By Ozie Davis III MS, JD Sports Editor

Heading into the first Trotwood game, Aiken was 21-0, having easily swept through the Cincinnati Metropolitan Athletic Conference (CMAC) winning its second championship in successive years! With Player of the Year, Jaiden Arnold and Coach of the Year, Derrell Black both posting repeat performances! To say it was a historic season, win, lose, or draw is an understatement!

Yet, Trotwood 20-1 was on a historic run of their own and this game was built as the biggest in the state in OHSAA Division III, Dayton’s best versus Cincinnati’s best, particularly its Black schools. The game was pure rumble, Trotwood would win, Aiken would not be undefeated. Immediately Cincinnati and Dayton contingents went mad in good ole competitive banter in calling for, hoping for, a rematch in the upcoming State tournament. Aiken would thrash Talawanda and Ross, before being challenged by Bellbrook. Aiken fell behind, but showed their resilience in beating Bellbrook, then it was a LaSalle game in which Aiken was losing for the majority of the game until Jaiden Arnold decided it wouldn’t be so as Aiken turned 19 LaSalle turnovers into 33 points to send the game Lancers home.  The rematch was now a reality, and “Spirit of Sports TV” was with Aiken all the way. Aiken legend, Paul McMillan covered the game for the Herald and his in-game reports can be found on Spirt of Sports TV on Facebook. McMillan also made an appearance on Fox19 Sports as the Falcons pulled away from Trotwood and punched their ticket to the State Final Four. Aiken returns to the Final Four for the first time since 2016.

Athletic Director Paul Brownfield states it best, “so incredibly proud of this team. Great group of young men who have checked their egos for something far greater than themselves. This team knows they’re going out there each game representing not only the Aiken basketball team, but also Aiken High School, College Hill, and Cincinnati Public Schools. Making it back to the Final Four is something we all should celebrate.”

This Aiken team definitely deserves celebrating. Head Coach Derrell Black started this mission at Hughes several years ago prior to taking a detour as a Princeton Assistant before becoming Aiken’s Head Coach three years ago. He brung his junior high coach from Hughes, Orlando Gentry, to join him at Aiken and they put the band back together. See, Jaiden Arnold and James Burnett Jr highlighted that Hughes Jr High team so many years ago. Coach Gentry has been a guiding light to their development.” It’s been a pleasure and an honor to see the growth I have seen out of these two guys has been amazing from 7th grade to now. With ups and downs, hard conversations and through frustrations we stayed family, and they stayed brothers to guards that chose to play together as brothers when the whole city wanted them to be rivals. We need more James and Jaiden’s. They showed we can accomplish more together.

Coach Black has done an exceptional job leading the rebuild at Aiken. “It feels good! We have a great battle tested group who have been through a tough schedule this year. Every night we go into these games knowing that we have a group that can get the job done and as a coach that’s a phenomenal feeling.”  He shows great humility as the leader of this squad.  Brownfield speaks very highly of his character which overflows to his team night in night out. Brownfield said, “we knew during the hiring process that Derrell Black was a special basketball coach but over the last three years it’s been who he is as a man that has had the greatest impact on the program. His character is what has elevated the program back to where we all knew it could be. Great basketball coach, but even better person.”

Burnett, who is my family, thus we’ll call him “Baby J” says the team is focused on the state championship.  “It feels real good man just building up a program that fell off for a couple of years back to its winning ways feel great just want to keep leading my teammates to victory and winning a state championship!

The Falcons will play Sandusky at 3pm on Sunday 3/16 at Wright State. They will then face the winner of the Garfield Heights v Louisville game (played at Canton Memorial 6p Sunday) in the State Championship game 1p Friday 3/21 at UD Arena.

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By Sallie Elliott

After a summer hiatus the fun begins again at the Bidwhist/Spades Socials at the College Hill Recreation Center at 5545 Belmont Avenue (45224) next to Aiken High School. The Center’s phone number is 513.591-3555.

Our Bidwhist/Spades Socials have great music, fellowship, dinner, and very competitive kitty and no kitty bidwhist tables. There are also Spades tables. There is no cost for the Socials. Additional Socials will be held on October 11 and 25; November 8  and 22; and December 6 and 20.  For more information, call 513.389.0757.

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Coach Steve Schweitzer was my high school basketball coach. I entered the Courter Tech High School gym to try out for the basketball team in the fall of 1970. There, before my very eyes, stood my coach. I had no idea what organized sports would do for my future; I was just a fifteen-year-old kid who knew he was good at sports. To this day, I still feel my best sport is baseball, followed by football, and finally, basketball. I played all those sports in the neighborhood streets and parks of the West End, South Cumminsville, and College Hill neighborhoods. When my cousin Willie (Mike) McCarter became an All-American basketball player at Drake University and was drafted in the first round by the Los Angeles Lakers (of which, to this day, I am still a dedicated fan), I began to focus on basketball.

It is essential that I let everyone know why Chris Jones, Darnell Dawson, and I needed to find him. Coach made the three of us co-captains during our senior year, and we have been attached to the hip since then. We wanted the world to know how vital our coach was to us. About two years after graduating high school, we lost contact with Coach Schweitzer for roughly forty-five years. That was the central question among the three of us when we got together during those years: where was Coach Schweitzer? As we grew older, you could see the pain in our eyes when that question came up. We stayed in contact with our other favorite coach, Sam Ionna (coach Ionna launched my high school coaching career). We still longed for Coach Schweitzer; we wanted to know the answers to the obvious questions: is he alive, where does he live, how is he doing, and how do we contact him?

In 2017, I was discussing an advertising campaign with an employee of Cincinnati Water Works. I asked her for her email address, and she said it was Stephanni Schweitzer. I immediately asked her if she was any kin to Steve Schweitzer. She said yep, he is my dad; it was as if the sky had opened and delivered to us, Coach. I immediately got Darnell and Chris on the phone. And the rest, as they say, is history. We found our beloved coach; we have been getting together with him for the past five years, excluding two years during the pandemic. Now, all’s right with the world. He lives here in Cincinnati; we are planning our next get-together with him, hopefully in the spring.

After leaving Courter Tech, he coached the Aiken High School football team for three years. Shout out to the football players who had a get-together for him on March 2nd.

The post Long-lost coach found: reunion after 45 years appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald .

Contributed 

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) las week hosted students from My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) chapters around Ohio at Great American Ball Park for a unique leadership event with the Cincinnati Reds. Brown and the students were also joined by Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and Reds and MLB Hall of Fame player Barry Larkin.

“We launched My Brother’s Keeper chapters to give all Ohio students the chance to learn more about career opportunities and connect with mentors,” said Brown. “These kinds of partnerships are what MBK is all about – it’s showing more Black and brown kids that there is a whole network of people who want to help you achieve your dreams.”

Students from MBK chapters in Dayton, Cincinnati, Youngstown, Mansfield, and Columbus joined Brown and Reds representatives to engage with leaders and each other, providing an opportunity to learn about management, career opportunities, and how to grow and develop as leaders in occupations like sports management, health care, and public service.

“The Reds are honored to participate in My Brother’s Keeper programming and harness the power of collaboration in building a brighter future for all youth,” said Victor Livisay, Vice President of People & Culture for the Reds. “We are committed to supporting our community and expanding the doors of opportunity. Our collective engagement helps to provide a clearer pathway for young boys and young men of color to pursue their dreams and improve life outcomes”

My Brother’s Keeper was started by President Obama in 2014 as a national initiative to address opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color, and to ensure all young people reach their full potential. In 2015, Brown led efforts to launch MBK chapters around the state and helped launch the statewide MBK coalition in 2018.

“Everything MBK stands for aligns with our vision for an equitable, vibrant, opportunity-rich City for all Cincinnatians,” Pureval said. “Thank you to the Cincinnati Reds for supporting this leadership event, one so committed to lifting up our Black and brown children and exposing them to local leaders who will undoubtedly help set the trajectory of their professional lives.”

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By Dan Yount

Keshawn Townsend, a recent graduate of Aiken High School in Cincinnati, has been named the youngest manager of a Starbucks coffee shop in a Cincinnati area Kroger Co. store. He manages the Starbucks in the Kroger store at 777 Kenard Ave, Cincinnati, 45232.

While at Aiken, Townsend received the Aiken Citizenship Award, and he was the first student to give a keynote address at an Aiken graduation ceremony.

He is attending the University of Cincinnati, where he is studying political science and the Chinese language and culture.

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By Ozie Davis III MS, JD

Herald Sports Editor

There’s an inescapable joy felt when roaming from gym to gym watching Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference (CMAC) boys basketball coaches prepare their young men for battle, and it’s that the battle is won on and off the court. 

Far too often, CMAC basketball and its coaches are undervalued. They don’t get the respect they deserve for their Basketball prowess and rarely are the pains of inner city living calculated into the product that is reaching the floor. Yet when it comes to the end of March in Division II on down, the CMAC is always in the mix. And to a tee, each of the head coaches care more about their young men’s lives than they do about their hooping ability.

I wasn’t able to get to all the schools, but here’s a thumbnail’s look at CMAC head coaches and their staff’s.

Starting with Taft’s Demarco Bradley. Coach Bradley is back in the captain’s seat for the Senators this season. He has been at Taft for 18 years and has amassed a record of 116 and 39 in his six years as head coach.  He has the unique distinction as the only person that has been a part of both the Taft and Woodward State championships, which are the only state championship trophies in the leagues history.

Bradley is supported by a talented group of dynamic experienced young coaches. These coaches include former Taft star John Stone, Aiken and Kent State alum Darren Goodson, Ward Banks, Kevin Mitchell, Dondi Britten, and Melvin Steele. These coaches play a significant role in the development of Taft players on and off the court and, along with Coach Bradley, are looking to take these Senators back up 71N. 

Out at Aiken High School’s Ty Cass is entering his fifth year as head coach. Coach Cass has 13 years coaching experience. He is married with eight children. He credits learning life through basketball and is trying to pass that along as a coach. 

Coach Cass’s staff is led by head varsity assistant Greg Tye. Cass says, “Greg is the glue that holds our program together. Without him Aiken basketball wouldn’t be what it is.” Coach Tye has over 20 years of coaching experience at all levels. 

Will Johnson is Aiken’s varsity assistant. He’s an ex-head coach with 10 years of coaching experience.

Leslie Burns is another varsity assistant. He is a former D1 player at UD and has five years of coaching experience.

Rounding out Aiken’s staff is Jr. Allen, Jerry Thomas, and Brady Metz. Jr Allen is the junior varsity head coach; Jerry Thomas the head freshmen coach; and Brady Metz the head Junior High coach. 

I had the pleasure of coaching Ty Cass as a high school player with the Queen City Prophets. At Woodward, head coach Jarelle Redden and his top assistant Paul McMillan III are also Prophet alumni. It’s a blessing to see these brothers instilling values into our youth through basketball. 

Coach Jarelle Redden is coming into his fourth year as the head coach at Woodward. He is a former CPS grad and NCAA division 1 signee (Ball State)!  He uses his past experience and ability to understand his student’s environment’s to lead his Bulldog group.  

Paul McMillan III leads the Woodward assistants. He is a former head coach and father of Paul McMillan IV (top ten point guard in country). Coach Paul, as he is affectionately called, assists on all levels in the program, and along with Coach Redden stresses individual development on and off the court! 

Alison McCathey (NKU grad and former head coach) is a Northern Kentucky Hall of Fame inductee and brings electricity to the staff. I love hearing her work at practice. Leonardo Acoff has been with the program for four years and is a very loyal assistant. Then there is my frat brother, the infamous Dr. Eric Abercrumbie, former Director of University of Cincinnati Office of Student Affairs, and a top figure in the university’s African American community. Rounding out the Bulldog staff is first year JV coach William Green, Middle School and freshman coach Kindle Richardson, and Nathan Ware, Middle School coach.

Over at Western Hills, Bryce Stokes is running the show, Coach Stokes is a native of Detroit, having moved to Ohio in 2006 to attend Central State University, where he met his wife Shaunte Stokes (who is also the cheer coach at West High).  Coach Stokes’ first high school coaching job was in 2014 at Lockland High School as a varsity assistant and JV head coach. In April 2019, he became West High’s Varsity head coach; Last year was their first winning season since 2010. Coach Stokes is counting on his staff to keep the Mustangs winning ways going. 

Varsity assistant: Rodrick Mcfairland 

JV Head Coach: Dr. Craig Hanthorn 

Freshman head coach: Tyler Smothers 

These next four schools all have new head coaches, but they all have a great deal of experience. 

Withrow’s Berdo Allen is a former Taft superstar that went on to junior college at Cincinnati State (where he began his coaching career as a student-coach) before playing College ball at Ohio Dominican. He started his CMAC experience as the head junior high coach at Hughes High where he also coached on the Varsity staff! After Coach Allen’s 4-year stint at Hughes, he went on to become the head coach at Gamble Montessori.  While at Gamble Coach Allen’s teams compiled the following: 

1. 100% senior graduation

2. Back-to-back CMAC Blue Championships

3. Four Coaching of the Year Awards

4. Three-year winning streak against CMAC Blue opponents

Coach Allen’s staff is one of the best in the business. 

Ronald Harris. associate head coach, is entering his third year with coach Allen’s Staff.  Coach Harris has a ton of experience where he was the head women’s basketball coach at both Cincinnati State and Miami Middletown where his teams won championships. 

Jerone Behanan, head junior varsity coach, is entering his sixth year with Coach Allen and is instrumental in the growth and development of players.  

Brandon Miller is the head freshman coach and is also entering his sixth year with Coach Allen. 

Coach Elmo Graham is the head junior high coach is and is responsible for guard skill development as a varsity assistant.

Harold Howard is entering his first year with Coach Allen. Those of us in the basketball community are excited about this. Coach Howard brings an intensity, focus and perspective to assisting with our youth that will only deepen the Withrow staff, 

Michael “Bruiser” Holmes is now charged with continuing success at Gamble Montessori. 

Coach Holmes has been coaching youth and high school basketball sports for eight years. He likes to think of himself as a “player’s coach.” He utilizes his collegiate and professional playing experience (Benedict College and professionally in Seoul, Korea) to his benefit. He’s had stints as the head freshman coach and varsity assistant at Western Hills before being the varsity head coach with the Lady Mustangs. He’s also coached as a varsity assistant at Woodward and Roger Bacon.  Prior to coming to Gamble, Coach Holmes was head varsity coach at Cincinnati College Prep Academy where they won the Sectionals and finished with a record of 22-4 last year. Coach Holmes is the founder of 4D United, a youth basketball organization with over 130 kids who range from grades K-8. Their motto is “It’s Bigger than Basketball.’’ His three core principles are:

Commitment, Selflessness, and Unity (Brotherhood)

Assistant Coaches are William Cook (Hughes grad), Raymond Mack (Taft grad), Andre Cox (Taft grad), Malcolm Hicks (Taft grad) and PJ Sanders (Withrow grad).

As Coach Holmes succeeded Coach Allen, Reggie Revels succeeds Coach Holmes at CCPA.

Coach Revels is not new to coaching in the Cincinnati area. He’s considered one of the most knowledgeable and experienced coaches in the region. Forest Park, Shroder, and Deer Park are his most noticeable involvements, but his participation in AAU and youth sports spans decades.  Revels spent the past four seasons at Deer Park, where he was an assistant coach to Steve Gentry. He helped the 29-0 Wildcats to the 2018 Division III state title. We are lucky to have Coach Revels in the CMAC. He is assisted by son, Isiah Revels, and John Munson. 

At Hughes, Derrell Black has taken over the driver’s seat. Coach Black is entering his ninth year of coaching at Hughes. He’s coached every single level at the school from junior high to now varsity head coach. He never saw coaching as the field he thought he would be in, but after seeing the impact he could have on the next generation he fell in love with and found a passion for the game. Hughes has been a part of his life for 13 year as a player, and now coach, and he is excited about the opportunity to take the helm of a great program.

Damarr Hopkins. Coach “Mardi” has been with the program for 13 years and is a pillar in the foundation of success in the program over the years.

Jack Smith, “Coach Jack” is one of the best players in the last 15 years of Hughes history (Hughes 09) and brings the knowledge of the game and a high skill level to help develop players in the program.

Other program assistant’s include Orlando Gentry, Peter Harris, DeAndre Cheatham, Solomon Ellison, Dwight Nared and Brian Niemann.

We will follow these head coaches and their schools are very closely and hope to get to the rest of the CMAC.

Next week, we will look at how COVID-19 is impacting the league and what CMAC administration is doing about it.

The post CMAC coaches are lifesavers appeared first on The Cincinnati Herald .

Students from Aiken High School tour the Men of Chance exhibit. Photo by Dan Yount

By Carole Cutter Hawkins 

Women’s Alliance 

Women’s Alliance Inc. recently arranged for young people from Cincinnati Public Schools to tour the amazing Men of Change exhibit at Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.  Groups of students representing 11 High Schools arrived by buses at the center and were greeted with a welcome from the Women’s Alliance members, then led on the tour by a center docent.   

This extraordinary exhibit was a powerful articulation of accomplished Black men in various walks of life, which was inspiring, informative and provided the students an awareness of the possibility that their dreams, too, could be realized.  There were 230 students, with 25 schools being represented.

Although the Men of Change was the focus of the tour, the students were able to visit other outstanding exhibits as well.

Following the tours, the students and chaperones were escorted to a lunch area where lunch was provided by the Women’s Alliance members.   

The students were very excited, well mannered and impressed by the experience as evident by the various conversations shared afterward.

The Women’s Alliance members said they give special thanks officials at the Freedom Center and Cincinnati Public Schools, and center docents for making this educational and inspirational visit possible. 

The Men of Change exhibit was open from August 17 to December 1.

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