CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — During recent years, the Lutheran East Falcons basketball team has created a program that consistently looks for the ultimate prize, a state championship.
What You Need To Know
- The Falcons are the defending OHSAA Division III state champions
- The wins have resulted in many of the school’s student athletes getting the chance to play collegiately
- Jordan Cannon is a senior guard committed to play at West Virginia Wesleyan
The student athletes of Lutheran East, like Jordan Cannon, a senior, have put in the work.
“I work out three periods a day, and then I got one class, and I work out again and then I got practice after school,” Cannon said while practicing 3-point shots.
His hard work appeared to have paid off as he committed to play basketball at West Virginia Wesleyan — something he considered a big accomplishment four years after making Lutheran East his home.
“When I was in eighth grade, I went to Euclid and one of the coaches that used to coach here,” said Cannon. “He came to my game and he told me that he thinks I would be good for this program and to help me grow as a person and as a basketball player.”
He’s not the first Lutheran East player recently to have success.
The school, with an enrollment of less than 300, became a powerhouse during the last few years. The victories include a state championship in 2021 for a team led by Jalin Billingsley, who committed to Georgetown, and five other seniors bound for college basketball.
“It’s about building a legacy, it’s about building a tradition,” said Lutheran East Athletic Director Anthony Jones.
Jones was also the Falcons’ former coach. He said he knows the challenges many kids face in the inner city, but the goal is to make them better men with better futures.
“If we can be their support system and they can lean on us, brighter days are ahead,” Jones said. “They have the opportunity to go to college and make something of themselves that they probably didn’t know was possible growing up.”
He said the road to a championship was part of a three-year plan, which involved current coach and close friend Sam Liggins who was an assistant under Jones.
Liggins said he believes many factors contribute to success.
“The passion that our administration shows, our coaches show, just the entire character of the school, the student body, I think it all plays together,” said Liggins.
As the Falcons look to win back-to-back state championships, Cannon, a who plans to major in psychology, will eventually move on to college and his next challenge where he’ll use the Lutheran East culture to build on his success.
“It’s just like a team effort from our school in general to make sure that we stay focused on what we want and chase our goals,” said Cannon. “I have become closer to God and it got me a scholarship to college to play basketball.”
