COLUMBUS (AP) — Marc Loving, the 6-foot-8 gentle giant for Toledo St. John’s Jesuit who is headed to Ohio State, is the 26th annual winner of the Associated Press Mr. Basketball award, emblematic of the top player in the state.

Loving averaged 21.3 points and 8.2 rebounds a game while shooting 60 percent from the field, 30 percent behind the arc and 70 percent on free throws. A two-time player of the year in Division I, he led his team to a 20-4 record.

Among those he beat out for the award are St. Clairsville’s Dan Monteroso, Luke Kennard of Franklin, Ironton’s Zac Carter and Isaac McGlone of Carroll Bloom-Carroll.

Loving joins a list of past winners that includes LeBron James, Trey Burke, Jared Sullinger, O.J. Mayo and Jim Jackson.