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Van Tassell And Angel Become First Division I Signees For Cameron

By KIM NORTH 6 min read

Van Tassell Finds Right Fit With Youngstown State

CAMERON - For the first time in school history, Cameron High School had a female athlete sign an NCAA Division I scholarship.

Thursday afternoon before a huge gathering inside the Dragons' Den, Ashlynn Van Tassell signed her national letter of intent to attend Youngstown State University on a basketball scholarship. The 6-1 senior has led Cameron to back-to-back W.Va. Class A state championships, as well as consecutive OVAC Class A titles.

''That means everything to me," Van Tassell said of the turnout. "The previous two years that we've been down to state, the whole town of Cameron has come out to support us. For all of these people to come out here to support us today is wonderful.

"We are a small little town. Whenever one of our sports teams does something good, the people in Cameron are always there to support and show their congratulations. That means a lot to me."

Before her final season, Van Tassell was able to do some coaching.

"I was also able to coach the fifth grade girls this year, and they are part of this crowd," she acknowledged."It's nice to be able to be a role model for the younger kids."

Van Tassell is Cameron's all-time leading scorer and rebounder on the girls side with 1,404 points and 1,044 rebounds in her first three seasons. She averages 20 points and 14 boards a night. She has been a three-time W.Va. Class A first team all-stater, while also earning the same status on the OVAC Class A squads. She has also been named the Mason-Dixon Conference Player of the Year the last two seasons.

She said choosing to be a Penguin just felt right.

"The first time I walked on the campus for my official visit, everything felt right," she explained of her decision. "It felt just like being in Cameron. The coaches were really friendly and the players welcomed me with open arms. On the way home with my mom, I told her 'I really want to commit to Youngstown. It just feels right.'"

She also received offers from Bowling Green State University, Seton Hill University, Stetson University and University of South Carolina-Upstate.

"My first visit was to Youngstown State. I knew right then where I wanted to go."

But, Van Tassell knows there's work to be done before she even steps on the floor at the college level.

"I need to work on my ball handling skills, my outside shot and developing more agile post moves," she explained.

And then there's the opportunity for a three-peat in Charleston early next season.

"We're excited about this season. We just started practicing and everything is going well so far," she added. "We've got a pretty tough schedule this year that will hopefully help us down state."

As for having a target on their back.

"We're used to having a bulls-eye on our backs. It's nothing new."

Cameron head coach Holly Pettit couldn't be more happy and proud of her star performer.

"It's a pleasure to get to coach the girls every day, but Ashlynn is a special, special player," Pettit said. "For a school our size to be able to have an athlete earn a four-year scholarship to a Division I school is pretty remarkable.

"As far as our program, I tell Ashlynn every day that there are eyes on her at all times," the coach added. "These little girls in Cameron really look up to her and they consider her their role model. She even helped coach some of the young kids.

"She's very respectful and that is truly a good character trait she has."

Pettit thinks Van Tassell will fit right in at Youngstown State.

"I think she will have to work on her conditioning some, but Ashlynn has a tremendous work ethic," Pettit continued. "Whatever they are willing to do with her, position-wise, she's willing to do whatever they want.

The Penguins play in the Horizon League.

Angel Ready For His Next Step With Wright State

CAMERON - For as long as he can remember, Coy Angel has always wanted to pitch at the top level. The Cameron High School senior took the first step towards realizing his dream Thursday when he signed his NCAA National Letter of Intent to pitch for Wright State University.

Thus, Angel becomes the first male athlete in Dragons' history to accept a Division I scholarship. Former Dragons Logan Routt (basketball) and Ian Bush (wrestling) were preferred walk-ons at WVU.

"It feels great. I'm ready to go out there and show what I can do," Angel said. "It's nice. It's obviously not something that a lot of people get to do,, but I'm not making too much of it. I'm not going to change anything just because I'm going to play at the D-I level."

Wright State University, located in Fairborn, has a tradition-rich history with several NCAA Regional Tournament appearances. It lost in the 2023 Indiana State Regional to the host Sycamores and North Carolina and has won the Horizon League Tournament championship for three consecutive seasons.

"It's bittersweet. We've got a lot of time and hard work invested, but as I said before, this is just the first step in the process," his father and head coach Adam Angel III said.

"We did the travel ball thing for a while. That got him to Wright State. Now it is their job to get him to the next level. This is a stepping stone for Coy. Wright State isn't the goal, it's moving on to the next level after Wright State."

While at Wright State, Angel will be roommates with St. Clairsville's Braylen Blomquist who signed his national letter of intent on Wednesday to play for the Raiders.

"That will be cool," Angel said. "We've known each other for a couple of years now. We played together a little bit and we also played against each other. It will be fun."

"I had an offer from Youngstown State," the 17 year-old Angel said. "There were also a few other schools that looked at me, but I was looking for a school in about a 4-hour radius of Cameron. Wright State fits in that spot.

"Their program has had a lot of success and the guys really work hard."

Angel has been voted the OVAC Class A Player of the Year the past two seasons in leading the Dragons to back-to-back championships. He thinks a third is in reach.

"We lost a couple of really good players in Adam (Angel IV) and Cole (Burkett)," he noted, "but we've got a lot of talent coming back. I think it's going to take everyone to win a third."

Other schools that showed interest included VMI, the University of Dayton and South Alabama.

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