I think one thing that has a lot to do with it which hasn't been mentioned is the fact that, due to its proximity to Ohio, the better athletes are funneled into football programs at an early age, and thus end up playing that. No doubt Ohio is a football state and Kentucky is a basketball state, but I wonder how much the 'pull' of going to schools in the GCL like Moeller, etc. to play football has to do with taking athletes off the basketball court. There seems to be a pretty fair number of D1 football players from the NKY area.

 

Off the top of my head, NKY looks like a QB cradle with: Lorenzen, Towels, Barker, Pike, Grutza (if you count Mason Co. as NKY), etc.

 

Maybe it's the fact that the athletes are there, they just play football instead.

 

Guidugli

Something that has always baffled me is why more kids in the Greater Cincinnati area don't end up taking the route of a player like Demarko Foster and moving to Kentucky where they are a big fish in a small pond and can get lots of playing time, opportunities to be a focal point of the offense, etc.

 

I certainly understand why some of the top level players in the area who have D1 rides locked up wouldn't find this appealing, but I've never understood why it would be such a hard sell to get a kid who'd be the 9th or 10th man off the bench (or not even able to make the varsity team) at a school like Aiken to come be a "star" at a school like Highlands, Holmes, etc.

 

In the 3 NKY counties I can only think of 5 D1 QBs in the last 10 or 15 years. I'm not sure if that counts as a "cradle." Lots of good QBs though in the area in the last decade.

The original question is D1 talent, not who played D1.

In the 3 NKY counties I can only think of 5 D1 QBs in the last 10 or 15 years. I'm not sure if that counts as a "cradle." Lots of good QBs though in the area in the last decade.

 

I know what you're saying, but that's still a decent clip for Kentucky. I was just trying to make the point that there's no lack of big time D1 football talent, especially in comparison to the amount of basketball talent produced.

 

I really think the proximity to Ohio (which is definitely a football state), style of play at many of the NKY schools (40-38 slugfests), etc. combine as factors can explain more than people might want to think.

In the 3 NKY counties I can only think of 5 D1 QBs in the last 10 or 15 years. I'm not sure if that counts as a "cradle." Lots of good QBs though in the area in the last decade.

 

Not to threadjack, and I certainly don't want to nitpick at anything Clyde says, but I think there have been more in the last 15ish years.

 

Lorenzen, Highlands

Guidugli, Highlands

Towles, Highlands

Pike, Dixie

Barker, Conner

O'Toole, Dixie (may have been division IAA, not sure but that would be DI now).

I thought the Dixie QB after OToole went DIAA as well, may be wrong though. Preston may have been his last name.

Didn't Ryle have a QB who is at the Naval Academy? I thought the QB who was a senior when they beat Highlands went DI?

Jefferson, Holmes. Although I guess his UK offer was as a DB?

 

Looks like Clyde may be right after all. Certainly five big name signee's and then some maybe's I guess. Hard to believe there's not a CovCath kid on the list. And, maybe there is, I just can't think of a name off the top of my head.

Something that has always baffled me is why more kids in the Greater Cincinnati area don't end up taking the route of a player like Demarko Foster and moving to Kentucky where they are a big fish in a small pond and can get lots of playing time, opportunities to be a focal point of the offense, etc.

 

I certainly understand why some of the top level players in the area who have D1 rides locked up wouldn't find this appealing, but I've never understood why it would be such a hard sell to get a kid who'd be the 9th or 10th man off the bench (or not even able to make the varsity team) at a school like Aiken to come be a "star" at a school like Highlands, Holmes, etc.

 

Bad example. If a player as good as Foster is ever the ninth man at Aiken, then there needs to be a new coaching staff.

 

Point being, Aiken isn't sitting kids that would be stars at Holmes. If you are a "star" at Holmes, you would see significant minutes at any school in Cincy most years. Point also being, if you are the ninth man at any school in Greater Cincy, you probably aren't ready for a DI scholarship. Moeller has had some unreal rosters the last 15 years, but I don't think any had nine DI ready guys.

 

I will take this a step further. Most year's if you take the top 10 teams in Greater Cincy (let's include Middletown/Hamilton and head south, include Mason and Kings, and go as far east as Western Brown) and they play the top 10 teams from Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, I like NKY to win as many as they lose or even win the series most years.

 

Generic version in a typical year could have Ohio schools like: Moeller, LaSalle, Taft, St. X, Withrow, Roger Bacon, whichever Lakota school is better that year. Solid top seven, then pick your next three.

 

Generic version in a typical year in Ky could look like this: Holmes, CovCath, NewCath, Dixie, Scott, etc.

Not to threadjack, and I certainly don't want to nitpick at anything Clyde says, but I think there have been more in the last 15ish years.

 

Lorenzen, Highlands

Guidugli, Highlands

Towles, Highlands

Pike, Dixie

Barker, Conner

O'Toole, Dixie (may have been division IAA, not sure but that would be DI now).

I thought the Dixie QB after OToole went DIAA as well, may be wrong though. Preston may have been his last name.

Didn't Ryle have a QB who is at the Naval Academy? I thought the QB who was a senior when they beat Highlands went DI?

Jefferson, Holmes. Although I guess his UK offer was as a DB?

 

Looks like Clyde may be right after all. Certainly five big name signee's and then some maybe's I guess. Hard to believe there's not a CovCath kid on the list. And, maybe there is, I just can't think of a name off the top of my head.

 

I could be wrong but didn't Bleser of Covcath end up at Air Force or a different Qb within the last 6-8 years? I seem to remember one signing with AIr Force from CCH.

 

Vince Murray of Ryle was who went to Navy. Conner Hemple ended up at Harvard.

I could be wrong but didn't Bleser of Covcath end up at Air Force or a different Qb within the last 6-8 years? I seem to remember one signing with AIr Force from CCH.

 

Vince Murray of Ryle was who went to Navy. Conner Hemple ended up at Harvard.

 

Thanks for the help.

Bad example. If a player as good as Foster is ever the ninth man at Aiken, then there needs to be a new coaching staff.

 

Point being, Aiken isn't sitting kids that would be stars at Holmes. If you are a "star" at Holmes, you would see significant minutes at any school in Cincy most years. Point also being, if you are the ninth man at any school in Greater Cincy, you probably aren't ready for a DI scholarship. Moeller has had some unreal rosters the last 15 years, but I don't think any had nine DI ready guys.

 

I will take this a step further. Most year's if you take the top 10 teams in Greater Cincy (let's include Middletown/Hamilton and head south, include Mason and Kings, and go as far east as Western Brown) and they play the top 10 teams from Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, I like NKY to win as many as they lose or even win the series most years.

 

Generic version in a typical year could have Ohio schools like: Moeller, LaSalle, Taft, St. X, Withrow, Roger Bacon, whichever Lakota school is better that year. Solid top seven, then pick your next three.

 

Generic version in a typical year in Ky could look like this: Holmes, CovCath, NewCath, Dixie, Scott, etc.

 

 

Only live in the NKY area for a year (and was home every weekend because campus life at NKU was non-existent), so I'm obviously not as familiar with the area as you and was just using Aiken as an example because it was a school I had heard of, so maybe Roger Bacon would have been a better example since they are usually ranked.

 

I'm not necessarily saying that they have to have nine D1 quality kids during any given point/"snapshot" in time (ex., think of freshmen who could play at a high level eventually but would see more clock in NKY than they would in the GCL, and thus maybe trade off the chance to develop more for the decreased exposure).

 

As an outsider, I just have a tough time understanding why there aren't more kids like Foster that find their way to Kentucky somehow. It would seem that there are lots of kids in the Kentucky-Ohio-Indiana triangle that might slip through the cracks at one school (whether that be not playing much, not playing in a system that showcases their strengths, not going out for the team after being cut early on, or just playing for a year as a role player), but whose careers might have turned out differently if they were developed to be "the man" in a program in the way Foster was at Newport in the matter of a year.

I will take this a step further. Most year's if you take the top 10 teams in Greater Cincy (let's include Middletown/Hamilton and head south, include Mason and Kings, and go as far east as Western Brown) and they play the top 10 teams from Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, I like NKY to win as many as they lose or even win the series most years.

 

Generic version in a typical year could have Ohio schools like: Moeller, LaSalle, Taft, St. X, Withrow, Roger Bacon, whichever Lakota school is better that year. Solid top seven, then pick your next three.

 

Generic version in a typical year in Ky could look like this: Holmes, CovCath, NewCath, Dixie, Scott, etc.

 

I get the point of your overall post, but Cincinnati is a much bigger city than Northern Kentucky and it would be a suprise if in a typical year, Northern Kentucky won more than 3 matchups if they were matched up evenly.

 

In my opinion, kids transferring to smaller schools don't need to transfer to Kentucky to get the big fish in the small pond treatment. There are tons of small schools in Ohio where they could do the same thing. For years, kids were leaving Princeton because they couldn't make the team or get minimal playing time and were transferring to Lockland or Walnut Hills and getting scholarships.

 

If a kid were to transfer for basketball purposes, it usually is for more exposure. With Cincinnati being bigger and having more division 1 and 2 kids playing, IMO it would make more sense to transfer to a school in Cincinnati where you get to play against schools that have kids that scouts are watching.

I get the point of your overall post, but Cincinnati is a much bigger city than Northern Kentucky and it would be a suprise if in a typical year, Northern Kentucky won more than 3 matchups if they were matched up evenly.

 

In my opinion, kids transferring to smaller schools don't need to transfer to Kentucky to get the big fish in the small pond treatment. There are tons of small schools in Ohio where they could do the same thing. For years, kids were leaving Princeton because they couldn't make the team or get minimal playing time and were transferring to Lockland or Walnut Hills and getting scholarships.

 

If a kid were to transfer for basketball purposes, it usually is for more exposure. With Cincinnati being bigger and having more division 1 and 2 kids playing, IMO it would make more sense to transfer to a school in Cincinnati where you get to play against schools that have kids that scouts are watching.

 

Makes a great deal of sense when put that way. Thanks for the response.

In the 3 NKY counties I can only think of 5 D1 QBs in the last 10 or 15 years. I'm not sure if that counts as a "cradle." Lots of good QBs though in the area in the last decade.

 

O'Toole was close.

I could be wrong but didn't Bleser of Covcath end up at Air Force or a different Qb within the last 6-8 years? I seem to remember one signing with AIr Force from CCH.

 

 

I think it was Drew Ellison that committed to Air Force, but I don't think he ever played there.

 

Josh Bleser went to a small school & ended up walking on at Louisville as their punter.

 

I believe Blake Bir is at Western KY.

I think it was Drew Ellison that committed to Air Force, but I don't think he ever played there.

 

Josh Bleser went to a small school & ended up walking on at Louisville as their punter.

 

I believe Blake Bir is at Western KY.

 

Bir is at Dayton

 

The last CCH player to commit to Air Force in ffotball was Troy Timmerman a few years back- DE.

Not to threadjack, and I certainly don't want to nitpick at anything Clyde says, but I think there have been more in the last 15ish years.

 

Lorenzen, Highlands

Guidugli, Highlands

Towles, Highlands

Pike, Dixie

Barker, Conner

O'Toole, Dixie (may have been division IAA, not sure but that would be DI now).

I thought the Dixie QB after OToole went DIAA as well, may be wrong though. Preston may have been his last name.

Didn't Ryle have a QB who is at the Naval Academy? I thought the QB who was a senior when they beat Highlands went DI?

Jefferson, Holmes. Although I guess his UK offer was as a DB?

 

Looks like Clyde may be right after all. Certainly five big name signee's and then some maybe's I guess. Hard to believe there's not a CovCath kid on the list. And, maybe there is, I just can't think of a name off the top of my head.

 

Englemon was a QB at Holmes as well, before playing FS at Michigan. He went to the highest profile school of the bunch and started 3 seasons. Somehow he gets lost in the shuffle when we recall names.