April 1st News

By Shaun Spence

April 01, 2008, 8:12AM

Shaun Spence - ohioHSsports.com

Check back each and every weekday for the top prep headlines from across the state. Here are a list of summaries from some of the major stories around Ohio for Tuesday, April 1st:

Football: Massillon to name Coach by April 10

Massillon Washington High School announced that the process of finding a new head football coach to repalce the departed Tom Stacy (now at Green) will be over on the evening of April 10th. The Thursday night Massillon Board of Education meeting will likely be filled with many Tiger football fans as they anxiously await the announcement. Nordonia's Jason Hall is rumored to be the favorite, but there has been no official announcement by Massillon in regards to the favorites. Independent

Basketball: Dunbar Junior Darion Brandon is Recovering

After suffering a near-death experience while playing AAU basketball this past March 15th, Darion Brandon is recovering from open-heart surgery. Brandon, a junior starter on the Wolverines' succesful 2007-08 campaign, collapsed at an AAU basketball practice in Columbus. His heart was restarted by a nurse -- the mother of an AAU player on another team. Brandon was transferred to Cleveland to have surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. Doctors are optimistic that Brandon could play basketball again. Dayton Daily News

Football: Cleveland Football Players Reflect about Japan

A group of American high school football players took their spring break to go over to Japan to take on their all-star team in the GE Global Challenge Bowl 2008 in front of a crowd of 6,000 at Kawasaki Stadium. The teams played by NCAA rules, which are slightly different than OHSAA rules. Several players representing Team USA were from Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph. Team Japan defeated Team USA 24-14. Representing VASJ were Nick Viola, Darius Petraitis, Matt Groudle and John Pokorny. Viola and Petratis combined for four sacks in their team's losing effort. The News-Herald

Don't see news from your area of the state? Post a comment below with your local paper's web address and we'll feature your prep coverage throughout the week.