Richland 200: No. 4 Lexington's Brayden Fogle feels he has a lot more to prove

LEXINGTON — When high school sports fans take a look at the résumé of Lexington sophomore Brayden Fogle, they see a long list of accomplishments.

Second team All-Northwest District and first team All-Ohio Cardinal Conference as a freshman football player in 2022. Special mention All-Ohio, second team All-Northwest District, second team All-District 6 and first team All-OCC as a freshman basketball player. Ohio Cardinal Conference basketball champion, sectional champion and Division II district runner-up.

And that doesn't even begin to mention nearly double-digit Division I college basketball scholarship offers or the numerous Division I college football program radars he is on.

But when Fogle even begins to think about his own résumé, he sees a lot of boxes that haven't been checked and that fuels him to improve every single day. The No. 4 athlete in the Richland 200 isn't motivated by achievements, he is motivated by what he has left to accomplish.

After receiving more than half a dozen Division I college basketball scholarship offers before he even played a single minute of high school basketball, Fogle proved his worth on the court averaging 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists a game for the Minutemen leading the team to a 20-5 record, the first 20-win season since 2017-18 when Lex made it to the state semifinals.

But over the summer, Fogle attended a football camp at Ohio State University and made a new friend in offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, one of the top recruiting coaches in the nation and one that has built arguably the best wide receiver room over the last decade.

Fogle, a 6-foot-6 receiver for Lexington, led the Minutemen last year with 529 yards on 33 catches with eight touchdowns averaging 16 yards per catch ... as a freshman. It is no surprise Hartline took a liking to Fogle right away. But again, Fogle isn't letting the attention distract him from his ultimate goals.

"That OSU camp was big," Fogle said. "Most people know me as a basketball player, but I love football and I could see it being a very tough decision to choose between the two when it comes to making a college decision. But, I can't think of those things right now. There is so much I don't have like team championships. In the end, I haven't done anything; I haven't proved anything. I still have a lot of work left to do."

Just one of the guys

Lexington basketball coach Scott Hamilton was tasked with a difficult responsibility during the 2022-23 season. He had an established, veteran team and an ultra-talented freshman who was talented enough to crack the starting lineup from Day 1. Not the easiest thing to do as a coach. But, as it turns out, it was much easier than Hamilton ever anticipated because of how Fogle walked on the court on the first day of practice.

"His greatest feature was then when he walked in the gym despite all of the ink he received, all the videos that were out there, he carried himself like he was just one of the guys," Hamilton said. "The guys accepted him and he had great chemistry right away with everyone. He can walk into a room and blend with pretty much anyone and that is a great feature to have in a unique and special athlete."

And it wasn't like Fogle was trying to do anything different. He wasn't going in trying to be fake and make his teammates like him by not being himself. He was just an everyday 14-year-old kid at the time and acted like it. Cracking jokes and being goofy, but when it came time to work, he showed his veteran teammates he was all business.

"It came naturally," Fogle said. "I do get a lot of attention in sports, but outside of that, I am a normal kid who just loves to have fun. I am no better of a person than the next guy and I don't want to be that person who thinks they are."

Bumps and bruises

It didn't take long for Fogle to come to the realization that he was up against a different animal at the varsity level. In football, he used his athleticism to nearly crack 600 receiving yards, but the hits he took just felt different.

In basketball, when he drove the lane against kids his own age, normally, they just got out of the way and enjoyed the show, but on varsity, he was going against guys four years older than him and he took a couple of shots to the rib cage that opened his eyes a bit.

"I feel like the biggest difference for me in all sports wasn't exactly the different level of skill, but the guys I went up against were so big and strong that it definitely was an adjustment," Fogle said. "I had to find a way to use that and work around it and make it my advantage. I had to do things I normally don't do on the court and that helped me evolve my game a little bit."

And evolve he did. By the end of the season, Fogle was regularly posting double-doubles with points and rebounds and during the Division II sectional championship against Willard, he came up with the biggest play of the game with a late-game steal and breakaway dunk to put a stamp on the win.

"Before he was in high school, he was always competing against kids his own age," Hamilton said. "He was at an elevated level. Then, he came in as a freshman and a bump from an 18-year-old on the court is much different than a bump from what he was used to. He made great adjustments to the physicality of the game. His skill level and his uniqueness as an athlete really gave him a huge advantage against kids his own age and when he got to varsity, there wasn't that huge disparity so he went to work on his craft and got better as the season went along."

Fogle's progress helped the Minutemen make it to the Division II district championship where they eventually fell to Sandusky 75-67 despite 30 turnovers.

It brought an end to Fogle's freshman year and left a sour taste in his mouth. So, he went to work with his AAU team traveling the country and playing against the best of the best including the famous Peach Jam in Augusta, Georgia. He attended numerous football camps between plane rides so he could help the Minutemen improve on their 3-7 record from a year ago. With a young roster, Lex has some incredible potential over the next few years in both football and basketball and Fogle and his teammates have put in the work to take steps towards reaching it.

"In both basketball and football, we spent a lot of time working on each one," Fogle said. "We spent all of June in basketball working on developing our team and in the first week of July, my AAU team went to Peach Jam before getting right into football camp with two-a-days and I am excited for our team."

Zeroing in

Now a sophomore, Fogle watched as his freshman year passed like a blur and it taught him one very valuable lesson that he will focus on for the next three years.

"It feels like just a few weeks ago, we were in our first two-a-days," Fogle said. "It went so fast, but it was also a lot of fun. I feel like our class has a lot of potential in sports, but I am just trying to enjoy it while it is here. Everyone always tells me how fast high school flies by and I don't want the experience to be gone. I want to make sure I cherish every moment."

With that level of focus, the sky is the limit for the next three years and Hamilton knows it.

"It is that untapped potential that you are excited about most with him," Hamilton said. "When guys come in and have been bragged about and received a lot of attention and they say, 'I'm here' then it is difficult. But when someone like him comes in and says he is ready to get to work, it can be very exciting. He had a great head on his shoulders and it is because he comes from such a great household. The untapped potential is something I am very excited about."

And who knows where Fogle might end up on the annual Richland 200 list. This year, No. 4, next year, he may have his own category and it will be well deserved.

"It is definitely a blessing because there are so many kids in Richland County who are exceptional in sports," Fogle said. "But for me, I have worked really hard to be in consideration and spent countless hours to put myself in this position so it is nice to see all of that hard work pay off."

Maybe by the end of it all, Fogle can look at his résumé and feel some sort of satisfaction, but that won't be anytime soon.

jfurr@gannett.com

740-244-9934

Twitter: @JakeFurr11

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland 200: Lexington's Brayden Fogle comes in at No. 4