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Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'My ceiling is high': Harold Fannin Jr. wants to be next MAC-to-NFL standout with Browns
This story has been updated to include Luke Floriea signing a contract. BEREA — The litany of Mid-American Conference football players who have gone on to have success in the NFL is not a short one. Some of the Browns' biggest tormentors — and a couple of their biggest stars — over the years have come from the Ohio/Michigan-centric league. Advertisement Harold Fannin Jr., the Bowling Green State University tight end and Canton native, would love to become the next big Browns stars to come out of the league. 'I think my ceiling is high," Fannin said during Browns rookie minicamp. "I mean, I'm going to keep obviously being coachable. Just keep learning. That's really it. Just keep taking everything in and just keep wanting to grow really. So I think I got a high ceiling.' Fannin was one of eight players out of the 47 the Browns had in for rookie minicamp who came from MAC schools. That includes Akron punter Avery Book and Kent State wide receiver Luke Floriea. Book and Floriea were among six MAC products who were tryout players, althought Floriea was signed to a contract at the end of rookie minicamp. Defensive tackle Ralph Holley, a Western Michigan product, was signed to a reserve/futures contract in January. Advertisement "Oh, yeah, I definitely talked to them," Fannin said. "Us MAC guys, we stay kind of close. Yeah, we got a guy from Western Michigan. He was talking about the game.' Cleveland Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. works with coach Kevin Stefanski during Day 2 of rookie minicamp, May 10, 2025, in Berea. Fannin, though, was the only one in the rookie minicamp who the Browns drafted, taking him with pick No. 67 in the third round last month. That puts significantly more weight on him to ultimately live up to the draft status. What it doesn't do is change the degree of difficulty in going from the MAC to the NFL. Fannin understands that jump is universal. 'I mean, right now it's going pretty smooth," Fannin said. "But obviously I'm guessing it's going to be a big jump. I'm not really thinking too much ahead, just taking it day by day.' Advertisement Fannin enters the league off the kind of season a college tight end dreams of having. He led all of FBS Division I in both receptions (117) and receiving yards (1,555), while having his two biggest performances come against Bowling Green's two biggest opponents, Penn State and Texas A&M. That came in just his third season playing tight end full-time. Although Fannin was an offensive playmaker in high school at Canton McKinley, he was an All-Ohioan as a safety as a senior. Canton McKinley grad Cleveland Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. (88) fields questions during a press conference before NFL rookie minicamp at the Cleveland Browns training facility on Friday, May 9, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. 'Yeah, I mean, I always played a little bit of offense in high school," Fannin said. "So then my clips or whatever from high school, my coach really liked them, thought I can put on a few more pounds, and it definitely helped me translate because playing safety and tight end, I pretty much end up playing against a lot of safeties. So I kind of got a good feel of what to do whenever I'm playing against them.' Advertisement That leaves, as Fannin himself said, a ceiling that is high. Can he reach that ceiling is the question he only started the very long journey toward trying to answer during the three-day rookie minicamp. Fannin, like the rest of the draft picks, has said he will jump into the voluntary offseason program this week. That will finally give him an opportunity to meet David Njoku, the Browns Pro Bowl tight end whom Fannin said he hadn't met yet. 'I haven't talked to him yet," Fannin said, "but obviously I've been watching tape on him and stuff. Just trying to take little bits and pieces of his game and kind of use it to my advantage." Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@ Read more about the Browns at Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Harold Fannin Jr. wants to be next to ride MAC-to-NFL train to stardom
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Sport
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Vote now for the Ashland County Athlete of the Week for March 3-9
Vote now for the candidates in the Ashland Times-Gazette Athlete of the Week poll. The performances in the poll are from March 3-9. The poll will run from 4 a.m. Monday to 10 a.m. Wednesday. Below are some of the top performances from this past week: More: Show and tell: Hands-on coaching helps pave the way to state wrestling tournament Mason Bauer, Ashland boys wrestling At the Division I state wrestling meet over the weekend in Columbus, Bauer placed third overall in the 126-pound division to earn his second straight All-Ohioan honor (top-8 finish). Bauer reached the semifinals and compiled a 4-1 record at the state meet. Guardian Miller, Ashland boys wrestling At this weekend's Division I state wrestling meet, Miller joined his teammate Mason Bauer, in earning his first All-Ohio honors. Miller finished fourth overall in the 144-pound division and compiled a 3-2 record at the state meet. Colton Morris, Northwestern boys wrestling At the Division III state wrestling meet, Morris earned All-Ohio honors and finished sixth overall in the 144-pound division. Morris reached the semifinals and went 2-3 at the state meet. This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Who is the Ashland County Athlete of the Week for March 3-9? Vote Now
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Sport
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Crestview can't overcome Colonel Crawford's explosive first half in Div. VI district final
ONTARIO − In a rematch of both teams first game of the season in late-November (a Crestview 56-48 win), No. 12 Division VI ranked Colonel Crawford was just too hot for Crestview to handle on Friday night at Ontario High School in a Division VI district final. Colonel Crawford (23-1) won their 23rd straight game and were too much for Crestview (17-7) in their 61-39 district title win which Crestview never led in. Asked what their gameplan was against Colonel Crawford this time around and the answer was obvious. More: Colonel Crawford relentless in district championship win against Crestview "We knew we had to stop Holt. He can do everything," said Crestview junior guard Karter Goon. "The big guys they usually do stuff in the paint. They had two shooters. They don't really drive but we knew we had to contain Holt." Holt, as in Brayden Holt, Colonel Crawford's point guard and the Division VI District 6 Player of the Year. Like Goon touched on, everything on offense basically ran threw him and the Eagles feasted off his play. Whether he was probing his dribble into the paint area, finding his shooters on the perimeter for 3's, running the team offense at his own pace, getting inside to score off pull-up jumpers, leaners or hitting the occasional three-pointer (3 three-pointers made in game), Holt and his game-high 25 points had his hand in everything. "Holt gets in the paint and if you sink down with too many guys, he's able to pop out and find players in the corner," said Crestview head coach John Kurtz. Colonel Crawford made six 3-pointers in first half and took a 36-10 lead into halftime. "They were really hard to stop because they were able to find the open man for 3's," Goon said. "They were hitting." If struggling on defense wasn't enough for the Cougars, then the Eagles' defensive effort was evident too. While defending two-time All-Ohioan Justice Thompson, the Eagles were able to smother him on defense, as the 1,000 career point scorer had just five points in the first half and finished with 16. Off the ball, Colonel Crawford's John DeGray denied Thompson the ball often, and when he did get it, there was always a Eagles player or two there to help on drives. "It was real difficult to get him going," Kurtz said on Thompson's offensive game. "Teams have given him those different looks all season and it's been tough at times." For Crestview, winners of the Firelands Conference the past two seasons, they didn't exactly finish the season the way they wanted. They held first place in the Firelands Conference for most of the season, until a slide towards the end the year where they finished in second behind St. Paul. They came into the district tournament having dropped four of their previous five games, but did manage to get two wins by double-digits to finish as district runner-up, the deepest postseason basketball run Crestview has had in a long time. "The season, we kind of lost the wheels," said Goon. "We thought we were easily going to win the league but other teams outplayed us and we didn't come ready to play." "We had some kids out sick for some games. We bounced back and had two straight wins," said Kurtz. "Made it to district finals. Furthest this team has made it in 60 years I think. It's a milestone for us but you hate ending on a loss." jsimpson@ Twitter/X:@JamesSimpsonII This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Crestview loss to Colonel Crawford in a Division VI district final
