(3-27-24) The release of the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association (OPSWA) All-Ohio D III and D IV Boys Basketball teams were named…but some two high-profile selections brought up questions.
That’s a very good question many others have asked…Mr. Ohio Ottawa-Glandorf’s Colin White was selected as the D III Co-Player of the Year. In the Mr. Ohio voting the runner-up was Lutheran East senior Jesse McCulloch, who was named the the other Co-Player of the Year along with White. The voting process seems to be a problem between Mr. Ohio and All-Ohio….but it is something that brings up how these selections are made.
In D IV on the All-Ohio 3rd team is Richmond Height’s T.J. Crumble (Soph). In early February (2024) Richmond Heights star T.J. Crumble (6’8), one of the nation’s top 2026 prospects is ruled ineligible for the rest of the season.
According to Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Sherrie Miday the family failed to prove that its move from Moreland Hills to Richmond Heights at the start of the school year compelled him to transfer from Lutheran East High School to Richmond Heights. He had been ruled ineligible by the OHSAA and had received a temporary injunction in December to allow him to continue to play until the final hearing on the issue.
Richmond Heights had two players named to the D IV All-Ohio first team… De’Erick Barber (Jr) and Dorian Jones (Jr) and joining Crumble on the 3rd team was Demarris Winters Jr. (Jr). Hosea Steele Jr (Sr) was named Special Mention.
So an ineligible player is eligible for post-season honors….hmmmm.
Stateline Sports Network 
It appears the OPSWA and the OHSAA are cut from the same cloth. They both assume the public has no memory or deep enough interest to scrutinize their work. But they are the ones with the problem. It is they who lack the skill and work ethic to ensure what they say or do in one forum or on one day is consistent with what they do or say at a later date. It’s called being professional in every sense of the word.
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