Mentor Fighting Cardinals 2021-22 Boys Basketball Preview

The kid from Harvey did not play in one game this season & the 2 kids from Riverside are the sons of a former Mentor player & have played & attended Mentor camps from early childhood to the present. They are incoming soph & junior that were on the Painsville varsity roster as a freshman & sophmore for one year., hardly referenced as experienced or superstars. The Dad coached them in the Mentor MVA thru the years & AAU & always wanted his sons to play at his alma mater under Coach K. They came to Mentor by choice & were not recruited. Check it out.
Not looking to argue. Just stating the fact that they were recruited.
 
Last edited:
Before making these dangerous accusations, you should also provide the proof. Statements like yours, cause fans to not have confidence in high school sports & do great damage to the sport. Families move to Mentor on their own because of the opportunities to achieve a good education & the activities available for their children. No argument here, just facts.
 
From 2000-2020, there was just one of these “AAU transfer/move-ins” for Mentor - that was Collin Barth in 2010-11. Mentor has had five total the past two seasons. I’m not suggesting the coaches did/do any recruiting. I am assuming Luke Chicone recruited AAU teammates Waag/Key to join him last year. I don’t know the whole story with the Iopollo’s, but that sounds like the dad is steering that ship. The kid from Harvey (who hasn’t played due to injury) was more likely recruited by his AAU teammates than the coaches.

The transfers played a huge role in Mentor’s success the past two seasons. That can not be disputed.
 
From 2000-2020, there was just one of these “AAU transfer/move-ins” for Mentor - that was Collin Barth in 2010-11. Mentor has had five total the past two seasons. I’m not suggesting the coaches did/do any recruiting. I am assuming Luke Chicone recruited AAU teammates Waag/Key to join him last year. I don’t know the whole story with the Iopollo’s, but that sounds like the dad is steering that ship. The kid from Harvey (who hasn’t played due to injury) was more likely recruited by his AAU teammates than the coaches.

The transfers played a huge role in Mentor’s success the past two seasons. That can not be disputed.
 
Assuming everything you stated is correct, wouldn’t you agree Mentors Basketball Program is one of the most successful programs in the state. It has been one of the most consistant, winning programs for the past 15 or 20 years. Consider the fact they do not have open enrollment or scholarships available to incoming student athletes. I believe people move to Mentor for more opportunities for their children.
 
Assuming everything you stated is correct, wouldn’t you agree Mentors Basketball Program is one of the most successful programs in the state. It has been one of the most consistant, winning programs for the past 15 or 20 years. Consider the fact they do not have open enrollment or scholarships available to incoming student athletes. I believe people move to Mentor for more opportunities for their children.
Of course, it is one of the better programs in the state the past 20 years. Coach Krizancic and the other coaches have done a great job. The talent in the program has been good and the coaches help make them even better. I just found it odd that Mentor has had a run of a few classes in a row (class of 2021, 2022, and 2023) that were lacking a bit in terms of talent (minus the transfers). Chicone was an all-timer, but the rest of 2021 class lacked any All-District talent Mentor is used to having. Without Waag/Key last season, Mentor would have been a district finalist probably. The seniors on this year's squad, led by Sean Collins, have surpassed my expectations - but nobody is going to mistaken this group for the kind of talent Mentor has in most seasons. The class of 2023 doesn't really have anyone in the rotation besides Ryan Iopollo, a transfer/move-in.

This year's team doesn't have the potential of last, but the Iopollo's are the difference between a 10/11 win season and the 16-6 season they did have. This group should make a run to the district final against the heavy favorite, Brush Arcs. All things considered, a 16 win regular season, GCC co-champs, and district runner-ups would be a fantastic season.
 
Not looking to argue. Just stating the fact that they were recruited.
When did Mentor get Open Enrollment? It's a year later and the Ioppolo brothers still live in their Riverside school district house. So they went through a whole school year not living in Mentor but going to Mentor HS. It'll be interesting to see what "transfers" they get this year.
 
When did Mentor get Open Enrollment? It's a year later and the Ioppolo brothers still live in their Riverside school district house. So they went through a whole school year not living in Mentor but going to Mentor HS. It'll be interesting to see what "transfers" they get this year.
How much of a loser do you have to be to stalk a families housing situation and then continually obsess over it on an Internet message board ?

Turn it into the ohsaa if you think it's an issue.

Nobody said Riverside was interesting for anything so I guess you gotta pop up here
 
When did Mentor get Open Enrollment? It's a year later and the Ioppolo brothers still live in their Riverside school district house. So they went through a whole school year not living in Mentor but going to Mentor HS. It'll be interesting to see what "transfers" they get this year.
So far in seeing both Mentor and Riverside this summer, the Ioppolos went to the lesser talented of the two programs.

Both are D1 programs, so yeah losing them sucks if you are a Riverside fan. But it doesn't seem like a situation where the move/transfer was only for basketball reasons... more like going to a neighboring school that their dad graduated from and now works for.

With that, as cardz has alluded to, Mentor was definitely looking at a rebuild post Chicone if not for the move ins/transfers. But Mentor has a program in place where kids want to go there and coaches want to coach there. That's kind of how basketball is... like it or not.
 
So far in seeing both Mentor and Riverside this summer, the Ioppolos went to the lesser talented of the two programs.

Both are D1 programs, so yeah losing them sucks if you are a Riverside fan. But it doesn't seem like a situation where the move/transfer was only for basketball reasons... more like going to a neighboring school that their dad graduated from and now works for.

With that, as cardz has alluded to, Mentor was definitely looking at a rebuild post Chicone if not for the move ins/transfers. But Mentor has a program in place where kids want to go there and coaches want to coach there. That's kind of how basketball is... like it or not.
Any updates on new transfers this summer? If it’s truly recruiting we’ll see more of it this summer.
 
Any updates on new transfers this summer? If it’s truly recruiting we’ll see more of it this summer.
Yes, they snagged Riverside's best player, Andrew Taggert, who scored 26 pts against them last year. Up until this year all these kids played on the same AAU team together with Ioppolo as the coach.
 

Attachments

  • SmartSelect_20220708-192035_Twitter.jpg
    SmartSelect_20220708-192035_Twitter.jpg
    117.6 KB · Views: 20
Yes, they snagged Riverside's best player, Andrew Taggert, who scored 26 pts against them last year. Up until this year all these kids played on the same AAU team together with Ioppolo as the coach.
Sounds good. Wooo. Ironic thing is this guy fbrox is obsessed with downing mentor while he went to DeSales who probably gets kids from a wider area than one city (bordering city) over in one sport ....

And he's a lot nicer to lake catholic who recruits a lot more than mentor in most every sport btw.

Basketball has gone the aau route. We now have private schools and public schools all over recruiting like crazy. We won a title with all homegrown guys already. I say go for it now. Everyone else is doing it.
 
Last edited:
Yes, they snagged Riverside's best player, Andrew Taggert, who scored 26 pts against them last year. Up until this year all these kids played on the same AAU team together with Ioppolo as the coach.
Wow!!!! No recruitment there!!! Crazy that Krizancic has to depend on the transfer portal to field a good team given that he coaches in one of the largest public high schools in Ohio. I’m sure the Mentor people will have some way of justifying this like “Well the poor kid just wanted to play with his AAU friends”.
 
Wow!!!! No recruitment there!!! Crazy that Krizancic has to depend on the transfer portal to field a good team given that he coaches in one of the largest public high schools in Ohio. I’m sure the Mentor people will have some way of justifying this like “Well the poor kid just wanted to play with his AAU friends”.
Yeah because DeSales and your buddies at lake catholic don't recruit or anything lol. Why don't you provide the rosters from those schools and let's see where everyone is from

Coach K is a legend. He doesn't have to recruit. Players and their families are coming to Mentor to play for him. As I said , it the way basketball has gone. If private schools like the ones you support are recruiting in all sports and many publics are joining them in basketball , I say go for it.

Meanwhile you are a grown man trolling schools made up of 15-18 year old kids while hiding behind anonymity on the Internet. You need to get a life
 
Last edited:
Mentor does not recruit kids, they & their families move to Mentor because they want their kids to get a good education & an opportunity to get exposure to the next level. If I were a parent of a good athlete, I would certainly want my child to go to a school that would Give him an opportunity to get to the next level. If you want to complain about the kids from Riverside, you should talk to the parents. Coach K has been coaching for over 40 years with tons of success, including 2 State Championships, with home grown talent. He does not have to recruit to continue his winning program, they come to Mentor on their own.
 
Mentor does not recruit kids, they & their families move to Mentor because they want their kids to get a good education & an opportunity to get exposure to the next level. If I were a parent of a good athlete, I would certainly want my child to go to a school that would Give him an opportunity to get to the next level. If you want to complain about the kids from Riverside, you should talk to the parents. Coach K has been coaching for over 40 years with tons of success, including 2 State Championships, with home grown talent. He does not have to recruit to continue his winning program, they come to Mentor on their own.
I get the Riverside guy being salty to a point. They are closed enrollment and 3 good players left to go play for a better coach and program. Still they are kids though and not pros

Idiots like fbrox probably didnt shed a tear when homegrown Micah Potter left to play his senior year at a prep school in Florida. He went onto OSU and Wisconsin in college and is playing some time in the NBA

Same for Kareem Hunt who left mentor to move to one city over Willoughby south. He is now in the NFL.

Call me crazy but I don't think any of these 4 players on Mentor are going to the NBA. Heck only one of them probably has a shot at playing D1 college ball

This isn't even counting all the Mentor kids who move to Kirtland , Chardon , Riverside , south etc to play sports because they can't make it at Mentor

And any school is going to have kids come and go. I started at a lake catholic feeder school . Then went to Mentor schools. I never played sports at Mentor. My brother started at Harvey , went to mentor and then went back to Harvey to wrestle. The stuff goes both ways
 
Mentor does not recruit kids, they & their families move to Mentor because they want their kids to get a good education & an opportunity to get exposure to the next level. If I were a parent of a good athlete, I would certainly want my child to go to a school that would Give him an opportunity to get to the next level. If you want to complain about the kids from Riverside, you should talk to the parents. Coach K has been coaching for over 40 years with tons of success, including 2 State Championships, with home grown talent. He does not have to recruit to continue his winning program, they come to Mentor on their own.
Mentor, one of the biggest public schools in the state of Ohio for over 40 years. What do they have to show for it? One state championship in 2013 and multiple runner up trophies in everything else. Even Lake Catholic has more state titles in last 20 years than Mentor has overall. Thinking the new school colors should be red and silver.
 
Mentor, one of the biggest public schools in the state of Ohio for over 40 years. What do they have to show for it? One state championship in 2013 and multiple runner up trophies in everything else. Even Lake Catholic has more state titles in last 20 years than Mentor has overall. Thinking the new school colors should be red and silver.
Imagine being such a loser that you have to troll a school made up of 15-18 year old kids online anonymously.

Btw lake catholic doesn't have a basketball title. Pretty sure both schools have 5 team titles now all time. In the last 20 years Lake Catholic only has 1 title in girls volleyball. Mentor has 2 with boys basketball and girls track. Better check your research

And of course schools like lake catholic and DeSales will win titles. You guys get kids from all over in every sport and play many small public schools drawing from one school district. Many are farm towns.

Below D1 private schools have the biggest advantages of any schools
 
Last edited:
As for recruiting, AAU players encourage their teammates to come to their school. This has been going on since AAU became so popular & many knew this would happen. College coaches encourage AAU so they don’t have to travel year round to different schools to see the athletes perform in a competitive setting.
 
Imagine being such a loser that you have to troll a school made up of 15-18 year old kids online anonymously.

Btw lake catholic doesn't have a basketball title. Pretty sure both schools have 5 team titles now all time. In the last 20 years Lake Catholic only has 1 title in girls volleyball. Mentor has 2 with boys basketball and girls track. Better check your research

And of course schools like lake catholic and DeSales will win titles. You guys get kids from all over in every sport and play many small public schools drawing from one school district. Many are farm towns.

Below D1 private schools have the biggest advantages of any schools
Sounds like excuses to me!!! You keep on recruiting from your neighboring schools though I’m sure the tax payers who see their kid getting bumped in favor out out of district kids will be real happy…..
 
Sounds like excuses to me!!! You keep on recruiting from your neighboring schools though I’m sure the tax payers who see their kid getting bumped in favor out out of district kids will be real happy…..
A private school guy talking about recruiting is hilarious. You literally build all your teams by doing it.

But at least now we know why you hate Mentor. You clearly have some connections with lake catholic. It's why you defend them in their thread vs that viking guy. But act just like that poster towards mentor on here....

Both of you clearly have screws loose while being complete losers. It was fun showing how much of an idiot you are by shredding all of your made up points too
 
Short answer to recruiting players, AAU players encourage their teammates to transfer To their schools. College coaches love AAU because they don’t have to go to evaluate them all year long at their respective schools. AAU gives them a captive evaluation real time.
 
During the first 20 or so years of Krizancic's time at Mentor, there was only one "AAU transfer" - Collin Barth. He came from Olmsted Falls for his senior year to play with AAU teammate Cole Krizancic. He fit right in and even maintains a much better relationship with the Mentor coaching staff than anywhere else despite being there only one season. Counting Taggart, that makes a total of (at least) six players in three seasons.

In the 2020-21 season, the AAU teammates of Chicone (Waag and Key) became instrumental parts of an undefeated regular season and a run to the state semifinals. Last season we saw the impact that the Iopollo brothers had on the team as key parts of the starting lineup on a team that won a district title. A third transfer (from Harvey) never saw the floor due to his ACL injury. Of all the six, the Iopollo's make the most sense as their dad played for Krizancic.

Now we see a third Riverside Beaver join. I do feel bad for the Riverside coaches, program, and the players "left behind." These three former Riverside players may end up being the three best players on Mentor's team this year. Would they have the same kind of individual or team success if they stayed at Riverside? Who knows. Do I love the direction that Mentor (and other teams) are going with this transfer lifestyle? No, not really. But it is the culture, especially in basketball. This appears to be players recruiting their friends, not the coaches recruiting.

I have to say I am surprised the well of "Mentor talent" dried up so quickly. The classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023 are incredibly bare if you remove the transfers. Luke Chicone is a top dog. After that, it is a far cry from the kind of talent we saw on the court for most of Krizancic's time. I'm not sure what that is about. The football team is also starting to see a possible decline. After nearly 20 years of football and basketball excellence, Mentor was "due" for a step back in talent I guess.
 
During the first 20 or so years of Krizancic's time at Mentor, there was only one "AAU transfer" - Collin Barth. He came from Olmsted Falls for his senior year to play with AAU teammate Cole Krizancic. He fit right in and even maintains a much better relationship with the Mentor coaching staff than anywhere else despite being there only one season. Counting Taggart, that makes a total of (at least) six players in three seasons.

In the 2020-21 season, the AAU teammates of Chicone (Waag and Key) became instrumental parts of an undefeated regular season and a run to the state semifinals. Last season we saw the impact that the Iopollo brothers had on the team as key parts of the starting lineup on a team that won a district title. A third transfer (from Harvey) never saw the floor due to his ACL injury. Of all the six, the Iopollo's make the most sense as their dad played for Krizancic.

Now we see a third Riverside Beaver join. I do feel bad for the Riverside coaches, program, and the players "left behind." These three former Riverside players may end up being the three best players on Mentor's team this year. Would they have the same kind of individual or team success if they stayed at Riverside? Who knows. Do I love the direction that Mentor (and other teams) are going with this transfer lifestyle? No, not really. But it is the culture, especially in basketball. This appears to be players recruiting their friends, not the coaches recruiting.

I have to say I am surprised the well of "Mentor talent" dried up so quickly. The classes of 2021, 2022, and 2023 are incredibly bare if you remove the transfers. Luke Chicone is a top dog. After that, it is a far cry from the kind of talent we saw on the court for most of Krizancic's time. I'm not sure what that is about. The football team is also starting to see a possible decline. After nearly 20 years of football and basketball excellence, Mentor was "due" for a step back in talent I guess.
Sums it up. I get the Riverside guy being unhappy. It's the same disappointment we felt when Potter left for a prep school in Florida for his senior year Although tracking the building progress of the home for the brothers is still creepy to me

The other guy is a private school guy and complete hypocrite. The private schools build all of their teams by recruiting from all over the place. He should probably shut up about this to say the least

I don't like the aau culture but it's the way basketball has gone. The privates recruit in every sport. The urban public schools get transfers a ton. Mentor is closed enrollment anyways. If a kids family moves in, we have to take him. We can't pick and choose our students like private schools who recruit.

Sure we can deny the kid the shot at athletics, but that would be going full on communist. Coach K isnt recruiting 15-17 year old kids. He doesn't need to. His resume speaks for itself
 
Last edited:
If a family moves into a school district wanting their son to have the opportunity to play in a legendary program, how can they be denied participation. This transfer situation started with open enrollment, which created a huge unbalance in HS sports. If you want to stop the current transfer trend, I think you may have to reassess the open enrollment policy. My opinion only.
 
If a family moves into a school district wanting their son to have the opportunity to play in a legendary program, how can they be denied participation. This transfer situation started with open enrollment, which created a huge unbalance in HS sports. If you want to stop the current transfer trend, I think you may have to reassess the open enrollment policy. My opinion only.
They shouldn't be denied participation. That is the point. Mentor is closed enrollment. They are the only public school in their school district. We don't choose who comes into the school. Mentor public schools have to take whatever kid is in the school district that chooses public school

As others have said, if anyone has an issue with this, take it up with the parents. We don't choose our school population unlike private schools and open enrollment publics who can turn some kids away
 
Sometimes parents move into a good sports program not only for playing time, for their child, but for life learning experiences under a good program & Coach.
 
Mike Calo who graduated from Mentor in ‘95 has been living in Europe for quite a long time. He has twin boys, Jake and Ryan, who will be sophomores and play for the Belfast Phoenix Basketball Club. The family is moving back to Mentor in a couple days and the twins will be enrolled at Mentor. This years Mentor’s squad just got a whole lot better.
 
Mike Calo who graduated from Mentor in ‘95 has been living in Europe for quite a long time. He has twin boys, Jake and Ryan, who will be sophomores and play for the Belfast Phoenix Basketball Club. The family is moving back to Mentor in a couple days and the twins will be enrolled at Mentor. This years Mentor’s squad just got a whole lot better.
Thanks for the update
 
Mike Calo who graduated from Mentor in ‘95 has been living in Europe for quite a long time. He has twin boys, Jake and Ryan, who will be sophomores and play for the Belfast Phoenix Basketball Club. The family is moving back to Mentor in a couple days and the twins will be enrolled at Mentor. This years Mentor’s squad just got a whole lot better.
So these kids will be sophomores this year and have solid skill to be good players ? Do you know the family ?.
 
Top