The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
EC’s Palmer signs with Findlay
Sometimes God gives his best soldiers the toughest road to success.
In the middle of winter, the guard was not projected to play for the rest of his Panthers' career. Yet somehow, he played through a broken thumb and a fractured ankle to become an All-Ohio honorable mention.
The University of Findlay took notice of this journey. After showing their interest in him, the Panthers' guard committed to their basketball program May 12, signing his letter of intent May 17.
“If you go into his bedroom right now, you'd see a 4×8 poster that says, ‘I will play college basketball,'” his coach and father Rob Palmer said. “He stayed focused on that. Despite playing through injuries and maybe not getting a chance to show all he could do (when fully healthy), he stayed to it. At the end of the day, what his college coaches saw was a kid that is going to put the time and effort in. He is a true point guard and has leadership skills. … As a father, it makes me really proud.
Rob Palmer will miss coaching his son, but he is proud of the way he has matured throughout his coaching tenure.
“My dad (always) pushed me,” Palmer said. “He always pushed me in practice. He always (could care less) about me in practice. (Playing for him) made me have a chip on my shoulder, because if people outside of the team would think that he was favoring me. If you were at the practices, you would know that I got (pushed) two times harder. Having four years with your dad as the coach with the success is the best part.”
Playing for your dad is not the easiest task. One may be subject to nepotism accusations and be harassed by fans, like at Elyria in the regular season. But it pushed him to be a better player and prove the critics wrong.
“Did he start because he is my son? No,” Coach Palmer said. “He started because he was our best leader and our best point guard. He did a great job of blocking out (the outside noise).”
Against the intercity rival Pioneers shortly after coming back from a not fully healthy thumb, he dished out a team-high six assists in the their 53-36 win over Elyria.
“Early in the (Elyria game), he got hit hard to the floor and when he bounced back up, that is what gave his team the energy. If Robert (Palmer) could fight through this thing we can (beat Elyria),” Coach Palmer said.
In Palmer’s senior season, he averaged 9.4 points and 9.1 assists per game while battling numerous injuries.
“(Toughness) is the mindset already at (Findlay),” Robert Palmer said. “That is why the coaches like me. They saw the injuries, and they saw me fight through it. If you are a college coach and they see you do that in high school … that is big.”
The Oilers went 19-11 in their 2021-22 season and were 12-7 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, a Division II conference of the NCAA.
At Elyria Catholic, Palmer played a critical role in the Panthers going 15-9 alongside a hosts of talented players including first-team All-Ohioan Jack Kenneally. Together, they reached a district semifinal before falling to eventual district champ Norwayne. They placed third in the their Great Lakes Conference’s Western Division, which had teams such as conference champs Westlake (203) and Division III district finalist Fairview (18-7).