Kent Cleveland, from the Class of 2008.

At St. Pius, Kent was an All-State football player - Offensive Tackle to be specific, as well as Varsity Football captain. He helped lead the Golden Lions to back-to-back state playoff runs, and a final ranking of No. 4 his junior season. 

Coach Paul Standard had this to say about Kent – Kent Cleveland-was not only an outstanding player, but a better young man!  I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach Kent. He overcame a significant hip injury early in his career but came back and was a leader of our offensive line for 2 consecutive playoff runs in 2006 and 2007 where the Golden Lions had an outstanding rushing attack!  Kent will be remembered for his caring for the younger players and a great teammate to all. He is one of the best offensive linemen in Golden Lion history!

While at St. Pius Kent also competed in Track, was a Lion Leader and an officer on Senior Council.

At Kent State, he started on the O-line for 3 years. His senior year, the team had the best record in school history (11-3), won the MAC East title, was nationally ranked in the top 25 at the end of the regular season, and went to the Go Daddy Bowl.

His Kent State coach said this about Kent – “what is truly amazing about Kent is his deep desire to make people around him better. An example of his unselfishness occurred midway through his junior season when he was asked to make a position change which for many is very difficult mentally. But without hesitation, Kent’s quick response was, “whatever I have to do to make us better”.

This position change is known as “The SWITCH” and is credited as being the impetus to a string of wins that resulted in the Kent State winning the MAC East title.