Articles
Zack Randolph Lane
07/30/2017
Two-time NBA All-Star and committed philanthropist, Zach Randolph returned home to Marion High School (IN) where he graduated in 2000 to receive honors. Randolph, who played for the Memphis Grizzlies from 2009-2017 and now a Sacramento King, lead the Giants to their seventh state championship while at the school.
He received the Key to the City, a State of Indiana Certificate of Excellence, a Marion Minority Champion Award, and one of our favorites – a street named after him. Zach Randolph Lane borders the Marion High School campus on the west, and is home to a nearly life-size photo of the athlete.
Pre-Season Top 100 Rankings Announced
07/29/2017
This week, the High School Football America Pre-Season Top 100 list was released, and in addition to some traditional standbys like #4 Bishop Gorman (NV), #5 IMG Academy (FL), and California’s #2 Mater Dei, were 20 VNN Partner Schools, making up a quarter of the nation’s top teams this Fall. Here’s a quick list. For the full National Rankings, head here.
#8 Hoover (AL)
#12 John Curtis (LA)
#24 South Pointe (SC)
#34 Highland Park (TX)
#38 Saguaro (AZ)
#41 Wayne (OH)
#47 Mission Viejo (CA)
#53 Aledo (TX)
#54 Long Beach Poly (CA)
#56 Cass Tech (MI)
#58 Fort Dorchester (SC)
#61 Liberty (NV)
#65 Bingham (UT)
#71 Lamar (TX)
#74 Cartersville (GA)
#76 Klein Collins (TX)
#77 Serra (CA)
#86 Harrison (GA)
#89 Roswell (GA)
#100 Kirkwood (MO)
Match-ups We're Excited About: Showdown in T-Town
07/28/2017
Michigan’s 2016 Football State Champions Cass Tech (MI) vs. Pickerington Central (OH) at the Glass Bowl Stadium in Toledo. The Technicians and their Triangle Society Booster Club will be holding a tailgate party across the border before the game. $50 gets you round trip transportation from Detroit to the game, refreshments, access to the party, and a swag bag. Tickets here.
Stadium Design: Maconaquah (IN)
07/26/2017
The Maconaquah High School (IN) Braves also shared photos of their new field, featuring their sky blue and bright red color scheme. The striping in the sideline box is really sharp and a creative touch we haven’t seen often.
Reebok Picks VNN to Promote JJII Launch
07/14/2017
Let’s take a second and talk about JJ Watt. You might know him as a Wisconsin Badger, Houston Texan, Pro-Bowler and frightening to see on the other side of the line if you’re a quarterback. Today, he launched his $99 collaboration with Reebok, the JJ II’s.
He’s also behind VNN’s latest collaboration with brands to reach local high school parents, athletes, and fans at scale, which also launched today. It promotes Reebok’s JJ II Experience, a live event traveling through Houston and Austin, where athletes can gear up in the new JJ II’s and see how they stack up against JJ’s times in box jumps, tire flips, and the shuttle run. He filmed a video inviting athletes from the region to the event — check it out here.
The comprehensive campaign runs from July 14 through August 13 and includes display, native media, email, and social.
Marter Qualifies for the 117th US Amateur Championship
07/13/2017
AC Flora (SC) senior golfer Ryan Marter qualified for the US Amateur Championship, to be held in Pacific Palisades, CA, this August (14-20th). The championship is a 7-day event covering both stroke play and match play, and begins with 312 players, cut down to 64 after the 2nd day of competition.
This year, Marter helped lead the Falcons to their 8th straight SC State Title, earned All-State honors, Region MVP, and was named the State newspaper’s co-Player of the Year, along with fellow Falcon Jack Parrott. He’ll be playing at Wofford College this Fall.
Hazelwood Heads Down Under
07/06/2017
Campbellsville (KY) High School freshman track star Taliyah Hazelwood was chosen to represent Kentucky with the East Conference Track and Field team at the 2017 Down Under International Games, a three-day event hosted on the gold coast of Australia. She’ll be running the 100- and 200-meter races and is currently deciding on the long jump and hurdles.
CHS coach Steve Doss had this to say about her, “Taliyah is a hard worker. When she sets a goal for herself, she will do everything she can to achieve it. She will make CHS proud, but even more importantly, she will be proud of herself and all she’s accomplished.”
Six Straight for Monroe Central (IN)
07/05/2017
“It will give us a truly deeper bench. We still have a lot of work to do to have another successful season but we are headed in the right direction.”
The Monroe Central Lady Bears Basketball team (IN) won six straight at the Blue River Invitational to wrap up their 36 game Summer schedule in the Richmond Summer League. The record is creating anticipation for next season in the Monroe Central community.
Said 3rd year head coach Leigh Ann Barga, “I feel to make a run again this season we need more girls to be able to step in at any point of the game and not miss a beat. It takes time for girls to get to know their teammates and how they will react in certain situations so this summer was critical for the girls.”
The Opening
07/04/2017
Nike Football’s The Opening took place from June 28-July 3rd. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s an event that features the top 166 high school football players in the nation for four days of training, coaching and competition. Unofficially, it’s a showcase of the nation’s most elite players – and is covered extensively by the media, including ESPNU, Bleacher Report, and other major recruiting outlets.
One of the players that headed to Beaverton was Northpoint (MD)’s Rasheed Walker, an offensive tackle for the Eagles, who is currently uncommitted, but targeted by Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Florida, Alabama, and Maryland. Video of Rasheed’s workout was pulled from Penn Live.com
Other VNN school players attending included quarterback Matthew Corral of Long Beach Poly (CA), linebacker Amari Gainer of Lawton Chiles (FL), defensive back Kalon Gervin of Cass Tech (MI), and Lakota West (OH) linebacker Xavier Peters, who also committed to the Under Armour National All Star Game this week.
Nation's #1 Player and VNN Schools to play in ESPN High School Football Kickoff
06/30/2017
ESPN announced their lineup for the 2017 High School Football Kickoff Series taking place the weekend of August 25. The seven team spotlight showcases the nation’s premier teams and players, and features two VNN network schools, the Wayne Warriors (OH), playing Sunday against Pine Richland (PA), and the Cartersville Hurricanes (GA), playing Saturday against Bartram Trail (FL).
Among players with a national profile in the game, Cartersville’s quarterback Trevor Lawrence is often considered the nation’s number 1 player. He’s modeled his game after Peyton Manning, and committed to playing at Clemson after his senior season. Watch out for this kid.
For Wayne, defensive end, Kentucky-commitment, and #149 in the nation, Alex Reigelsperger is one to watch, as is wide receiver, #195, L’Christian Smith.
Here’s the full schedule:
Friday, Aug. 25
St. John Bosco (Calif.) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.), 7 p.m., ESPNU
DeMatha (Md.) vs. Bishop Gorman (Nev.), 9 p.m., ESPN
Saturday, Aug. 26
Tulsa Union (Okla.) vs. Broken Arrow (Okla.), Noon, ESPN
Saraland (Ala.) vs. Heard County (Ga.), 3:30 p.m., ESPNU
Bartram Trail (Fla.) vs. Cartersville (Ga.), 7:30 p.m., ESPN2
IMG Academy (Fla.) vs. Chandler (Ariz.), 10:30 p.m., ESPNU
Sunday, Aug. 27
Wayne (Ohio) vs. Pine-Richland (Pa.), 1:30 p.m., ESPN
Dre Kirkpatrick brings annual free football camp back home to Gadsden City
06/29/2017
Starting Cincinnati Bengal cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick held his annual youth football camp for the fifth time this week. With over 300 campers participating, it was held back in Kirkpatrick’s hometown of Gadsden City (AL) after moving the camp to Cincinnati last year.
In addition to the hometown welcome, Kirkpatrick surprised campers by bringing along two of the top wide receivers in the NFL with him — Cincinnati teammate A.J. Green and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Antonio Brown.
One fan jokingly told Kirkpatrick on Instagram, “most people are not going to go because Antonio Brown (member of the rival Steelers) is going to be there,” but that ended up not being the case.
“Those guys could be doing a million things right now, but they are sacrificing by taking time out of their busy schedules to make my day special,” said Kirkpatrick. “Either way it goes, the plan is to make these kids happy, get energy out of these kids and get them around great, positive people.”