Rollyson, Debevec lead All-Federal League boys hoops
After sharing the last two Federal League boys basketball championships, it should come as no surprise that Green and Jackson took home the league’s top individual awards for the 2023-24 season.
Green senior Brady Rollyson is the Federal League Player of the Year, while Jackson’s Tim Debevec is the coach of the year for the second straight season, as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
The 6-foot-4 Rollyson, who also was the 2023 Federal League Baseball Player of the Year in the spring, averaged a team-high 19.0 points to go with 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.0 steals through the regular season. He shot 53.2% from the floor as the Bulldogs won their third straight league title despite the loss of starting guards Lucas Bitong and Antonio Martin to injury in the second half of the season.
Rollyson, an Ohio State baseball recruit, went for 25 points, 13 rebounds and four assists in the 67-65 win against McKinley on Feb. 9 that clinched a share of the league title. That included the goahead jumper in the final minute of overtime.
Rollyson scored a Green single-game record of 40 points four days later during a win against Firestone and finished his four-year varsity career with 1,241 points, which rank third in school history. Green ended the season at 18-6 after losing to Mentor in a district semifinal on Wednesday. Rollyson is the second Green player in the last three years to win the league’s player of the year after Zack Oddo did it in 2022.
Debevec guided the Polar Bears to five straight wins in league play to share the title at 9-3.
That is part of an overall winning streak of that has stretched to 14 games and carries into the Division I regional tournament.
Jackson (22-4) faces St. Ignatius in a 7 p.m. regional semifinal on Wednesday at Kent State.
Debevec has won the league’s coaching honor five times overall. The Polar Bears have won the league eight times during Debevec’s 13 years as head coach.
The complete all-league honors are listed below.
2023-24 All-Federal League boys basketball
First Team: Brady Rollyson, Green, sr.; Ja’Corey Lipkins, GlenOak, sr.; Reed Sims Jr., Canton McKinley, jr.; Kyle Monterrubio, Jackson, jr.; Chance Casenhiser, Lake, sr.; Jarrett Taylor, Green, sr.
Player of the Year: Brady Rollyson, Green
Coach of the Year:
Jackson
Second Team: Cameron Weekley, Jackson, jr.; Antonio Martin, Green, jr.; Mitch Finefrock, Jackson, jr.; Reese Zerger, GlenOak, jr.; Je’Cis Moody, McKinley, sr.; Zac Braucher, Hoover, jr.
Honorable Mention: Jaylen McElroy, GlenOak, sr.; Luke Wolf, Perry, jr.; Anthony Fuline, Jackson, sr.; Hunter Hershberger, Hoover, fr.; Anthony Chavers, McKinley, soph.; Bryce Broom, GlenOak, jr.
On X:
Tim Debevec,