MIKE BROWN: Why Canfield’s John Cullen is respected around Ohio
One of the legendary and most highly-respected area boys basketball coaches in Mahoning County, and for that matter, throughout Ohio, is Canfield’s John Cullen.
Cullen, who is in his second stint as the Cardinals’ head coach, has over 600 combined coaching wins at Badger, Brookfield, South Range and Canfield.
A majority of his coaching triumphs have occurred at Canfield. The Canfield community thinks so much of him that it named the Cardinals’ basketball court in his name.
What makes John Cullen so special?
Interviewing him after covering a game Canfield has played is always extra special.
It’s much more than getting comments for a story.
When you interview Cullen, it’s like having a fireside chat with a coach who has seen it all and done it all at the high school level.
You might think a coach as successful as Cullen, a member of the Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame, would want to talk about his many coaching accomplishments.
That’s not John Cullen.
John Cullen enjoys talking about former players who became coaches
After interviewing him after the Canfield vs. Salem boys basketball game this past season, I enjoyed talking about all the great players he’s coached in his career.
Cullen quickly turned the conversation to one of the things he’s most proud of in his storied career.
The Canal Fulton native has coached over 50 former players who have become head coaches at different high school and college basketball levels.
That’s impressive.
That’s John Cullen. It’s never about him — it’s about all the great players he’s coached and how they are doing.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Mike Brown is a Hall of Fame Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association member. Brown worked at The Alliance Review for 40 years, including the past 25 as sports editor, before retiring in 2017. During his time there, he won 23 individual writing awards from the Associated Press and Ohio Prep Sports Writers’ Association, including for best game story, best investigative story and best feature writing).
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