{"id":203976,"date":"2026-03-19T13:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T18:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=203976"},"modified":"2026-03-19T13:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T18:34:13","slug":"johnson-wins-ohio-mr-basketball-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/03\/19\/johnson-wins-ohio-mr-basketball-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Johnson wins Ohio Mr. Basketball again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

COLUMBUS —\u00a0Senior Marcus Johnson of Garfield Heights High School was named 2026 Ohio Mr. Basketball on Thursday by the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association, edging out Delphos St. John\u2019s senior guard Cameron Elwer and becoming the seventh player to earn the award twice since it was first handed out in 1988.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcus won the award last year as a junior, giving his family the first father-son Ohio Mr. Basketball combination. His father, Sonny, the head coach at Garfield Heights, won the award at Garfield Heights in 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Garfield Heights High School senior Marcus Johnson was named Ohio Mr. Basketball Thursday for the second-consecutive year. Photo courtesy of Cleveland.com.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Johnson was also a Mr. Basketball finalist as a sophomore and has been an All-Ohio first-team selection since his freshman year. The state\u2019s reigning Mr. Basketball has been even better this season, averaging 30.1 points with 7.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.7 steals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnson won this year\u2019s award with 99 points from the statewide panel. Delphos St. John\u2019s senior Cam Elwer was the runner-up with 91 points. Elwer was the runner-up last season, but significantly closed the gap after receiving 48 points in 2025, while Johnson had 110 points last year. Other finalists included Brunswick senior Trey Drexler, Maysville senior Gator Nichols, Tri-Village senior Trey Sagester, Columbus Academy senior Jason Singleton and Lakota West junior Josh Tyson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Garfield Heights finished the season 18-7 and lost in the Division III regional semifinals. Delphos St. John\u2019s is currently 27-0 and will play in the Division VII state semfinals on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in its 39th year, the prestigious Ohio Mr. Basketball award was first given by the Associated Press in 1988. It has been voted on by the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio Mr. Basketball Winners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

2026 \u2013 Marcus Johnson, Garfield Heights<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2025 \u2013 Marcus Johnson, Garfield Heights<\/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 —\u00a0Senior Marcus Johnson of Garfield Heights High School was named 2026 Ohio Mr. Basketball on Thursday by the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association, edging out Delphos St. John\u2019s senior guard Cameron Elwer and becoming the seventh player to earn the award twice since it was first handed out in 1988. […]<\/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-203976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 23:50:44","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\/203976","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=203976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203978,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203976\/revisions\/203978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}