Cubster makes a good point. My old alma mater lost many athletes to Ashland (of course, we only lost the exceptionally good ones). However, that "harvesting" did not originate in the Patterson years. You can trace this practice back into the 1920s. Until fairly recent years, this area was strictly "big Ashland and little everyone else". With rare exceptions, the other schools played for runnerup. Also, the KHSAA had no clout and did little or nothing to "police" transfers or anything else for that matter. Therefore, no one thought too much about a transfer to Ashland. It was almost expected.

 

With consolidation and the rise of other schools in the area, Ashland's athletic dominence of the area has pretty much vanished. And, of course, the "hawkeyeing" of the trasnsfer activities of area schools by their neighbors is intense 365 days a year. The KHSAA has picked up its involvement and is now very active (sometimes a little too subjectively rather than objectively in my opinion) in enforcing its rules. What Ashland did for many years would never be tolerated today.

With both Coles and Putnam as feeders, Ashland, in essence, had twice as many athletes competing and developing in the middle grades. The rivalry between the two was second to none in this area. The basketball games were hotly and, most often, evenly contested and, in football, the annual Kiwanis Bowl always drew near capacity crowds.

 

With this competitive middle layer, many late bloomers had a chance to develop into real contributors at the high school. That is not the case now. Several Ashland posters complain that athletes are earmarked early in their development and the mindset seems to be that these "early chosen" will be the Tomcats of the future. That doesn't leave any room for the late bloomers (and there are many).

 

Also, athletes in the elementary schools looked forward to being Broncos (Coles) or Buccaneers (Putnam). There was a certain level of prestige that went with playing for those schools and battling their "hated" crosstown rivals. It was a good and continuous transition from elementary to Coles or Putnam to the high school. I think that continuity is nonexistent with the single middle school.

 

Of course, population changes resulting in shrinking enrollment caused the change. I don't know for sure but I'll bet that, in many years, Coles and Putnam each had more 7th-9th grade students than now are present in Verity (7th and 8th grades) and Ashland's freshman class.

 

The change, I suppose, was necessary but, nonetheless, the athletic program has suffered because of it.

 

Perhaps the most accurate, and well thought out posts I've ever seen on BGP, regarding the condition of Ashland athletics.

 

 

Frances

LRCW,

Is it true the Ashland faithful hated Patterson's patterned offenses and grumbled all through his successful tenure?

 

That is very true, Cubster. And very often, the grumbling was quite loud...

 

People in Ashland got very used to Harold Cole's running offensive style of basketball, when Ashland would often approach (and occasionally get) the 100 point mark in a game.

 

After that, watching a Paul Patterson 39-32 win in a basketball game was pretty painful to watch. That said, his players (mostly) loved playing for him, and the winning wasn't too bad either.

 

 

Frances

...With consolidation and the rise of other schools in the area, Ashland's athletic dominence of the area has pretty much vanished. And, of course, the "hawkeyeing" of the trasnsfer activities of area schools by their neighbors is intense 365 days a year. The KHSAA has picked up its involvement and is now very active (sometimes a little too subjectively rather than objectively in my opinion) in enforcing its rules. What Ashland did for many years would never be tolerated today.

 

Let's not forget that transfers have (historically speaking) gone both ways. I can name a slew of kids that left the Ashland system to play for other local schools, and both the athletes and the schools benefited from this arrangement.

 

 

Frances

Frances is absolutely correct. The transfers went in both directions. Of course, since Ashland was the only real primetime program, it got the best athletes. Transfers from Ashland were usually athletes who were looking for a place where they could play since it was unlikely that they could play much at Ashland.

 

Until very recent years, it was a good choice for a talented athlete to go to Ashland because the exposure and, thus, the opportunity for statewide recognition and a possible scholarship were far superior at Ashland than at any other school in this area. On the other hand, by transferring, many a fair to decent athlete got playing time which otherwise would not have been available if he had stayed at Ashland.

 

With the increased competition and accompanying "policing", attitudes have changed considerably. Nevertheless, it all worked pretty well back in the "old days".

Did they play with a split squad in 2004?

 

My bad on the typo.

My bad on the typo.

 

I know, I know - couldn't resist!

I recently exchanged e-mails with Coach Paul Patterson following his 620th win as head coach at Taylor University-the job he's held since leaving Ashland following the 1979 season. You might say he's done well over the past 27 years.

• In 26 seasons as the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Taylor University, he has taken his teams to the NAIA National Tournament 13 times.
  
• He has posted an overall record of 620-270 (69.7%)
  
• He has 12 Coach of the Year awards to his credit, including the 1991 NAIA National Coach of the Year honor.
  
• During the summer of 2005, Coach Patterson served as a court coach for the USA U21 World Championship team.
  
• In 1996, he was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame.
  
• Over thirty of his former players are now involved in coaching at the high school or collegiate level.
  
• He is widely regarded as one of the best basketball coaches in the nation.
  

Coach Patterson was a tough but fair coach. I don't think he lost to a 16th Region opponent in his four years at Ashland. Above all else, he was a very strong Christian leader to his players and students.

I recently exchanged e-mails with Coach Paul Patterson following his 620th win as head coach at Taylor University-the job he's held since leaving Ashland following the 1979 season. You might say he's done well over the past 27 years.

• In 26 seasons as the Head Men's Basketball Coach at Taylor University, he has taken his teams to the NAIA National Tournament 13 times.
  
• He has posted an overall record of 620-270 (69.7%)
  
• He has 12 Coach of the Year awards to his credit, including the 1991 NAIA National Coach of the Year honor.
  
• During the summer of 2005, Coach Patterson served as a court coach for the USA U21 World Championship team.
  
• In 1996, he was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame.
  
• Over thirty of his former players are now involved in coaching at the high school or collegiate level.
  
• He is widely regarded as one of the best basketball coaches in the nation.
  

Coach Patterson was a tough but fair coach. I don't think he lost to a 16th Region opponent in his four years at Ashland. Above all else, he was a very strong Christian leader to his players and students.

 

 

Boys, that's a resume.

Excellent post, Fastbreak. Coach Patterson's accomplishments on the basketball floor are stellar. However, his positive influence and leadership off the court are even more impressive.

1. Russell- The have the best player(Vanhoose) and the best athlete(Gill) in the region, have been there and know what it takes. Austin Robinson will be a big help with his ability to knock down the three.

 

2. Elliott County- Good guard play and the 16th region MVP. They have the best spot up shooter in the region(Maynard). They are still looking for a solid presence inside. They are as expierenced as any team in the region even though they are still young.

 

3. Ashland- Mcdavid is as good as anyone in this region, and shows up every night. Will be a double double man this year. Thomas will have to do a little more scoring this year for them to be a serious contender come tourney time. Ryan Bonner could be the "X-factor" of this team.

 

4. Anyone could be there, but these three teams are ahead of the rest of the region.

1. Russell- The have the best player(Vanhoose) and the best athlete(Gill) in the region, have been there and know what it takes. Austin Robinson will be a big help with his ability to knock down the three.

 

2. Elliott County- Good guard play and the 16th region MVP. They have the best spot up shooter in the region(Maynard). They are still looking for a solid presence inside. They are as expierenced as any team in the region even though they are still young.

 

3. Ashland- Mcdavid is as good as anyone in this region, and shows up every night. Will be a double double man this year. Thomas will have to do a little more scoring this year for them to be a serious contender come tourney time. Ryan Bonner could be the "X-factor" of this team.

 

4. Anyone could be there, but these three teams are ahead of the rest of the region.

 

 

I agree that Maynard can light it up. I played a few pick-up games with him a couple of weeks ago and he looked good. Its funny that he has that talent, which is noticed by everyone on the team, everyone in the stands, and everyone in the 16th region - but he still didn't play alot of minutes last season. Maybe he'll crack the starting lineup this fall.

Wireman,

 

Maynard can really light it up. He just returned from Bluechip camp where he shot great. Elliott has 4 scorers, so putting points on the board shouldn't be a problem. However, the region should still be Russells to lose.

Russell is CLEAR CUT #1.

I don't see how eveyone see's Russell as the clearcut favorite when Ashland beat them in the last game of the regular season. Ashland also beat Elliot Co. during the reg. season. Elliot doesn;t realize how much they will miss Weddington. I don't see a clearcut fav. betweenthese three teams this yr.