{"id":190626,"date":"2025-03-12T12:33:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T17:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=190626"},"modified":"2025-03-12T12:34:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T17:34:44","slug":"190626","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/03\/12\/190626\/","title":{"rendered":"Elwer named Mr. Ohio Basketball finalist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VW independent sports\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLUMBUS —\u00a0The Ohio Prep Sports Media Association has announced the finalists for the 2025 Ohio Mr. Basketball Award, and one of the six finalists is Cam Elwer from Delphos St. John\u2019s. He\u2019s the only player from a Division VII school to make the cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winner will be announced next Thursday, March 20. Voting is currently underway for the 226 registered OPSMA members and will end at noon on Monday, March 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voting process for OPSMA members is the same as that used to determine the Heisman Trophy winner in college football. First place votes get three points, second-place votes get two points and third-place votes get one point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio\u2019s Mr. Basketball was selected by the Associated Press from 1987-2016. Since 2017 it has been presented by the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Cam Elwer (11) is a finalist for this year’s Ohio Mr. Basketball award. Bob Barnes photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

2025 Ohio Mr. Basketball finalists<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finalists are listed in alphabetical order. Bio text listed below as received from OPSMA districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Devin Brown, Olentangy Orange<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6-foot-6 senior guard\/forward was the Central District Division I and District 11 coaches player of the year. Is averaging 13.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.0 steals while shooting 46 percent from the field (40 from three-point range) as the driving force for a deep, balanced 24-2 state semifinalist with no losses in-state and quality wins over defending state champion Cleveland St. Ignatius and runner-up Centerville and district champions Olentangy Liberty (twice), Upper Arlington (twice), Dublin Coffman (twice), Westerville North, Groveport and Hartley. Brown, who plays virtually any position, signed with Davidson. In his final three seasons, he led Orange to two regional finals and a final four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aiden Davis, Steubenville<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 5-foor-11 senior guard is signed to play collegiately at perennial Division II power West Liberty. He was an all-around player for Division III regional qualifier Steubenville, leading the team in scoring, averaging 17.9 per game, and rebounds, averaging 5.3 per game, while being second on the team in assists (3.1 per game) and steals (1.7). He was named the East District Player of the Year. He netted a game-high 26 points in the East\/Southeast District championship against previously unbeaten Miami Trace and earlier in the season set the school record for 3s in a game, making eight against Dover. He made 86 3s on the season, shooting 42% from beyond the arc. Prior to transferring back to Steubenville, he was an All-State first team selection in West Virginia for Wheeling Park, where he holds the school records for career 3s in just three seasons there, 3s in a single season and school marks for points in a season by a junior and sophomore. He finishes his high school career with 1,975 career points. Davis was also nominated for the 2025 McDonald\u2019s All-American Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Trey Drexler, Brunswick<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6-foot junior point guard averaged 20.7 points and 3.2 assists while leading the Blue Devils to the outright championship in the Greater Cleveland Conference, largely considered one of the best public-school leagues in Ohio. Holding offers from Kent State and Akron, the left-hander made 103-of-125 free throws (.824) and 57 3-pointers and had top games of 38 points against 2024 D-I regional champion Delaware Hayes and 33 against regional finalist Shaker Heights. Drexler has 1,225 career points and could challenge the Medina County record of 1,842 as a senior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameron Elwer, Delphos St. John\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6-foot-1 junior guard averaged 28.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. Shooting 62 percent from the field, 56.7 percent from 3-point line and 94.1 percent from free-throw line. Already DSJ\u2019s all-time leading scorer and second all-time in Midwest Athletic Conference history in scoring. Two-time MAC Player of the Year. Led the Blue Jays to an outright MAC championship, sectional and district titles and a spot in the Division VII regional finals. Has an offer from the University of Toledo; interest from other MAC schools so far. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RJ Greer, Kettering Alter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6-foot-3 senior guard and North Carolina State recruit averages 18.9 points, 2.8 assists and 2.1 steals. Helped lead the Knights to the Division II state title last season after transferring from Springboro. D-II Second team All-Ohio last year. Greater Catholic League Co-Ed player of the year in 2025. Shooting 50.6 percent from the field, 38.2 from three-point ranges, and 85.2 percent on free throws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcus Johnson, Garfield Heights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A finalist last year for Mr. Basketball, the 6-foot-2 junior guard is already committed to Ohio State and nationally ranked in the Class of 2026. He averaged 29.7 points through the regular season, leading Garfield Heights to a 19-2 record and third straight Lake Erie League title. Johnson helped the Bulldogs to two regional finals in Division I before moving to the new Division III this season as the top seed in the Northeast District. In addition to his scoring, Johnson averaged 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.2 steals. He broke his father\u2019s single-game school record of 52 points with 55 points in a win at Maple Heights late in the regular season. Father and coach Sonny Johnson is a former Mr. Basketball winner in 1998. Now, Marcus finds himself trying to become the first father-and-son combination to win the honor after his dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past Ohio Mr. Basketball Ohio winners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2024 \u2013 Colin White, Ottawa-Glandorf<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023 \u2013 Devin Royal, Pickerington Central<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2022 \u2013 Gabe Cupps, Centerville<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 \u2013 Malaki Branham, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 \u2013 VonCameron Davis, Columbus Walnut Ridge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019 \u2013 Samari Curtis, Xenia<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2018 – Dane Goodwin, Upper Arlington<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017 – Kaleb Wesson, Westerville South<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016 – Xavier Simpson, Lima Senior  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2015 – Luke Kennard, Franklin High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2014 – Luke Kennard, Franklin High School<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2013 – Marc Loving, Toledo St. John’s Jesuit  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2012 – Justin Fritts, Mentor<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2011 – Trey Burke, Columbus Northland <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2010 – Jared Sullinger, Columbus Northland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2009 – Jared Sullinger, Columbus Northland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2008 – William Buford, Toledo Libbey  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2007 – Jon Diebler, Upper Sandusky<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2006 – O.J. Mayo, North College Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2005 – O.J. Mayo, North College Hill<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2004 – Jamar Butler, Lima Shawnee  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2003 – LeBron James, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2002 – LeBron James, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2001 – LeBron James, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2000 – (tie) Tony Stockman, Medina; Chester Mason, Cleveland South<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1999 – Emmanuel Smith, Euclid   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1998 – William “Sonny” Johnson, Garfield Heights  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1997 – Kenny Gregory, Independence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1996 – Jason Collier, Springfield Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1995 – Damon Stringer, Cleveland Heights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1994 – Aaron Hutchins, Lima Central Catholic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1993 – Geno Ford, Cambridge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1992 – Greg Simpson, Lima Senior<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1991 – Greg Simpson, Lima Senior<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1990 – Bob Patton Jr., Youngstown Liberty<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1989 – Jimmy Jackson, Toledo Macomber<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1988 – Jimmy Jackson, Toledo Macomber<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent sports\/submitted information COLUMBUS —\u00a0The Ohio Prep Sports Media Association has announced the finalists for the 2025 Ohio Mr. Basketball Award, and one of the six finalists is Cam Elwer from Delphos St. John\u2019s. He\u2019s the only player from a Division VII school to make the cut. The winner will be announced next Thursday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 11:28:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190626"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190633,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190626\/revisions\/190633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}