Barberton High School senior Jacob North has made an oral commitment to continue his academic and baseball career at the University of Toledo.

North led the Magics last season with a .500 bating average. He had 36 hits, eight doubles, one triple, five home runs, 35 RBI, scored 24 runs and stolen 10 bases in 11 attempts.

North plays center field for Barberton’s baseball team and is also a standout guard on the basketball team.

“I think he is just a laid back kid,” Barberton baseball coach Ryan Hartzell said. “His work ethic is one of a kind in the classroom and on the field. I have never met a kid like him. He is just a solid young man. I think his best years are yet to come. He has put up unreal numbers in basketball and baseball.”

North also excels in the classroom and is ranked No. 3 in a class of 279. He has a 4.591 grade-point average and scored a 28 on his ACT. He plans to major in pharmacy at Toledo.

Hey everyone! This is my column that’s running in the Akron Beacon Journal Friday, but it’s posted on Ohio.com now, as you can see. Thanks to everyone who submitted votes for their favorite high school nicknames. If there are other crazy nicknames from out of state, post them so we can all get some laughs. Thanks again!

Imagine how heady it is for a sophomore to look up and see Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo watching him practice –  football.

Kenny Kaminski is the Battling Bees’ tight end. However, the 6-foot-7 Medina sophomore is grabbing attention in the basketball world, including assistant coaches from Ohio State.

“It is really neat to have Coach Izzo coming here,” says Medina football coach Greg Reed.

St. Vincent-St. Mary junior power forward Jakarr Sampson is rated the nation’s No. 100 player in the 2011 class, according to to the Rivals.com Top 150 list.

Sampson reportedly has offers from Akron, Xavier, Cincinnati and Dayton, according to Rivals.com.

Archbishop Hoban High School sophomore-to-be Greg McMullen was selected to the CBS MaxPreps Top 100 list of football players in the country for the class of 2012, the publication’s National Football Editor Stephen Spiewak said via e-mail.

McMullen was a key player for the Knights defense last season as a freshman. Hoban qualified for the state football playoffs.

McMullen also was a standout player on the Hoban varsity basketball team this past season.

Multiple National Basketball Association sources Monday have confirmed that Cleveland Cavaliers forward and Akron native LeBron James has been named the league’s Most Valuable Player for the 2008-2009 season.

James, a graduate of St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, is the first Cavalier to win the award. He led the Cavaliers to an NBA best record of 66-16 in the regular season after leading the United States of America to a gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

James started and played in 81 games this season. He averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.69 steals and 1.15 blocks per game. He beat out Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets and Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic for the honor.

A news conference has been scheduled for 4 p.m. at St. V-M to make the announcement official.

The Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons four games to none in the first round and are slated to play the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the playoffs Tuesday.

Bryant, last year’s MVP, led the Lakers to the second-best record in the league this season, and Wade, won the league’s scoring title this season.

James finished second to Howard for Defensive Player of the Year. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown recently earned the Coach of the Year.

James, 24-years-old, is younger than Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson when they won their first MVP awards.

James led the Cavaliers in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks; and also shot career bests of 48.9 percent from the field and 78.0 percent from the foul line.

At 24 years, 106 days, he will be the youngest player to win the award since Moses Malone (24 years, 16 days) in 1978-79. Wes Unseld was 23 when he won the honor in 1968-69.

Also this season, James became just the second player to post five consecutive seasons of at least 27 points, six rebounds and six assists. The other is Robertson.

Congratulations LeBron!

Scott Callaghan has resigned as boys basketball coach at Copley High School after one season.

Callaghan coached Copley to a 12-10 record in 2008-09 but remained a teacher at Wadsworth, which is also a member of the Suburban League.

Indians Athletic Director Dana Addis said Callaghan told him working at different schools and traveling back and forth was a strain.

‘‘It was more taxing than either of us thought it would be,’’ Addis said. ‘‘It was 100 percent Scott’s decision to leave. We were happy with the job he did.’’

At Wadsworth, Callaghan previously had been a head coach of both the boys and girls basketball teams.
Addis said he will begin accepting applications for the position next week.

To apply, write to Addis at Copley High School, 3807 Ridgewood Road, Copley, Ohio 44321-1630.

The Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association recently announced its annual boys and girls rosters for the 2009 North-South All-Star Games.

The four scheduled games, which are broken down by Division, will be played at Capital University in Columbus on Sunday, April 19.

The Akron Beacon Journal’s five-county area will have one coach and five players involved in the event.

Archbishop Hoban coach T.K. Griffith will oversee the North team in the Division 1 & 2 boys’ game with Warren Harding’s Steve Arnold. GlenOak’s CJ McCollum was selected for the North squad.

Smithville’s Kenny Kornowski will participate in the Division 3 & 4 boys’ game for the North team.

Alliance’s Tierney Allen will compete in the Division 1 & 2 girls’ game for the North squad.

Northwestern’s Kara Koch and Orrville’s Libby Ladrach are set to play for North team in the Division 3 & 4.

Here is schedule with game times for Sunday, April 19:

12:00 PM Girls Division 3 & 4

1:45 PM Girls Division 1 & 2

3:45 Pm Boys Division 3 & 4

5:30 PM Boys Division 1 & 2

St. Vincent-St. Mary won the 2009 Division II boys basketball state championship Saturday with a 59-53 victory over Dayton Thurgood Marshall in the Schottenstein Center’s Value City Arena on the campus of Ohio State University.

Senior Daylen Harrison led the Fighting Irish (23-4) with 21 points and four rebounds. Harrison made four free throws in the final 10 seconds to help secure the win.

Senior Michael Hammonds and sophomore Jakarr Sampson each scored 11 points for St. V-M, and sophomore Ricky Johnson Jr. contributed five points and a game-high seven assists. Sampson also had nine rebounds.

Senior BJ Brophy (four points), sophomore Davonte Beard (four points) and junior Dominique Mitchell (three points) also scored points for St. V-M.

Junior Juwan Staten paced the Cougars (22-5) with a game-high 28 points and four assists. Senior DeAngelo Gates scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Irish overcame a 29-24 halftime deficit.

The Cougars held a 39-24 rebounding advantage. The Irish forced 16 turnovers and only had eight turnovers.

Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James, a 2003 St. V-M graduate, was in attendance at the game. He sat one row behind the Irish bench. James led St. V-M to state titles in 2000, 2001 and 2003. The Irish were a state runner-up in 2002.

Coach Dru Joyce II guided St. V-M to the state title Saturday and also in 2003.

Former St. V-M coach Keith Dambrot, currently the men’s basketball coach at the University of Akron and a Firestone High School graduate, guided the Irish to state titles in 2000 and 2001.

Congratulations to St. V-M on winning a state title.

The University of Findlay men’s basketball team won the NCAA Division II championship game Saturday afternoon, with a 56-53 overtime victory over Cal Poly Pomona in Springfield, Ma.

The Findlay Oilers completed the perfect season with a 36-0 record.

Marcus Parker, a 2006 Canton McKinley graduate, is a junior on Findlay’s team. Parker, a starting point guard, scored eight points and had a game-high three assists in 40 minutes played in the title game.

Parker started all 36 games and averaged 10.7 points this season. He led the Oilers with 146 assists.

Findlay won on a buzzer beating 3-pointer by Tyler Evans, who scored four points. Josh Bostic led the Oilers with 13 points and Morgan Lewis scored 12 points. Bostic and Lewis each grabbed six rebounds.

Larry Gordon led Cal Poly Pomona (25-8) with 17 points and nine rebounds and Tobias Jahn contributed 14 points and eight rebounds.

Parker was a key player on McKinley’s teams that won Ohio High School Athletic Association Division I state titles in 2005 and 2006.