Newport voted No. 1 boys basketball team in N.Ky. preseason coaches poll despite departure of best player

By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter

Newport was voted the No. 1 team in the Northern Kentucky boys basketball coaches preseason poll even though the two-time 9th Region champion will no longer have Taylen Kinney, the state’s top college prospect, as its floor leader.

In August, Kinney enrolled at Overtime Elite in Atlanta, where student-athletes continue their studies for a high school diploma while training and competing in a league to improve their basketball skills.

Yamil Rondon is expected to take over Kinney’s spot in Newport’s lineup. Last spring, Rondon transferred from Cooper where he was the starting point guard on the last two 9th Region runner-up teams.

Rondon was voted one of the top 10 players in the coaches poll along with Newport’s two returning starters, James Turner and Griffin Starks, who are both listed as power forwards.

The Covington Catholic team that was voted No. 2 has a new head coach in Jake Thelen. He’s replacing Scott Ruthsatz, who resigned after winning two state championships, six 9th Region titles and compiling a 363-79 record over the last 13 seasons.

CovCath junior guards Athens McGillis and Cash Harney were also among the top 10 player selections.
The No. 1 vote-getter was Cooper senior guard Andy Johnson, who played so well in AAU events during the summer that he got multiple college scholarship offers before committing to University of Illinois at Chicago.

The second-ranked player in the preseason coaches poll was Lloyd senior EJ Walker, another NCAA Division I college recruit. The 6-foot-8 power forward made a commitment with the University of South Carolina in May.

Here are the results of the polls conducted by the Northern Kentucky Boys Basketball Coaches Association to select the top teams and top players in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties going into the 2024-25 season.

TOP 10 TEAMS IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY
(First place votes in parentheses)
1 – Newport (9), 2 – Covington Catholic (1), 3 – Cooper (1), 4 – Lloyd, 5 – Ryle, 6 – Conner, 7 – Campbell County, 8 – Holy Cross, 9 – Highlands, 10 – Simon Kenton.

TOP 10 PLAYERS IN NORTHERN KENTUCKY

1 – Andy Johnson (Cooper), 2 – EJ Walker (Lloyd), 3 – Garyn Jackson (Campbell County), 4 – James Turner (Newport), 5 – Athens McGillis (CovCath), 6 – Yamil Rondon (Newport), 7 – Cash Harney (CovCath), 8 – Griffin Starks (Newport), 9 – Jack Sullivan (Beechwood), 10 – Landon Lorms (Ryle).