Ashland Source will select one student athlete to be recognized as the Park National Bank Athlete of the Month during the 2023-24 school year. Nominations for Athlete of the Month are accepted from Athletic Directors and Coaches, but are ultimately chosen by Ashland Source and are based on the student’s exceptional athletic performance, effective teamwork and achievement in their communities. Park National Bank is proud to support this initiative and is giving the athletic department of each school $1,000 in honor of each athlete chosen.
LOUDONVILLE – If records and awards were part of a Christmas list, Corri Vermilya would be driving Santa Claus crazy.
The Loudonville senior basketball player has arguably piled up as many of them as any local athlete ever has in a single sport.
Last year’s Division III Player of the Year in Ohio, Vermilya is looking to accomplish that same feat again this year in Division IV.
The 5-foot-9 guard has led the Redbirds to a 12-0 start to the season that has seen them beat opponents by an average of 46 points per game.
Likely on her way to earning Mid-Buckeye Conference Player of the Year honors for the third time, she’s been named the Ashland Source Park National Bank Athlete of the Month for December.
“I’m really happy with how the season started,” Vermilya said. “You can’t ask for more than being 12-0 to start the year.”
“We just have so many different ways to score offensively that I think it’s a lot harder to guard us as a team this year,” she added, “which almost takes the pressure off me a little bit.”
Vermilya said she feels like she’s been able to rely on her teammates more than ever. It has seemingly helped her check off a grocery list’s worth of huge Loudonville honors.
The senior’s career points currently stand at 2,006. The only Ashland-area player still in front of her in that category is 2016 Crestview graduate Renee Stimpert (2,305).
Vermilya broke the LHS record for career rebounds against Medina Buckeye on Dec. 11. Now at 1,041, she’s on pace to crack Ohio’s Top 20 in the category.
She broke the Loudonville record for career steals against Ashland on Dec. 5. Now at 472, Vermilya is on pace to finish in Ohio’s Top 10 in that category.
Redbirds head coach Tyler Bates said his senior showed signs of being all-around dominant as an eighth-grader.
“We as a coaching staff started to look at each other and say, ‘OK, she’s got a motor here that is pretty special,’ ” he said. “There are a lot of skilled kids, but physically, can they withstand the demands of the high school game right away? … Corri’s motor and the way that she takes care of herself and trains is pretty special.
“Skilled kids come and go, but how many are skilled and can play that hard and step onto the floor against different types of teams and make a difference?”
So far this season, she boasts per-game averages of 27.9 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 8.3 steals. Those assist numbers double what she averaged a season ago, when she was third in the running for Ohio’s Ms. Basketball honors.
Another December highlight came during the game against Buckeye. That night, the Redbirds had to move the contest to Ashland University because of a waterline break at LHS. Playing on the court she will call home in college as a future Eagle, Vermilya put together a quadruple-double of 26 points, 19 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals in just three quarters.
“Over the years, the rebounds and steals haven’t been too unreachable for her, but that double-digit assist total is tough,” Bates said. “It was a day where the girls were running hard in transition and we were able to get some buckets out there to get the quadruple-double.”
Who knows how many players in Ohio history have accomplished the feat.
“It was just a fun game all around,” Vermilya said. “(AU coach Kari) Pickens was there, and some of the girls from AU, so it was really nice of them to show up. … I don’t think I was thinking too much about (it being her future home gym), but it’s cool that it happened then.”
At the top of her class with a 4.0 GPA, Vermilya has been named a first-team academic All-American by the National High School Coaches Association the last two years. Bates said the criteria include community service, character and academic and athletic performance, adding she’s one of only two Ohioans to get the honor during that time.
Vermilya is doing all her schooling this year at AU, getting a jump on her college credits while taking three courses per semester. Her plan is to major in middle grades education.
Away from athletics, Vermilya enjoys writing and said she loves deer hunting with her family. It’s something she does with her dad and sisters. One of those sisters is Loudonville freshman Mya Vermilya, who like Corri three years ago is having a superb first varsity season, averaging 15.3 points per game.
“We’ve always had a good relationship – I’m really close with all my siblings – but this has made us closer,” Corri said of her younger sister. “I really love playing with her and she’s a really, really good basketball player.”
It’s an ironic pairing for the Loudonville program.
When Corri was a freshman, her older sister, Grace Vermilya, was a senior lighting the path for her sisters to come. Grace graduated with the fifth-highest career scoring total at LHS (1,392 points) following a season that saw the Redbirds go 25-1.
This winter seems to be trending that way again.
“The Vermilyas are as important to our program being built as any family here,” Bates said. “It just comes with the pride that they’ve had in the program. … They know how much they put in, it means a lot to them and you can’t ask for a better group of kids.”