The state of Ohio produces plenty of high-quality high school boys basketball players who will put their talents on display this winter.
As a preview to this season, the high school sports staff of the Gannett Corp.'s more than 60 Ohio newspapers and websites compiled a who's who of the Buckeye State's boys basketball players for the 2021-2022 season.
Here are the best boys basketball players in the state of Ohio:
1. Rayvon Griffith, Taft
The junior is rated by 247Sports as a Top-10 shooting guard in the nation and is the No. 1 player in Ohio for the Class of 2023. Last season, Griffith was the Southwest District Division III player of the year and first-team All-Ohio after averaging 23.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, leading Taft to a regional title and the state Final Four.
As a freshman, Griffith averaged 16.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game and was named second-team all-district and honorable mention All-Ohio.
Griffith is 316 points away from 1,000 for his prep career.
Griffith is a hot name on the recruiting circuit, currently holding offers from Cincinnati, Alabama, Kansas, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, South Carolina and UCLA, among others. He also visited Kentucky.
2. Sencire Harris, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary
![STVM's Sencire Harris makes a layup ahead of Shawnee's Austin Miller during the second half of a Divsion II state semifinal, Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Dayton, Ohio. [Jeff Lange/Beacon Journal]](https://cdn.cincylink.com/pub/content/uploads/sites/27/2021/11/Top-boys-players-for-2021-22-season.JPG)
Harris is a three-time All-Ohio selection and is coming off back-to-back seasons averaging 14 points per game. Last season, Harris averaged 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals per game in the regular season and shot 60% from the field to help the Irish win a Division II state title. He earned second-team All-Ohio honors.
As a sophomore, Harris helped lead the Irish to 20 wins plus sectional and district titles before the season was canceled. He was named third-team All-Ohio. As a freshman at North Canton Hoover, he averaged 20.4 points per game and was third-team All-Ohio.
Harris signed with Illinois. He held offers from numerous other programs, including Ohio State, Florida, Cincinnati, Duquesne, Xavier and Iowa.
3. Gabe Cupps, Centerville
The junior guard averaged 15.2 points and 4.9 assists last season, leading Centerville to a Division I state championship and first-team All-Ohio honors. As a freshman, Cupps averaged 11.2 points per game and was named first-team all-district and second-team All-Ohio.
He recently committed to Indiana, choosing the Hoosiers over Stanford, Michigan, Ohio State and Virginia Tech, among others.
4. Sean Jones, Gahanna Lincoln
Jones is a 5-10 senior guard who become the sixth player in program history to surpass 1,000 points.
A Marquette signee, Jones enters his final prep season with 1,124 career points after averaging 17 points, four assists and 3.5 rebounds last season as the Lions went 22-3 and were Division I regional runners-up. He was first-team all-OCC-Ohio, first-team all-district and first-team all-state.
5. Paul McMillan IV, Woodward
McMillan is back in Cincinnati after a brief stint at Hillcrest Academy in Arizona. The guard has averaged 28 points per game over his prep career and has averaged 5.1 assists in each of the last two seasons. McMillan is a two-time first-team All-Ohio and three-time first-team all-district selection and is the reigning player of the year in the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference Red division.
McMillan is just 286 points away from 2,000 for his prep career and has recorded back-to-back seasons with 100-plus assists.
He holds double-digit Division I offers, including Cincinnati, Ole Miss, Purdue, Xavier, Arizona State and Nevada. He also visited Kentucky and Ohio State.
6. Josiah Harris, Richmond Heights
Harris was second-team All-Ohio after averaging 18 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and 1.5 blocks per game last season en route to second-team All-Ohio honors. He helped lead Richmond Heights to a regional title and state Final Four berth in Division IV.
He recently signed with West Virginia, choosing the Mountaineers over the other schools in his final seven: Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Kansas State, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech and Xavier.
7. Lawrent Rice, Wayne
The junior was first-team GWOC and third-team all-district last season after averaging 13.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game. As a freshman in 2020, he averaged 9.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and four assists per game and was named honorable mention all-district.
247Sports rates Rice as a Top-20 combo guard in the nation and a Top-5 player in Ohio. He holds offers from Louisville, Ohio State, West Virginia, Purdue and Kansas State.
8. Dailyn Swain, Africentric
A 6-foot-6-inch junior guard, Swain averaged 17.5 points last season as the Nubians won an abbreviated City League-South Division and qualified for the City League championship but couldn’t compete in that game or the Division III district tournament because of COVID-19 protocols. Swain has offers from a list of schools that includes Ohio State, Xavier and Marquette.
9. Sage Tolentino, Hamilton
The senior 7-foot center was committed to Auburn originally but reopened his recruitment and recently signed with Cincinnati. While at Maryknoll School in Honolulu, Hawaii, he led the Spartans to back-to-back Division I championships before moving to Cincinnati.
At Hamilton last season, he averaged 9.8 points over 14 games to go with 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. He is rated by 247Sports as the No. 23 center in the nation and the No. 4 player in Ohio.
10. Bowen Hardman, Princeton
The sharp-shooter has received all-district honors in each of the last two seasons and was honorable mention All-Ohio last season. In that span, Hardman has averaged double figures and has shot 38.5% from three-point range.
Hardman recently signed with Ohio State, choosing the Buckeyes over Xavier and Cincinnati. He is ranked by 247Sports as a Top-15 player in Ohio.
11. Austin Parks, St. Mary’s Memorial
The 6-foot-10-inch center is picking up buzz on the recruiting circuit, picking up offers from Ohio State, West Virginia, Indiana, Cincinnati and Illinois, among others. Parks is rated by 247Sports as Top 5 player in Ohio for the Class of 2023.
As a sophomore last season, Parks helped lead St. Mary’s Memorial to a 15-7 record and a district runner-up finish. He averaged 15.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game en route to second-team Western Buckeye League honors.
12. Sean Craig, Northview
The senior was named the NW District Co-Player of the Year last season after averaging a double-double at 20.2 points and 11.6 rebounds per game to go with 4.6 assists. He was selected as the NCLL Player of the Year in each of the last two seasons and is over 1,000 points for his career.
Craig was second-team All-Ohio in 2020 and first-team All-Ohio in 2021. He is signed with the University of Indianapolis.
13. Evan Mahaffey, Moeller
The 6-foot-6-inch forward emerged as a starter for Moeller last season, averaging 8.1 points and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 62.9% from the field. He helped lead Moeller to a 20-5 record, a district title and a regional championship game appearance. He was named third-team all-district and first-team GCL-South.
Mahaffey recently committed to Penn State. He held offers from Cincinnati, Kansas State and West Virginia.
14. Elmore James IV, Lyndhurst Brush
The 6-foot-3-inch signed with Ohio University after averaging 29.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game last season. He helped lead Brush to a 15-7 record. He also held offers from numerous other MAC programs, plus Youngstown State, Eastern Kentucky and Cleveland State.
15. Braden Appelhans, Western Reserve Academy
The 6-foot-6-inch shooting guard transferred to Western Reserve Academy from Blue Springs High School in Missouri, where he earned first-team all-league and all-district honors last season as a junior after averaging 16.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He also shot 51% from three-point range.
Appelhans is committed to New Mexico. He also held offers from Akron, Eastern Michigan, Vermont and Wichita State, among others.
16. Marlon Barnes Jr., Lyndhurst Brush
Barnes will provide Brush with length and perimeter shooting as a 6-foot-6 shooting guard. Barnes is back at Brush after spending a year at YPSI Prep, where he played alongside Emoni Bates.
The junior is rated by 247Sports as a Top-5 player in his class and already holds offers from Pittsburgh, Miami (Fla.) and Cleveland State.
17. Mekhi Elmore, Taft
Playing just eight games due to the OHSAA transfer bylaw, Elmore averaged 21.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.1 steals last season. He was named first-team all-district and second-team All-Ohio.
Prior to Taft, Elmore was a two-time first-team Dayton City League selection while at Thurgood Marshall. In 2020, he averaged 21 points per game and was third-team all-district.
18. Trey Robertson, Waverly
Following an astonishing junior season where he helped lead his Waverly Tigers to a 20-4 record, Trey Robertson is expected to have an even larger output as a senior.
He averaged an impressive 25.7 points per game, which helped to earn him the title of Division II Southeast District Player of the Year, District 14 Coaches Association Player of the Year, and Southern Ohio Conference Player of the Year.
19. Layne Sarver, Tri-Village
Sarver had a historic 2021 season where he eclipsed 1,000 career points, was named the Southwest District IV player of the year, earned first-team All-Ohio honors and led Tri-Village to a district championship. He averaged 23 points and six rebounds per game and was also named the Cross County Conference player of the year.
As a sophomore in 2020, he averaged 18.1 points and six rebounds per game. He was first-team Cross County Conference and was honorable mention all-district.
20. Sonny Johnson Jr., Garfield Heights
As a sophomore, Johnson was averaging 15 points and six assists per game for Garfield Heights before a torn ACL injury ended his season. He returned during last year’s campaign and helped Garfield Heights finish 10-5 overall. He committed to Detroit in August after decommitting from Penn State in the spring. He also held offers from Nebraska, Kent State, Michigan State and Youngstown State.
21. Darryn Peterson, CVCA
Peterson arrives in high school already having received scholarship offers from Ohio State, LSU, West Virginia, Maryland and Xavier, among others. The points guard played on a 16 U team during the AAU season and later played on a 17U club when he was just 14.
22. Daniel Young, Shaker Heights
Young is a third-year starter for a team that is coming off a Division I regional championship appearance. Last season, Young averaged 25.4 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game en route to second-team All-Ohio honors. He also eclipsed 1,000 career points. He is committed to Cleveland State.
Honorable mention
Conner Cravaack, Madeira; Yoro Diallo, Moeller; Tom House, Centerville; Zack Oddo, Green; Aiden Porter, Fairland; Ramar Pryor, St. Vincent-St. Mary; Ajay Sheldon, Dublin Coffman; Mason Shrout, Preble Shawnee; Jake Singleton, Meadowbrook; Ben Southerland, Sycamore; Jalen Wenger, Dalton.
How they were ranked
Gannett staff members across the state researched and compiled a list of its respective area's top players. Twenty-nine players made the pool, and from there the staff chose its top 22. Players received points based on where they placed in the journalist's rankings. First-place players received 22 points, second-place players got 21 and so on until the 22nd player wrapped it up with 1 point. Those points were tabulated to determine the top 22 players.
Working on this report were Shelby Dermer, Melanie Laughman, Jarrod Ulrey, Michael Rich, Kurt Snyder, Brandon Hannahs, Roger Metzger, Chris Beaven and Zachary Holden.
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