Courier Journal Preseason Top 25

[PurplePride92]

Taylor County tops preseason Top 25 | USA Today High School Sports | USA Today High School Sports

 

 

Here is The Courier-Journal’s boys basketball preseason Top 25, as voted on by the state’s coaches. First-place votes in parentheses:

Team Region 2014-15 record

1.Taylor County (42) Fifth 28-5

Mr. Basketball front-runner Quentin Goodin, junior David Sloan form solid backcourt

2. Bowling Green (9) Fourth 31-6

Five of top seven scorers return from last season’s state runner-up squad

3. Paul Dunbar (6) 11^th 14-15

Darius Williams, Taveion Hollingsworth provide solid 1-2 scoring punch

4. Covington Catholic (4) Ninth 31-6

Colonels looking for third straight Sweet 16 trip behind Cole VonHandorf

5. Hopkinsville (3) Second 27-6

Sophomore Jalen Johnson leads Tigers, searching for fifth straight regional title

6. Mercer County (4) 12^th 23-9

Loads of talent for program searching for first regional title since 2000

7. Waggener Seventh 17-12

Big frontcourt, led by Jaalam Hill, has Wildcats in hunt for first regional title

8. Bullitt East (1) Sixth 21-10

Sharpshooting Tyler Sharpe leads preseason favorite in Sixth Region

9. Ballard (2) Seventh 32-3

Usually higher in preseason, but Bruins returned just one starter

10. Trinity Seventh 24-6

Shamrocks revamping offense, defense after loss of all five starters

11. Christian County (1) Second 14-11

New coach Frankie Smith will lean on talented duo of Tyrik Edwards, Jaylen Sebree

12. Lafayette (1) 11^th 21-12

Senior Ross Jenkins, a 6-foot-6 center, gives Generals strong presence in middle

13. Central Seventh 17-9

Coach Doug Bibby could have deepest team in years, led by senior Dai’Von Thompson

14. Henry Clay 11^th 21-11

Blue Devils feature one of state’s top senior guards in Isaiah Tisdale

15. Owen County Eighth 26-6

Senior Carson Williams is double-double machine, Northern Kentucky signee

16. Fern Creek Sixth 18-12

Tigers led by senior Tony Washington and talented, deep group of sophomores

17. Lexington Catholic 11^th 24-9

Coach Brandon Salsman says junior guard Luke Johnson will become “household name”

18. North Hardin Fifth 24-9

Junior forward Tony Jackson gives Trojans hope in tough Fifth Region

19. Pleasure Ridge Park Sixth 18-8

Panthers will lean on 6-4 senior Chris Drabo, a transfer from Iroquois

20. Campbell County 10^th 25-10

Army-bound Matt Wilson will try to lead Camels to third straight regional title

21. Bryan Station 11^th 22-8

Seniors Andre Davis, DeAndre Dishman provide solid scoring punch

22. Scott County 11^th 17-12

Cardinals lost district opener last season but hope to rebound behind several freshmen

23. Lawrence County 15^th 19-13

Brothers Robert and Timmy Dalton have Bulldogs in hunt for first regional title

24. Eastern Seventh 17-10

Coach David Henley has talented group of juniors, led by Jonathan Lane

25. Clay County 13^th 24-7

Tigers feature pair of high-scoring seniors in Blake Smith, Trey Farmer

Edited November 20, 2015 by hoops5

[Griffster]

Nice synopsis by Frakes. Good read on his twitter page. Dude works the Louisville area well. I can't buy Taylor County though. No interior threat to speak of.

[PurplePride92]

Nice synopsis by Frakes. Good read on his twitter page. Dude works the Louisville area well. I can't buy Taylor County though. No interior threat to speak of.

 

He is one of the godfathers of KY high school sports.

 

#Purples

 

He also does a great job of being neutral when it comes to BGHS.

[undercoverwildcat24]

Ok so lets put some facts behind the no interior threat to win a state title.

 

Last year Owensboro (2015) had 2 great bigs.

Did Cov Cath (2014) have interior threat?

Madison Central (2013)?

Trinity (2012)?

Christian County (2011)?

Shelby Valley (2012)?

 

I believe in the state of Kentucky guards have historically won championships. Lets provide proof of bigs equal titles and guards do not please.

[PurplePride92]

Ok so lets put some facts behind the no interior threat to win a state title.

 

Last year Owensboro (2015) had 2 great bigs.

Did Cov Cath (2014) have interior threat?

Madison Central (2013)?

Trinity (2012)?

Christian County (2011)?

Shelby Valley (2012)?

 

I believe in the state of Kentucky guards have historically won championships. Lets provide proof of bigs equal titles and guards do not please.

 

I believe CovCath had Mark Schult and Bo Schuh as inside threats.

 

Madison Central also had a big man down low but his name escapes me off the top of my head. He was serviceable at the least.

 

Trinity had Mr. Basketball Inside/Outside threat Nathan Dieudonne along with Craig Owens helping to control the paint.

 

Christian County not only had a big man but they had a complete team led by do it all guard Anthony Hickey. I believe their big man hit the state title winning jump shot off an assist from Hickey.

 

Shelby Valley also had a big man on their team as well. Maybe two. Elijah Justice had some players with size on that team.

 

 

Now, I could be wrong but I think the point trying to be made is that BG has two very legitimate inside threats and they control the game on defense and offense as well as controlling all rebounds. They have above average guard play and if Taylor County had to face BG the edge goes to BG because of the inside presence of Kyran Jones and Terry Taylor. If Taylor County can counter that then some of us will be willing to say they are the favorite. Until that inside threat for Taylor County is shown then there will be some folks who lean BG.

 

You can have guards carry you to Rupp but if you don't have a serviceable big man you are going to eventually run into a team that does. And that will be a problem.

[Griffster]

Trinity won in 2012 behind kentuckys mr basketball. A big by the name of Nathan Duidende... Pardon the spelling. Taylor County got to the sweet 16 last year in part because of an undersized transfer who topped out at 6-3. He went to work for those guys- he's gone.

[PurplePride92]

All of last year's Sweet 16 Final Four teams all had great guards along with a strong inside presence.

[Griffster]

Fear BG. They're for real. Bigs matter! Whoever thinks height is overrated spent too much time playing Nerf!

[Jason Frakes]

He is one of the godfathers of KY high school sports.

 

#Purples

 

He also does a great job of being neutral when it comes to BGHS.

 

Haha! Thanks, man. I'm actually picking Owensboro over BG on Friday ... but I don't feel real good about doing so!

[PurplePride92]

Haha! Thanks, man. I'm actually picking Owensboro over BG on Friday ... but I don't feel real good about doing so!

 

Owensboro has had me scared all season. I wouldn't be surprised at all.

[spindoc]

I believe CovCath had Mark Schult and Bo Schuh as inside threats.

 

Madison Central also had a big man down low but his name escapes me off the top of my head. He was serviceable at the least.

 

Trinity had Mr. Basketball Inside/Outside threat Nathan Dieudonne along with Craig Owens helping to control the paint.

 

Christian County not only had a big man but they had a complete team led by do it all guard Anthony Hickey. I believe their big man hit the state title winning jump shot off an assist from Hickey.

 

Shelby Valley also had a big man on their team as well. Maybe two. Elijah Justice had some players with size on that team.

 

 

Now, I could be wrong but I think the point trying to be made is that BG has two very legitimate inside threats and they control the game on defense and offense as well as controlling all rebounds. They have above average guard play and if Taylor County had to face BG the edge goes to BG because of the inside presence of Kyran Jones and Terry Taylor. If Taylor County can counter that then some of us will be willing to say they are the favorite. Until that inside threat for Taylor County is shown then there will be some folks who lean BG.

 

You can have guards carry you to Rupp but if you don't have a serviceable big man you are going to eventually run into a team that does. And that will be a problem.

Can't forget Holmes. They were Looooooong and athletic.

[openlook]

Scott Co. may be overrated. I'm hearing they've pushed aside much of the upper classmen in favor of a youth movement. They're underclassmen are still pretty talented.

[spindoc]

That avatar is a freakin' riot.

[First]

Wayne County not in the top 25? They should be top 15, and Southwest should be top 25.

 

Some of these teams seem to be getting rankings based on tradition and program name. If that's the case, how did Wayne not make the cut? Perplexing.

 

Also, Lafayette is a top 10 team, and Clay County a top 15 team.

[Guest]

Lafayette definetly top 10. By seasons end top 5