1. Henry Clay

2. Wayne County

3. Boyle County

4. Scott County

5. Lex Cath

6. Lincoln County

7. Paul Dunbar

8. Lafayette

9. Mercer County

10. Southwestern Pulaski

Lots of parity here too. I think Boyle County gets a huge boost with the addition of Bell.

 

1. Henry Clay

2. Lafayette

3. Scott County

4. Dunbar

5. Boyle County

6. Mercer County

7. Wayne County

8. Lincoln County

9. Lexington Catholic

10. Lexington Christian

11. Southwestern (biggest unknown)

12. West Jessamine

13. Madison Central

14. Bryan Station

 

1. Henry Clay

2. Wayne County

3. Boyle County

4. Scott County

5. Lex Cath

6. Lincoln County

7. Paul Dunbar

8. Lafayette

9. Mercer County

10. Southwestern Pulaski

 

 

You both have Mercer County too high and no way is Southwestern the biggest unknown. Mercer County is a way bigger unknown because last I had heard there hasn't been a ruling on Dow's eligibility yet.

1. Henry Clay

2. Wayne County

3. Boyle County

4. Scott County

5. Lex Cath

6. Lincoln County

7. Paul Dunbar

8. Lafayette

9. Mercer County

10. Southwestern Pulaski

 

These could easily wind up being more accurate than mine. I think 1-10 is a crapshoot in a lot of ways. I could see people's point about my having Lexington Catholic too low and Lafayette too high. I'm a little lower on Wayne County than most people because I thought they struggled once they got to Rupp last season.

I like Henry Clay, LCA, or Scott County as my 11th region picks this year. Lexington Catholic, Lafayette, and Dunbar will be good as well. Dunbar and Lafayette will be fairly young, so I expect them to be a year away. If Scott County's players have been ruled eligible, I think they could potentially have the best back court depth in the entire state. They look to be a little thin at the forward spots though, as they don't have any players listed over 6'4 so far. LCA's team returns virtually everyone from last year. The 11th has a lot of talent this year, so it will definitely be interesting to see who is victorious by the end.

 

As for the 12th, from an outsiders perspective, I like Wayne or Boyle. Wayne County is the returning region champs and they bring back a lot, so I gotta show them love. Boyle has one of the best big 3 in the state (Bell, Tyler, Elkins) so they'll be improved. Overall looks like it would be a good time to start keeping up with the 12th region.

People hounding me on Lafayette at #2... do you know something I don't about Shon Wright? Last word I was given, he was expected to play, despite his not playing this past summer. Having a kid who played with the Travelers two summers ago is going to fill the void for Davis and Blakley.

 

A lineup of

 

Jajuante Carpenter

Harrison Lane

Lucky Jackson

Shon Wright

Ross Jenkins

 

 

I like that team.

Here we go!!

I'm gonna stick with the 11th region here because I'm not familiar with the 12th as much as I am the 11th but feel free to pick apart and tell me how wrong I am.

 

1. Henry Clay

2. LCA

3. Dunbar

4. Lexington Catholic

5. Scott County

6. Lafayette

7. Madison Central

8. Bryan Station

9. Frankfort High

10. Tates Creek

 

I think 2-4 could switch places through out the season and it's hard saying with Scott County because you just never know who they will have. The last I heard the transfer count was up to 7 and that's from a very reliable source.

I think that several of us want to like Dunbar but as Joker and I have discussed on other threads there is just something amiss with this team. I dont know if its "chemistry" issues, coaching issues, etc but again this summer they just dont click. Not an embarrassment when they are pounded by Trinity and Ballard this summer but losing to DeSales (and they are much down from last year) makes you scratch your head.

You are mistaken. Dunbar beat DeSales by 40 points at Lexington Catholic this summer. The only losses this summer were Trinity, Ballard, Henderson County, Sheldon Clark, and Johnson Central.

Just got word that Shon Wright has an injury that he suffered playing this summer and that it's serious enough that his basketball career might be finished. Hate to hear that for the kid, as knee injuries are no joke. That will definitely drop Lafayette in my rankings.

My 11th Region Rankings (updated to reflect the injury to Shon Wright):

 

Tier 1:

1. Henry Clay

 

Tier 2:

2. Scott County

3. Dunbar

4. Lexington Catholic

5. Lexington Christian

 

Tier 3:

6. Lafayette

7. Madison Central

8. Bryan Station

 

 

 

The loss of Shon Wright to injury is HUGE. We're talking about a kid who played for the Travelers two summers ago and would have been able to step in and fill a lot of the void that was left by Davis & Blakley's scoring prowess. He also rounded out a lineup (that I mentioned in post #20 of page 1 of this thread).

 

If you think I'm overstating the loss of Wright, think of the caliber of kids who played for the Travelers. Where would Newport Central Catholic be ranked in the 9th if they lost McDonald? Manual in the 7th without Sutton? Perry Central in the 14th without Beverly? I think you see what I'm getting at.

 

Still a LOT of questions, especially when it comes to the transfer situation at Scott County. I think people are overestimating Lexington Catholic right now (at least for how early it is). LCA could be a sleeper team. Madison Central and Bryan Station are two of the better teams no one is talking about if we're talking about the hype they get and the potential they could have if things hit out right for them.

Considering this kid hasn't played in 2 years I wouldn't expect there to be much of a change in the Lafayette season without him.

 

And Perry Central and Manual are both teams with only one really good player. Those teams are built around those individual players. Nothing is built around Shon Wright. I would think that his teammates would see your repeated posts praising him and only him as insulting.

 

And Lexington Catholic is pretty darn good and very well coached. I think they're a solid 2nd in the 11th region right now, and maybe better than Clay by late February. A lot will depend on the eligibility rulings on the Scott County kids.

1. Henry Clay

2. Scott County

3. Lexington Christian

4. Lexington Catholic

5. Dunbar

6. Lafayette

 

My preseason 11th Region top 6 FWIW. These teams are so close together, I'm not sure you can break them into tiers.

Who all does Henry Clay have besides the Tisdale brothers?

Considering this kid hasn't played in 2 years I wouldn't expect there to be much of a change in the Lafayette season without him.

 

And Perry Central and Manual are both teams with only one really good player. Those teams are built around those individual players. Nothing is built around Shon Wright. I would think that his teammates would see your repeated posts praising him and only him as insulting.

 

And Lexington Catholic is pretty darn good and very well coached. I think they're a solid 2nd in the 11th region right now, and maybe better than Clay by late February. A lot will depend on the eligibility rulings on the Scott County kids.

 

 

Considering he played for the Travelers and that he'd been back for some games this summer, I'll respectfully disagree. Sorry, but a KY kid playing on the EYBL is a pretty big deal to me. There are only a few of those spots each year, and playing at that level usually means you're pretty good.

 

I've never been accused of being disrespectful to Lafayette's team in the past. It's this very thread that I've been accused of being all up on them too much, and there was more than one poster who insinuated as much last year, so I guess I can't win.

 

The team has lost Davis, Blakley, and now Wright. That's a lot of talent, and in a loaded 11th, you need all you can get. I don't know that Carpenter, Lane, Jackson, or Jenkins are ready to be a "go one on one and score when we need it" or "take over a game" type of player yet. I really like Carpenter's potential, but he's only entering his sophomore season. Lane just isn't that kind of player; he's a specialist who is great at what he does, but saying much more past that, especially right now, is just unfair to him. Jackson is very athletic, but has his deficiencies, especially in a half-court game (and besides, he's a kid not even playing his best sport). Jenkins still has some developing to do. Losing Wright, a kid who'd round them out some and give them a much more solid 5 than they'd have otherwise, is going to be a big blow, IMO, but that's just my opinion.

 

I know Lexington Catholic is good and well coached. I've not said that they aren't. They're always fundamentally sound and well-coached. Just because I think they're in a bit of a downturn doesn't mean I don't think they could be capable. I'm just of the opinion that people may be rating them based on the brand this season and not seeing them for what they are at this point in time. It's fine if you want to disagree, and I'm not arguing that they couldn't be better than Henry Clay by February. Right now, I'm not huge on Catholic because I don't know who steps up and replaces Dence and Letton on the interior, I wonder how much the rise of LCA has hurt their feeders, and I'm not sure who comes out in what form following a summer and/or fall of focusing on football. Just my opinion. It could greatly change once I see them in form come December when I get to come back to Kentucky and take in a ton of games, but right now, I'm not going to hand them anything based solely on the "Lexington Catholic is usually good, so they have to be good this year too" theory.

 

I do agree that the Knights could well be the 2nd best team in the 11th right now, but I really don't know because their kids haven't played at full strength this summer.

 

It's still a process and months away from the season, but that's where I'm coming from with calling them a bit of an unknown right now.

 

Come Winter, IF: Walker Boothe has stepped up, Ryan is doing his thing, Ogubu and Morris have shaken off the rust from football like we know they can, Griffin has returned to form following the injury that cut his year short last season, Talbott has improved and made the next step, and Tanner Johnson is still doing his thing, then... well, they could be the best team in the region. That's a lot of questions for me right now though.

 

I'll also agree that Scott County is probably the biggest unknown right now. You don't know who is there, who'll be eligible, and how everyone has gelled. They could make the discussion about everything else irrelevant. They could also be another good team in a loaded region.

 

No disrespect meant to any of Lafayette's kids or Lexington Catholic's, that's just where I'm coming from with my rankings right now.