I like Coach Blanton and think he's done a really nice job. 18-11 at Rock is strong. This isn't a dig at him at all.

 

But, as Purple Pride said, how do you go undefeated against regional teams - including wins over all of the other top regional teams and Rock - and not get regional COY? Must have done poorly outside the region. Except that they were 28-1 overall and spent most of the year in the top 5, including time at number 1 in some polls.

 

Just does not add up. Not at all.

Mercer has a really good team no doubt about it!!

Wondering about Coach Duvall at Owen Co. in the 8th region his team was 17-0 against 8th region teams. Agreed Coach Simpson had a great year they were 14-2 against 8th region teams.

If Cook is successful next year then he will be more than deserving! Losing 4 starters will test his coaching abilities, and I'm by no means saying he isn't a good coach.

 

Well, since he wasn't deserving this year, shouldn't he have received it last year? Took over an 11-12 team with 1 returning starter and went 23-9.

 

The last 3 COY's have gone to Wayne, Wayne and Lincoln after having (expected) stellar years. This year it goes to Rock for a nice turnaround. By that measurement, Cook should've won it last year. See the sudden inconsistency?

 

Mercer may just fare better in statewide awards/voting, both coach and player, than they did in their own region. If that happens, what would that say about our 12th region KABC members?

Wondering about Coach Duvall at Owen Co. in the 8th region his team was 17-0 against 8th region teams. Agreed Coach Simpson had a great year they were 14-2 against 8th region teams.

 

Was wondering the same thing myself. I may have missed it but I would've thought some of the Owen fans would've made that point by now.

Brossart's Code does a fantastic job. Is there a better development of talent program? They have a thin bench and maybe not the best talent coming in but he manages the game and they play great D.

 

I'm not a Brossart guy and am a total Code convert because I prefer a Paul Wesehead style of play.

 

"A good Defense is a great offense"

 

But Code has converted me. They are in every game they play.

 

Congrats to Coach Code and the Mustang players. Good luck this week.

Wondering about Coach Duvall at Owen Co. in the 8th region his team was 17-0 against 8th region teams. Agreed Coach Simpson had a great year they were 14-2 against 8th region teams.

 

I think both Duvall and Simpson did tremendous jobs this season. Owen County has the best team in the 8th Region and arguably the top player in the state. South Oldham was expected to have a good season, but the Dragons have used their uncanny three-point shooting to win 24 games. You could have done a co-coach of the year, but I like it better when one person receives the recognition. Both are great coaches, just so happened this year South Oldham surprised a lot of us. Owen County is on course to win a state championship if they continue playing this way, and they have a great draw at the Sweet 16 if they can get there. I would guess Duvall would take a trip to the Sweet 16 and a possible state title, Mr. Basketball for Carson Williams (which I think is a lock now).

I would venture a guess and say most, if not all, of these coaches couldn't care less about these awards. If you get into coaching for personal awards, then you're doing it for the wrong reasons. In high school sports, most awards are political and name recognition anyway. I'd say any coach worth his salt would much rather win 10 region titles as compared to 4 or 5 COY awards.

You can have all the members you want. A school can pay a one time fee of $100 to have their whole staff as members. Won't change anything. Rules clearly state you can't vote for anyone from you're own team. So if Mercer had 15 assistant coaches that would be 1t votes split up toward other coaches. I'm not bashing Mercer at all and obviously Josh has done a great job. At the end of the day it's an imperfect system regardless of how you do it someone somewhere will disagree.

But, as Purple Pride said, how do you go undefeated against regional teams - including wins over all of the other top regional teams and Rock - and not get regional COY?

 

Just does not add up. Not at all.

Maybe for the same reason that Happy Osborne didn't get COY when he was at Montgomery County.

Because he was boycotted by the other regional coaches who didn't like his "tactics."

In a perfect world adults do the right thing. Every region in Ky has some great high school coaches and most deserving of the award BUT they also have some arrogant pompous ( ) you can fill in the spot. As Mustang mentioned above, sometimes they will boycott coaches for whatever reason, as mentioned above. Sometimes it is a jealous deal, but COY is a coaching staff award for most coaches. They have wonderful staffs and are smart enough to know that this is why they got COY, and they have great kids playing for them. With that being said its about what staff does the best job, not the most wins in my opinion. Most of the coaches that I consider really good at their craft could care less about getting this award. They care about the award in the next couple weeks, a regional title!

It's pure political and if a coach isn't liked he nor his player with get POY or COY award. Many Coaches will plot together if they feel a coach is running up the score, or getting a lot of transfers.

You can have all the members you want. A school can pay a one time fee of $100 to have their whole staff as members. Won't change anything. Rules clearly state you can't vote for anyone from you're own team. So if Mercer had 15 assistant coaches that would be 1t votes split up toward other coaches. I'm not bashing Mercer at all and obviously Josh has done a great job. At the end of the day it's an imperfect system regardless of how you do it someone somewhere will disagree.

 

Having more votes does matter; it is huge. If a political candidate could buy a bunch of votes, with the only restriction being that they can't cast those for their self, they could effectively manipulate the outcome. They could do so by making sure votes went away from their true competitor and to a candidate that wasn't a legit threat. Or, if their goal was simply to blackball a candidate, that would be easy to accomplish as well by sending a large number of votes in a direction other than that candidate's.

 

That said, given the dynamics at play, Cook probably wouldn't have won it even if each staff had just one vote. The anymosity would've still prevailed. But knowing some of the schools that had 4 & 5 votes, and given that they were some of the most bitter, it just made it that much easier for them.

Edited February 22, 201610 yr by First

It's pure political and if a coach isn't liked he nor his player with get POY or COY award. Many Coaches will plot together if they feel a coach is running up the score, or getting a lot of transfers.

 

THIS

Maybe for the same reason that Happy Osborne didn't get COY when he was at Montgomery County.

Because he was boycotted by the other regional coaches who didn't like his "tactics."

 

Spot on. All I hear is whining about transfers, which are the only "tactics" people complain about with Coach Cook and Mercer. The problem is, if transfers are an issue, Mercer is nowhere near the top of that list (in the 12th) over the past couple years. Double standard.

 

At the end of the day, it's all about not liking the additional competition. The strong basketball schools that have controlled the region for years don't like a different school, that has little to no tradition, threatening the balance of power.