A crazy week in the amazing life of Cooper High School’s Yamil Rondon

BY MARC HARDIN | LINK nky CONTRIBUTOR

Gathering with a small group of family at a private beachfront community in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, Cooper High School's Yamil Rondon is 1,800 miles away from his Burlington neighborhood, and he is bored. It's not a customary state for the 16-year-old young man in motion.

He has his phone, which helps. And he bought a new black outdoor basketball the first day he was there. He's been able to shoot around with it on the basketball courts at Playas del Yunque near Rio Mar Beach when he's not playing with some of the best teenagers in Puerto Rico.

"It's nice being here, but it's not like being home," Rondon said during a series of telephone conversations. "I really needed a basketball when I got here. I sleep with my basketball."

This is Rondon's third visit to the unincorporated territory of the United States. He was between tryouts for the Puerto Rico 17-under boys' national basketball team taking place in San Juan, which is about a four-hour flight from Kentucky.

"It's beautiful. The water's pretty. Coconuts are laying on the ground. The food's really good. But there's not a lot to do, and it's too hot," Rondon said. "It feels like 100 degrees."

Heat is a constant in Puerto Rico, much like palm trees, red and yellow flower blooms, the many colorful homes and rainbow stairs that dot the communities. Factor in humidity, and the feels-like temperature ranged from highs between 100 and 120 degrees while Rondon was there.

One of three children of parents from the island, Rondon is Puerto Rican. But he's not from Puerto Rico, so the unrelenting heat is something new. He was born in Cincinnati and has lived in Northern Kentucky his entire life.

Rondon is a rising junior at Cooper, with an accent on rising. He improved in every way as a sophomore, averaging 13.5 points and 2.5 steals per game with solid shooting percentages for last season's 9th Region Tournament finalist. He's hanging out in his adopted home for a few weeks with his aunt and his little brother.

Partly because of his father's playing reputation and largely because of his own, Rondon got the attention of Puerto Rican coaches who invited him to try out for the 17-U national squad. But his most recent trip to the island didn't go as planned.

Rondon missed the first practice because his flight to Puerto Rico was delayed. Once there, Rondon's father got sick and was sent back to Kentucky out of an abundance of caution. Rondon would not be an emerging star at Cooper if his father had not become ill when he was 16 and flown from Puerto Rico to Cincinnati for a liver transplant.

After the transplant, his father stayed in the area to be close to his doctors. He eventually moved to Burlington with his family and watched Yamil play basketball. What began as trips with his dad to Stringtown Park basketball courts in Florence as an onlooking 3-year-old became trips to Puerto Rico with a chance to play on an international level.

"He's following in his father's footsteps," said his aunt, Lisandra. "His father, Angel Rondon, was very well known here. He was always going up against older players, just like Yamil."

Being the lone 16-year-old trying out for the 17-U team wasn't easy for the 6-foot point guard, especially with his father having a medical emergency, but it was worthwhile.

"Basketball is my peaceful place," he said. "It helps me get away from it all."

Basketball is also taking him places. By the time this article hits newsstands, Rondon is either on his way to Belize with the 17-U squad or heading back to Kentucky. Either way, he is a college basketball recruiting battle waiting to happen.

"What a great story, a local kid playing on an international stage," said Cooper basketball coach Tim Sullivan. "Yamil is a very unique young man. He's always been told he's too small or too slow, then he beats you. I think it's his resiliency. There's just a tenacity about him. He has much better days ahead."

Sullivan expects college offers to arrive soon, especially when the points start piling up for Rondon, and his seeing-eye passes find their way through holes in the defense only he sees. If he approaches the height of his father, look out.

"To be 6-3 like my dad would be fabulous," Rondon said. "I can almost dunk, but I would really be able to dunk. The doctor says I still have some room left in my growth plates, so there's hope."

There's also this: Rondon is about to blow up huge this coming high school basketball season.

"He's a guy that guys don't like playing against," coach Sullivan said. "He'll find your weakness, exploit it and wear you out. We're really looking forward to seeing him this season."

Former NewCath star to coach volleyball team at Campbell County HS

It may have taken about five months to fill the position, but the Campbell County High School administration hired a well-known name in the Northern Kentucky volleyball community in 23-year-old Mikah Freppon.

Freppon graduated from Newport Central Catholic in 2018 then played five years for Division II Lewis University.

Freppon will be the program’s fourth head coach in four years. She may be coming into her first year coaching high school volleyball, but she did coach 15- and 11-yearold Northern Kentucky Volleyball Club squads in the spring.

Freppon grew up in a volleyball family as one of six children. She started playing at a young age. Her older sister Kaela played at Xavier University and Northern Kentucky University, and her parents met playing volleyball at Thomas More University.

Freppon lettered all four years at NewCath, helping the Thoroughbreds to a 7753 record, three 36th District Tournament championships and the program’s last region tournament win in the quarterfinals in 2015. Freppon was a four-time All-District, three time All-9th Region and Northern Kentucky Coaches Volleyball Association All-Star First Team selection.

Freppon then helped Lewis University to Great Lakes Conference Tournament championships as a junior and senior. The Flyers made it to four NCAA Tournaments, including the national semifinals in 2018.

Freppon takes over a team that finished 10-

16 last season, graduating just two players in outside/right side hitter Bailey Beiting and defensive specialist Ashlyn Niemeier. The Camels lost to eventual 37th District and 10th Region champion Bishop Brossart High School in the district semifinals, missing the region tournament for the first time since 2015.

Campbell County returns two 6-foot middle blockers in Emma Manser and Lexi Scharold, a University of Minnesota at Crookston commit, who led the Camels with 266 and 246 kills in 2022, respectively.

Five seniors return in total. The other three are setter/right side hitter Ava Crowl, outside/right side hitter Penelope Stacey and outside hitter/defensive specialist Ella Thorwarth. Thorwarth had a team-high 362 digs, and Crowl had a team-high 440 assists. Juniors Lucy Trapp at setter/outside hitter and defensive specialist A lon McIntyre, along with sophomore setter/opposite hitter Hope Hamilton also return. McIntyre had a team-high 48 aces, and Hamilton finished second with 186 assists.

Plank hired to revitalize Newport High School baseball program

Ian Plank played a big role in helping the Newport Wildcats baseball team to the 9th Region Tournament three times between 2007-2011, as well as its last 36th District Tournament crown in 2007, as a left-handed pitcher, first baseman and outfielder.

The Newport High School administration recently hired the 31-year-old, 2010 Newport graduate to revitalize the program. He takes over a program that had to cancel its 2023 season as a result of low numbers.

The Wildcats finished 9-11 during Plank’s junior year in 2009. But since then, the Wildcats have fallen on hard times, equaling that season win total just once over the last 14 years. Their last region tournament appearance came in 2011.

Plank brings several years of coaching experience to Newport. He coached the American Legion Post 11 middle school and elementary-age kids from 2018-2020, then the elementary-age Bellevue Vets team from 2020-2021 before serving as an assistant coach for Rob Sanders at Bellevue Independent Schools this past season.

Plank hopes to revitalize the program by starting with a camp July 15 and Aug. 5 and spreading the word through social media and flyers within the community. He’ll be assembling a staff over the next couple weeks. Plank has hired one assistant so far in 2010 Newport graduate Elijah Hammonds.

The Wildcats were a premier program in the 1940s, winning the state title in ’40 and ’41. They’ve made the state tournament six times, the last time coming in 1960.

St. Henry moves football timeline up by a year thanks to strong interest

With so much interest generated, St. Henry District High School has decided to move up its timeline a year to begin varsity football.

Originally slated to begin in the 2026 season, St. Henry will field a varsity team for the 2025 season. It will have a junior varsity team in 2024.

Principal Grant Brannen said the interest among the elementary and middle schools moved things up, with 260 kids in grades first through eighth participating in the spring flag football league.

When they look back in a few years, the Crusader Youth Football League is where it all began. The league got underway in the spring, and things have been moving at a rather quick pace ever since.

A football committee was formed with Brannen, school administrators and parents, the stakeholders and R.J. Riegler, who is the director of football operations. The committee is in constant communication to get things rolling, and with newly appointed athletic director Jim Demler set to take over, things are in motion on a daily basis.

Riegler coached football for 11 years, four of them as head football coach at Scott High School. Demler is no stranger to starting up a program, having done so at Ryle High School in the 1990s.

Helping with the timeline decision is the way the current KHSAA football realignment schedule is set up. Come 2025, more realignment decisions will be made, and St. Henry wants to be a part of that. The school is expecting to be in Class 2A, based on enrollment.

St. Henry held its first football camp the week of June 12-16 as the Crusader League recently wrapped up. It will continue with the Crusader League in the fall, and in the spring, it’s hopeful to start aligning the schedule with the KHSAA football calendar come the fall of 2024.

Brannen said the head football coach and staff positions should open up come January 2024.