Basketball season for 2012/2013 should provide another exciting year. What should we expect from Jackson County ? Remember, please be constructive.

Teams from the mountain area shouldn't sleep on Jackson County this year. As of right now, if I had to pick a team to win the 13th’s All A this year, it would definitely be Jackson. In my opinion, most signs point to them being far more competitive this year. Here are three reasons why:

 

 

1. Additions:

 

Jordan Fox has came back after playing at Dixie Heights last year and should be one of the top players in the 13th. Fox’s abilities are well documented on this site, and his offer from Miami of Ohio and interest from schools like NKU, EKU, etc. should speak to the kind of impact he’ll be expected to have.

 

Steven Wagers, a starting post player for Clay County last year (and a starter/significant contributor the year before) transferred in before the end of the last school year. Wagers may not contribute a great deal of points to their offense in terms of giving him the ball and letting him work one-on-one, but he'll get plenty of rebounds and will get plenty of opportunities for put-backs. Jackson County’s student population isn’t as sizeable as many of the other schools in the 13th, which often means that they are a bit undersized, so getting a kid in the 6’3 range is a big boost to their front court and overall depth.

 

 

2. Experience:

 

Coach Greg Parrett was the HC of their girl's basketball teams during Jackson County's state runs during the 2000's (with one trip to the state finals), so they have a capable coach who has some big game experience.

 

While their record was not necessarily stellar last year, many of their losses were competitive games. For example, in a seven game stretch last year from 1/28 to 2/13, they lost 6 games to area teams (4 of which were regional games). Their point differential in these losses was 2, 4, 6, 8, 19, and 6. The 19 point loss was a road game at Harlan County, and many BGP users had picked Harlan to win the region. Excluding the Harlan County game, five of the losses came by a total of 26 points; keep in mind that some of the variations in scores could be explained by late fouls in attempt to conserve time/regain possession. Last year's team took some lumps, but they gained experience while doing so; while I'm not exactly sure of all of the production that they lost from last year, it would seem that if the two additions can gel with some solid role players from last year's team and everyone buys into their system and plays within their new roles, they could be a dark horse in the 13th.

 

 

3. Home Court Advantage:

 

Jackson is definitely a basketball school and their fans/community seems to really support them at home. The 49th district tournament will be played at Jackson County this year, and the 49th has drawn for seeding in past years, so things could get really interesting with North Laurel and Clay County being two other members of the 5 team district.

 

 

 

Overall it would seem that Jackson County is going to be much more competitive this year. The biggest question is precisely how much better they will actually end up being. If someone could provide some more info on what they have returning from last year's squad, the picture may become a bit clearer.

Great post JokersWild24. I always value your input. :thumb::thumb:

Great analysis.

Great post JokersWild24. I always value your input. :thumb::thumb:

 

Great analysis.

 

Thanks to each of you as well.

Jackson County loses two starters to graduation and brings in two good players. They should be better, but Pineville and Middlesboro will probably be rated ahead of them at this point in the All A. Pineville brings back five starters from a team that beat Barbourville in last year's district tournament and Corbin in the regional. Middlesboro brings back four starters from a team that beat Harlan County in the district tournament.