Welcome to summer. We’re coming in hot. Likewise, sports news is heating up just as seasons wind down. Quick happening news runs the gamut this time out, stretching from the basketball courts to the running tracks. Coaching hires continue apace. It’s all here in the fastest 1,000 words in sports.
HOLMES HIRES A FAMILIAR NAME
New Holmes High School girls basketball coach Zuri Hill should be a recognizable name to Bulldogs fans. Hill previously coached the seventh grade girls basketball team at Holmes Middle School. She began her high school basketball career at Holmes and played for the Bulldogs as a sophomore. She concluded her career at Boone County where she played alongside area great Sydney Moss for legendary coach Nell Fookes.
Hill replaces Tracy Pope, who parted ways with the program after two seasons. The Bulldogs finished 3-28 last season, beating Dayton and Williamstown twice. The Bulldogs are very young. Just one senior graduated. One senior is expected to return along with two juniors. Top players are expected to be leading scorer India Tye (12.5 ppg) and rebounding leader Mya Long, both rising freshmen.
Hill was a Northern Kentucky Girls Basketball Coaches Association East-West senior all-star for Boone County in 2012. She was the second-leading scorer in the contest with 11 points for the winning East side, which was led by Hill’s Boone County teammate Lydia Nash’s 22. Hill earned all-9th Region and all-33rd District recognition at Boone County, where she averaged 5.9 points and 6.8 rebounds as a senior.
Hill was on the floor against Holy Cross when Boone County dedicated its basketball court to Fookes on Dec 9, 2011. She tied Moss for game-high rebounding honors with 11 while scoring five points.
Hill, from Covington, finished her college basketball career at Lincoln University. She began her college career at Volunteer State Community College, earning first team all-conference honors. She then played at St. Louis Community College where she earned first team all-region and all-conference recognition.
HIGHLANDS APPOINTS NEW COACHES
Highlands has named the successors to Brian Alessandro, who resigned as head coach of the boys and girls cross country teams and the girls track and field team after 13 years. The new boys and girls cross country coach is Lance Bucher, Highlands’ assistant athletic director. The new girls track and field coach is former Bluebirds standout Savannah Brady.
It’s Bucher’s first head-coaching job at the high school level. He has previous experience as an assistant for the Ludlow cross country team. It’s also Brady’s first high school head-coaching job. She’s been the Highlands Middle School girls track coach. Brady just completed her second year of teaching at the middle school. She still holds two Highlands records, in the 800 meters and 3,200 meter relay. Brady ran on two Highlands state champion cross country teams and won a state title individually in track in the 1,600 relay.
SCOTT RUNNER LATEST LOCAL LAROSA’S MVP
Scott High School track and cross country standout Maddie Strong is the latest area LaRosa’s MVP of the week. Strong, a recently graduated senior, has committed to the track and cross country teams at University of Cincinnati. The 5-foot-2 dynamo was the fifth Northern Kentucky athlete in a nine-week period to be a LaRosa’s MVP. She is the eighth in the past 16 weeks and the 13th local athlete honored by LaRosa’s this school year.
Highlights from Strong’s LaRosa’s MVP bio:
“Maddie had success in track from the beginning. She was regional runner-up in the 3200 run in 2019. She won the regional championships in both 2021 and 2022 and again finished as regional runner-up in 2023. Maddie was also state runner-up in the track 3200 run in 2022 and last season. She holds four school records.
“In cross country, she has won three regional championships, twice been regional runner-up and finished third. She was cross country state champion in 2022. Three times she was named Northern Kentucky Cross Country Runner of the Year. She was named all-state six times. Maddie polished off her cross country career as a senior this past fall when she moved up to Class 3A. She ended up winning the Class 3A Region 5 race. Maddie placed fifth at the state meet with a time of 18:35. She was the only local girl breaking the 19-minute mark in any of the three classes.”
THOMAS MORE ADDS BASKETBALL ASSISTANT
Thomas More University head women’s basketball coach Brian Neal has a new assistant following the hiring of Jillian Miller. Miller comes to Crestview Hills from NAIA Ave Maria University, where she assisted the past three seasons. She helped guide the Gyrenes to the Sun Conference Tournament semifinals her first two seasons and the final last season, with players earning all-conference honors from all three teams.
Miller was named a finalist for NAIA national assistant coach of the year by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association for the 2021-22 season. She also was named to the 2024 WBCA 30-under-30 list, which recognizes the best of young college basketball assistants. Before Ave Maria, Miller assisted for the girls basketball team at Mayfield High School in Ohio. Mayfield put together its best record in a decade at 18-6 during her first season on the bench.
Miller, from Willoughby, Ohio, played college basketball at John Carroll University where she was a two-time academic all-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree and earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise science. A northern Kentucky resident, she’s certified as a personal trainer and nutrition coach through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
NKU HAS ITS FIRST VOLLEYBALL COACH
Jim Palilonis is the first-ever volleyball coach at Northern Kentucky University. The Norse ramp up their NCAA Division I volleyball program next year for the 2025-26 season. Palilonis has been involved in college athletics for more than 20 years. He joins NKU after three years as a Purdue-Fort Wayne assistant coach where he helped lead defensive strategy.
Palilonis was an assistant for 16 years at Ball State, where he helped lead offensive strategy and worked primarily with setters. He was head recruiting coordinator at both schools. Palilonis also served as an assistant for the Ball State women’s volleyball team for two years. Palilonis is a 1996 Ball State graduate.
NORSE STANDOUT GOING PRO
Former NKU men’s basketball point guard Michael Bradley has signed with EPG Baskets Koblenz of the Germany ProA League. The ProA league is the second-tier league of Germany professional club basketball. It began operation in 2007. The league consists of 16 teams, the top two qualifying for the Basketball Bundesliga, the highest professional club basketball level in Germany.
Bradley played one season at NKU after transferring from Mercyhurst and averaged 10.2 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He shot 42.1 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from 3-point range. Bradley tied for the Horizon League lead in assists per game. He ranked eighth with 33.7 minutes played per game and tied for tenth in steals.
Bradley ranked 49th in NCAA Division I with a 2.54 assist-to-turnover ratio, 77th in total assists and 85th in assists per game. He finished his five-year college career with 1,452 points, 536 assists, 388 rebounds and 176 steals. The college teams he played for while running the point went 100-37.
SPEED READS
Dixie Heights rising senior Max Neal received his first college offer from Thomas More University. Neal, a 6-1 defensive back, ranked eighth on the Colonels with 32 total tackles and led with three forced fumbles last year. He had four tackles for loss and one fumble recovery.
Covington Catholic two-way lineman Mason Dietz, a rising senior, received his first college football offer from Wittenberg University. One of two returning starters on the Colonels’ offensive line, Dietz is a 6-2, 265 pound player.
Covington Catholic rising sophomore Spencer Clukey has added a second college football offer, from Miami University. The 6-4, 230-pound tight end/defensive lineman also has an offer from Kentucky.
Conner rising senior Andrew Herron received his first Division I college offer from Morehead State University. Herron is a special teams standout for the Cougars at punter and kicker. He converted three of five field goal attempts and was 31-for-32 on point-after attempts for 40 total points.
Conner football player Dylan Stewart is up to 14 college offers. The two-way lineman’s latest come from Ohio University, Western Kentucky, Yale, Colgate and Southern Illinois. The rising senior is a 6-4, 280-pound projected offensive lineman in college.
Ryle rising junior football player Jacob Savage has received a college offer from Louisville. The 6-1, 215-pound Savage is a tackling machine at Ryle with 163 total tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore. The tackle total was nearly double that of the next Raider. Savage is more than a linebacker with a nose for the football. He ranked second on the Raiders last season with 380 rushing yards to go with 22 receptions for 232 receiving yards and nine total touchdowns.
Highlands rising senior Adam Surrey has a college football offer from Thomas More. Surrey, a wide receiver, defensive back and return specialist, was first on the Bluebirds in receptions last year. He totaled 39 catches for 584 yards and five touchdowns. Surrey added a rushing TD and a punt return for a score. He also completed both passes he threw for TDs totaling 78 yards. He added five tackles on defense.
Cooper defensive back Isaac Brown received another college football offer, this one from Liberty University. A rising senior, Brown also has offers from Illinois State, Southeast Missouri State and Thomas More. Brown is one of the top cover-corners in Kentucky, ranking in the top 10 in his class by recruiting services. He picked off four passes as a junior.
