Central Ohio high school basketball star Landon Vanderwarker transfers to Delaware Hayes
Landon Vanderwarker, one of the premier boys basketball players in central Ohio, has transferred from Division IV Northside Christian to Division I Delaware Hayes.
A 6-foot-7 junior small forward and guard, Vanderwarker played his first two seasons at Northside Christian, leading the Lions to their first district title last winter. Northside Christian (23-4) eventually lost to Berlin Hiland 52-50 in a regional final.
Vanderwarker averaged 22.8 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.7 steals. He was named first-team all-state and Player of the Year in the district and Mid-Ohio Christian Athletic League.
As a freshman, he earned special mention all-state honors after averaging 18.5 points.
“I’m excited to be part of the Delaware Hayes family,” said Vanderwarker, who lives in Delaware. “I’m thankful and extremely grateful to my teachers, coaches and administrators at Northside who helped me get to where I am today. I will miss them. I’m thankful to (Delaware) coach (Adam) Vincenzo for the opportunity to join a really great program.”
Last season, Delaware (20-5) reached a district final.
“Our internal expectations were already high with all of the experience we are bringing back from last year's team,” Vincenzo said. “At this time of the year, we are obviously excited to get the season underway. To add a player like Landon to our basketball family, (it) just adds to the anticipation.”
Vanderwarker has received interest from several Division I college programs, including Ohio State, Indiana and Wisconsin.
Vanderwarker’s father, Ryan, coached Northside Christian for two years, going 36-14 before stepping down following last season. Former Worthington Christian coach Kevin Weakley was named coach at Northside Christian in April, but recently resigned, according to Northside Christian executive director Jeff Peterson.
"In recent days, circumstances have changed in (my) family, requiring me to step away from coaching to allow me to best support them," Weakley said in a statement provided by Peterson.
Peterson said Northside Christian announced Weakley's resignation on Oct. 11.
On Friday, Northside Christian named Tim Kusan as Weakley's replacement. Kusan previously served as Worthington Christian's girls coach and is a former junior varsity boys coach at Northside Christian.
During the time between Weakley's resignation and the hiring of Kusan, "we were informed that Landon Vanderwarker was transferring out of NCS," Peterson said in an email to The Dispatch. "The unexpected transfer decision was made after Coach Weakly resigned and before we had identified our new coach."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Landon Vanderwarker transfers from Northside Christian to Delaware
