Billy Hicks responds to Jon Hood

[Plato]

Haters are gonna hate I'm sure, but Coach Hicks response is pretty solid.

 

By Ryan Alves Georgetown News-Graphic | Posted 4 hours ago

 

Scott County coach brushing off Jon Hood’s recruiting comments

 

It might not surprise you that Billy Hicks isn’t up-to-date on the happenings of social media.

 

So when the 20-year coach heard about former University of Kentucky Wildcat Jon Hood’s comments on Twitter earlier in the week, claiming that Hicks and Scott County “recruited” basketball players, he was a bit taken aback.

 

“I didn’t realize that a guy can say something like that nowadays and it blow up that fast,” Hicks said. “It’s a different world that I don’t know nothing about.”

 

On Monday, news came out about the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s sanctions against Cordia High School, which severely penalized the school for a long list of violations including the use of ineligible players, falsifying records, recruiting and providing money to athletes.

 

Hood, a 2007 graduate of Madisonville North Hopkins, took to Twitter to offer his opinion of the situation. He wrote: “So if Cordia is getting in trouble for recruiting, when does Scott County and the famous Billy Hicks get sanctioned?”

 

Hicks, who had just returned to Georgetown from a summer-long fishing trip in Tennessee, said he heard about Hood’s comments while shopping at Kroger and getting an oil change at a local Valvoline.

 

The state’s winningest coach, with more than 850 victories under his belt, was matter-of-fact with his response.

 

“I don’t know Jon Hood and he doesn’t know me,” Hicks said. “He doesn’t know anything about Scott County basketball. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him at one of our games. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

 

For as long as Hicks has been at Scott County, the coach and the Cardinals have been under fire for its high-profile transfers, which have included former Mr. Basketball winners Rick Jones and Scott Hundley.

 

“In most years, we’ve had less transfers in basketball than many schools in the 11th Region,” Hicks said. “Because people know it’s hard to transfer in to play here. Now, the ones we have had have been very good, so I guess it does bring some recognition.”

 

Among others transfers that drew the ire of basketball fans around the state were former University of Kentucky Wildcat Jared Carter, as well as a trio of newcomers in Dakotah Euton, GeLawn Guyn and Chad Jackson in 2009.

 

The last two seasons the Cardinals have also had transfers from a pair of 7-footers, one from Charlotte and another from Florida.

 

Hicks, though, states he’s never picked up a phone to ask a kid to move in.

 

“I never recruited a kid in my life,” he said. “Kids have come to me. That’s the kind of program we have here. Kids want to be a part of it. I won’t apologize for that.

 

“When we won that first state championship, (former school superintendent) Dallas Blankenship said to me, ‘Look around Billy, they don’t talk about losers.’ It’s the price you pay when you’re sitting at the top. People like to take shots at winners. It shows where we are.”

 

In his tenure, Hicks has led Scott County to two state titles, including the championship in 2006-2007.

 

That club had zero transfers and were guided by hometown stars Matt Walls and Bud Mackey.

 

SCHS has also finished as state runner-up three times (1999, 2012, 2014), state semifinalist three times (2000, 2004, 2010) and state quarterfinalists twice (1995, 1996).

 

Hicks said his program’s high level of success has spurred on the cheating allegations.

 

“That’s what happens when you have the No. 1 basketball program in the state,” Hicks said. “Trinity has to deal with it in football and Harrison County probably has to deal with it in baseball. People will always be taking shots at something. I guess it comes with the territory.”

 

Hicks also laughed off what he calls a “myth” that when a player transfers to SCHS his father automatically gets a job at Toyota, on Hicks’ behalf.

 

“In 20 years I can count on one hand the kids I’ve coached whose dads have worked at Toyota,” Hicks said. “That’s a myth. President Obama couldn’t get you a job there. Have you seen their waiting list?

 

“If I could get someone a job at Toyota that easy, I’d get one for myself. I’d like to have some of that money.”

 

Hicks also offered up his opinion on the negative connotation elite-level high schools get when they receive transfers.

 

“Look, if I had a young kid, some money and we lived in a small place and he was good at band or soccer or baseball, why not move to a program that could help him?” Hicks asked.

 

On Wednesday, Hood sent out another Tweet, explaining his initial opinion after seemingly garnering some pushback from several Scott County and Hicks supporters.

 

He wrote: “Look, I said what I said as a general statement. I said what everyone has been saying for years, but never would publicly. I wasn’t attacking anyone. Again, just a general statement. I haven’t run my mouth at all. I will not. As far as the people talking about being classy, you all are the ones attacking me.”

 

Hicks said it was unfortunate people were lashing out at Hood.

 

“I do hate it for him (Hood), because he’s taken some criticism and he’s still a young kid,” he said. “Maybe he was just letting off some steam? I’d hate to be held accountable for things I said when I was 20-something years old. But I guess you can learn from it.”

 

In the end, Hicks said he was brushing off the incident altogether.

 

“Today it’s news, tomorrow it’s a fish wrapper,” he added.

 

But that’s not to say recent events haven’t left a sour taste in Hicks’ mouth.

 

“I am upset though, that I made a homemade raspberry cheesecake the other night and when I came back home 12 women had eaten it and I didn’t get a slice.”

 

Hicks refutes cheating allegations - News-Graphic.com : Sports

[Jumper_Dad]

“Look, if I had a young kid, some money and we lived in a small place and he was good at band or soccer or baseball, why not move to a program that could help him?” Hicks asked.

Basically saying that if you have money, transferring solely for athletics is OK. Glad he cleared that up.

[LIPTON BASH]

Basically saying that if you have money, transferring solely for athletics is OK. Glad he cleared that up.

 

I agree with him.

[PurplePride92]

I agree with him.

 

I do as well.

[theguru]

We need the link to this.

[Randy Parker]

I don't disagree with what he says about transferring.

 

But I also don't believe half of what he says in this article.

[Wireman]

Jon Hood @jonnylightning4 · 6m

 

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

[JohnsonQ]

I have never understood why our countries freedoms don't extend to the schooling of our children. I get the need for boundaries, but if you care about sports enough to move to a new community so your child can play for that coach, so be it.

[PurplePride92]

Hicks refutes cheating allegations - News-Graphic.com : Sports

[PurplePride92]

I'm kind of laughing at Hood also. He attacks Hicks on twitter and then he makes the classy comeback when people attack him. Did he think he was not going to be attacked when he went after 'the famous Billy Hicks'? :lol2:

 

Come on, Jonny...you've been on twitter long enough to know the game.

[gchs_uk9]

I'm not saying it had to be mentioned, but when Billy Hicks was the coach at Evarts in 1979 they had to forfeit all ten wins due to using an ineligible player. Hicks resigned under pressure at the start of the 1980 season when it was revealed that the ineligible player the season before had actually played games for Evarts while enrolled at another school. So while he may not have recruited at Scott County his past transgressions at least make him suspect in the eyes of many.

 

Here is a link to the Daily News article about the situation:

Daily News - Google News Archive Search

 

Below is another link with clarification. Click on District 52 and scroll down to 1979 and 1980 for more information.

2. Basketball tournament scores, records and lists for districts, regions and state

[gchs_uk9]

With all that said, I also believe it is easier to get transfers into central Kentucky because there are many more jobs in the area. You might choose to move to Scott County and have your child play basketball, and commute to any number of nearby communities where there are plenty of jobs. I could live in Georgetown and work there, work in Lexington, Frankfort, Paris, Cynthiana, Richmond, and really have no problem justifying the move. Those work options aren't as readily available in rural areas, which makes the moves at places like Cordia all the more suspect.

[mitch r]

Harrison county - baseball? Sorry coach St X tigers are baseball champs, and not a single transfer on the team.

[wheelhouse]

I have never understood why our countries freedoms don't extend to the schooling of our children. I get the need for boundaries, but if you care about sports enough to move to a new community so your child can play for that coach, so be it.

 

I get your point and I resonate to your frustration, but in this case it's about more than boundaries. First off, public school districts' budgets depend upon several things, but enrollment and tax base are two of the primary movers, meaning smaller districts tend to struggle. Let's say students are free to transfer for the solely for the sake of athletics. It stands to reason that larger schools -- with larger fan bases, larger reputations, larger facilities -- will exert a disproportionate "pull" on those athletes. If annual attrition sets in, especially in the form of entire families moving from one district to another, then the smaller schools won't just have to cut athletics: they'll have to consider cutting transportation, AP courses, the arts, and so on. Students who don't happen to be sports-focused and/or whose families cannot relocate easily will be left with a crumbling scholastic infrastructure simply because other students' families were better positioned to make the move. As for those students who do enjoy sports, the restrictions we're discussing here are in place to encourage them and their families to value academics first and extracurricular activities second, which is how our nation's educational system was designed to operate. Now, you may feel that the system needs recalibration on that score, which is your right.

Second, public school choice is hardly the only area in which our nation does not support a classic free market approach. In fact, public services in the U.S. at virtually every level are regulated in ways to avoid unbalanced distribution of those services and an unbalanced burden in maintaining them.

Hope this doesn't start any fires, but as an educator I felt the need to get it out there. Play on!

[AHSPanther23]

Harrison county - baseball? Sorry coach St X tigers are baseball champs, and not a single transfer on the team.

 

Think he's referring to Mac Whitaker, who is one of the winningest baseball coaches in the state.