2024-25 Russia Boys Basketball Preview

The Raiders will be ones to watch again this season

Head Coach Cordonnier

Size and experience highlights Russia's return to the basketball court when the Raiders open the schedule in exactly two weeks. Head coach Spencer Cordonnier enters his sixth season with an overall boys record of 107-25. His program had the most successful campaign in school history last year at 27-2, including a league title and second consecutive appearance in the state tournament. Anyone attempting to paint a bullseye on the coach's back should expect a quick retort about the graduations of Felix Francis, Brayden Monnin and Hayden Quinter. It's true the trio averaged almost 30 of the team's 66 points per game last season. However, remnants from that squad this year include seniors Benjamin York, Braylon Cordonnier, Jaxon Grogean and Vince Borchers, who played in all 29 games and combined for 31 of those 66 points.

Fans can expect big things from York and Cordonnier when the season tips off, literally. York is listed at 6-foot-5 and the top returning scorer at 10.3 points per game. Cordonnier is 6-foot-4 and averaged 9.0 ppg. Both are former all-league honorees in the Shelby County Athletic League. Then there's Borchers, who ran the floor at UD Arena with York and Cordonnier at the previous two state tournaments. Borchers chipped in 6.0 ppg and might be one of the biggest pieces of the puzzle, expected to guide the Raider offense at the point guard position.

Benjamin York (Photo by OHSAA)

Grogean made a huge splash last year. The sharpshooting guard led the team from behind the arc with 44 three-pointers made and canned them at almost a 50% clip. Perhaps the only bucket more exciting than a three-pointer though is a dunk, and senior Dominic Francis will undoubtedly get plenty of those this year. The 6-foot-6 forward electrified Raider fans last season with a variety of rim rockers in limited action. Francis will be a solid presence in the starting lineup this year and will also be a tough matchup on the blocks. The final senior coming off significant playing time last year is Zeb Schulze. Schulze chipped in an average of two points off the bench in 20 games and will likely up those statistics this year. 

Russia has a whopping 11 seniors on their roster. The remaining five consist of Zeb Borchers, Micah Grieshop, Landon Monnin, Landon Pleiman and Caleb Unverferth. Just two juniors are listed in the program and that's Maddox Goubeaux and Cooper Unverferth. Several of the seniors invested a significant amount of time on the AAU circuit throughout the year, while Cordonnier notably spent his summer on the baseball diamond after signing with D-I Marshall University.

You can bet Russia opponents have the Raiders circled on their schedules in the locker room and at home. That's because a win against the blue & gold would be a tournament draw attention-getter in February. Russia has tallied a record of 52-6 the last two seasons. Their nemesis in both season-enders at the state tournament was the globetrotting Richmond Heights Spartans. Now that the OHSAA has expanded basketball from four divisions to seven, Richmond Heights separated to D-VI while the Raiders will be in D-VII as Ohio's 22nd smallest school. 

The Russia boys officially open the regular season on November 27th with a rare Wednesday game on Thanksgiving Eve. The Raiders host St. Henry and it'll be the only game of the night on both the SCAL and MAC schedules. Russia's brand new gymnasium and Dave Borchers Memorial Court offers plenty of great seats for fans, scouts and media. For folks out of town and unable to attend, you can listen live to every home game on Fish Report all season long. Airtime will typically start around 7:15 and you can tune in by clicking the 'Streaming' tab above.

Russia scrimmaged Ohio's sixth biggest school in Centerville last Saturday