select for the South – (1) Each District will have their First Selection represent their District in N-S Game, (2) All Player of the Year will receive automatic selection to the N-S Game, (3) If a District has a Player of the Year, the Second Selection receive automatic selection to the N-S Game, (4) If the First Selection is unable to play in the N-S Game, the Second Selection from that District receives the automatic selection to the N-S Game.

District Directors from the North will select the North coaches and District Directors from the South will select the South coaches. Nominees can come from all districts. Coaches must be an OHSBCA Member and coached in the District Finals in the previous season. Two (2) Coaches from the North District (District 1 – 8) will be selected to coach the N-S Game for the North. One coach is from Division I & II and one coach is from Division III & IV. Two (2) Coaches from the South District (District 9 – 16) will be selected to coach the N-S Game for the South. One coach is from Division I & II and one coach is from Division III & IV.

The rules for the Ohio North-South All-Star Games are: (1) Two 20-minute halves and a shot clock, (2) 10-minute halftime, (3) Players can foul out (5 fouls), (4) Coaches sub every 5 minutes in the first half, (5) Everyone plays in second half, (6) Coach to win, (7) Half-Court Defense is all man-to-man, (8) Full court defense is anything you want to do.

The games will be played on Friday, April 26, 2024, with the Girls game starting at 6:30 pm followed by the Boys game at 8:15 pm. The games will compete at Olentangy Liberty High School.

N-S GAME ACTIVITIES 2023 (Friday)
1.    6:30 pm Girls Game
    A,    Introduction
    B.    Presentation of All-Star by OANG
2.    Halftime of Girls Game
    A.    Team Pictures
    B.    Girls Players of the Year
    C.    Girls Coaches of the Year
    D.    Ms. OHSBCA
    E.    Assistant Girls Coach of the Year
3.    After Girls Game
    A.    MVP of Game
    B.    Scholarship Winner
4.    8:15 pm Boys Game
    A.    Introduction
    B.    Presentation of All-Star by OANG
5.    Halftime of Boys Game
    A.    Team Pictures
    B.    Boys Players of the Year
    C.    Boys Coaches of the Year
    D.    Mr. OHSBCA
    E.    Assistant Coach of the Year
6.    After Second Boys Game
    A.    MVP of Game

OHSBCA Hall of Fame Banquet
The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association (OHSBCA) is proud to announce the coaches and date for the Hall of Fame Class for 2024. This year, the association is inducting four coaches into the Hall of Fame. The four high school coaches being inducted are Gregg Collins of Mansfield Senior, Pam Davis of Archbishop Hoban, Doug Hale of Oak Hill, Carl Kremer of Archbishop Moeller and Dennis Schrock of Chippewa.

The Induction Ceremony for the Thirty-Sixth Class will be at the Columbus Marriott University Area at 3100 Olentangy River Road in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 5:30 PM. 

Tickets may be obtained by Calling Hall of Fame Director Paul Wayne at 419-261-2547 or by email at wayno14@embarqmail.com.

State Tournament Winners
Congratulations to the schools and coaches that won State Championships.
Girls Division 1 - Olmsted Falls - Coach Jordan Eaton
Girls Division 2 - Cincinnati Purcell-Marian - Coach Jamar Mosley
Girls Division 3 - Columbus Africentric - Coach Janicia Anderson
Girls Division 4 - Fort Loramie - Coach Carla Siegel
Boys Division 1 - St. Ignatius - Coach Cameron Joyce
Boys Division 2 - Archbishop Alter - Coach Eric Coulter
Boys Division 3 - Cleveland Heights Lutheran East - Coach Sam Liggins
Boys Division 4 - Richmond Heights - Coach Quentin Rogers

John Wooden Legacy Award Winners
The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association (OHSBCA) would like to announce the recipients of the John Wooden Legacy Award for the 2024 year. This year Joe Petrocelli, former head boys’ basketball coach at Kettering Alter High School and Mary Jo Huismann, former head girls’ basketball coach at Mother of Mercy High School and current head girls’ coach at Talawanda High School are the recipients of the award. Both recipients were honored at half time of Saturday’s semi-final game at their respected state tournaments.

Joe became the first basketball coach at Kettering Alter High School in 1964 at the tender age of 26. He wouldn’t have any idea what was in store for him during the next 46 years. Who would expect to win 800 games and remain at that school their entire career. Only one other coach in Ohio basketball history has won over 800 games in his coaching career. And very few had the interest and energy to coach when they were 75 years old.

Joe’s run at Alter is unmatched in OHSAA history. His teams won three state championships (1978, 1999, 2001), nine regional championships and 25 district championships. Under his guidance, the Knights had a 77-game home winning streak from 1971 to 1981. He coached two NBA players, brothers Jim and John Paxson as well as many players who received Division I college scholarships. Joe spent 50 seasons at Alter H.S., ending his career with 831 wins when he retired in March 0f 2013.

Joe was inducted into the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

Joe’s leadership and community service has established him as one of Kettering’s greatest role models. Joe has been married to his wife, Marianne for the past 62 years. They have 3 adult children (Mary Jo, Suzanne and Tony) and one grandson, Nicholas.

Mary Jo Huismann has an extraordinary record of service to women’s sports that few have duplicated. Despite having little opportunity to participate during her high school and college years, Huismann has been a true pioneer in women’s sports. Mother of Mercy High School in Cincinnati, a girls’ school had just started their sports program when Mary Jo joined the teaching staff in 1972.

By the end of her tenure at Mother of Mercy, they had 11 sports and 22 teams competing in OHSAA sports. She was the director of athletics, head basketball coach and track and field coach. In 1976, Ohio held its first girls’ basketball state tournament, and four years later Coach Huismann led her Mother of Mercy squad to the Class AAA championship game. Coach Huismann would return to the state finals in 1989 and 1990 and finished state runners-up on both occasions.

In her 46 years as head coach, Mercy teams accumulated 696 wins. The school won 18 Greater Cincinnati 
championships, 15 district titles and 3 regional championships. She was selected coach of the year by the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association in 1988, 1991 and 1995.

After Mother of Mercy High School closed in the Spring of 2018, Coach Huismann became the head coach at Talawanda High School in Oxford, OH. In her fifth season at Talawanda, she would win back-to-back league titles. Coach Huismann just finished her 51st year as a head coach. Her overall record starting the 2023-24 season was 760-388.

Coach Huismann was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2022.

Future Elections
In 2024, there are no positions are to be elected:

Qualifications for these POSITIONS is that the candidate must be a member of the OHSBCA. Candidates for all these positions must send a letter of intent to the President of the OHSBCA stating the position in which they will be a candidate for by July 1st. Election Procedures can be found on Page 17 of the January 2024 Constitutional Issue.

Midwest Live Scholastic Event
Once again, the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association will be hosting a Midwest Live Scholastic Event. This year we are adding a Girls team event. These events will be held during the NCAA Division I Recruiting Period in June. The Girls event will be held on June 14 & 15 and the Boys event will be played on June 28-30. The top Girls and Boys players and teams will assemble at Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky, Ohio to participate in this summer tournament. More information will be coming.