Archbishop Hoban senior Jonas Nichols has signed a national letter of intent to play college basketball on scholarship at Kent State University.
Nichols helped guide Hoban (26-3) to victories over Toledo St. John's Jesuit and Pickerington Central to win the Division I state championship last March in Dayton .
Nichols , a 6-foot-4 and 210-pound guard, was named the All-Northeast Ohio Inland District Division I Player of the Year and was a first-team All-Ohio selection . He enters his fourth-year on Hoban's varsity team with more than 1,000 career points.
"They have been recruiting me for almost two years and I have gotten to really know every coach," Nichols said of KSU. "One thing that really stood out to me that was different from every other school is it felt like every coach on that staff was recruiting me. Watching them play, they kind of fit me with not too many sets. Coach [Rob Senderoff] seems to let his playmakers be playmakers. That's kind of what I like. ... Kent is a great fit."
Nichols , 18, has a 3.1 GPA at Hoban and plans to major in sports management or business management. His other scholarship offers were from Akron, Ball State, Bowling Green, Eastern Michigan, Miami of Ohio, Toledo and Ohio.
Nichols averaged around 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals last season.
"Jonas is really comfortable with the coaches at Kent State," Hoban coach T.K. Griffith said . "He had offers from Akron, Kent, Eastern Michigan and a few others. It was a really tough decision and a long process. He became close with all of those assistant coaches and they liked him a lot. I think ultimately, Kent is kind of like a home away from home with the perfect distance where his family can still be a part of his life and he can get a little bit of space to grow into a young adult with a little bit of room.
"Coach Senderoff and his staff, Jon Fleming, an assistant, especially, really invested a lot of time and made Jonas feel like they would develop him and stick with him and be committed to him as a whole person, but also a player. All of those programs did a nice job."
Nichols is familiar with KSU's campus after Hoban beat Lakewood St. Edward and Walsh Jesuit in regional tournament games at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.
Nichols and sophomore center Sam Greer are Hoban's returning starters.
Griffith said six 2023 Hoban graduates off of the state title team are competing in a sport in college , including his son, Andrew Griffith , who is playing basketball at Baldwin Wallace.
The other five are William Scott Jr. (Triton College in Illinois, basketball), Logan Vowles (Miami of Ohio, track and field), Lamar Sperling (Buffalo, football), Jayvian Crable (Ohio, footbalI) and I'vante "Mookie" Barclay (Bryant & Stratton College in Ohio, basketball).
Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Jonas Nichols of Hoban signs with Kent State men's basketball
