I hope for you Ashland fans' sake there's not a long drought until your next region title game appearance.

 

I hope so too. I will say that the talent level is back on the rise (as well as more players are wanting to come out and play) a bit and I have complete confidence in coach Howell. To be honest, I'm surprised they were able to win as many games as they did this season. Missing the region was a bit upsetting, but outside of that coach Howell did a great job with the team for his first season.

I am still amazed at how many people think that a Coach, any Coach makes such an impact positive or negative.

I'll be the first to say that the issue with Ashland goes beyond a coach. Much of Northeastern Kentucky high school athletics has been forever changed due to the economic geography changes. The talent pool of athletes in all the old traditional schools of power in the 16th Region (Ashland, Boyd County, Greenup County) is never going to be what it once was. I wish Coach Biggs the very best, speaking as a Tomcat alum I really believe that the expectations and reality are 2 separate issues in Ashland. This is an issue that will continue to plague Ashland athletics. With all of that said, lets not put aside that the talent situation that Coach Biggs walked into at Mason is dramatically different than Ashland. As it's been said you can have all the x's and o's, but sometimes it comes down to the Jimmy's and Joe's.

 

While I agree with the bolded, lets not get carried away. While the talent level certainly isn't state championship level at the moment, there is no reason it shouldn't be regional championship level. The schools you mentioned are some of the largest in the region, which are also in the most urban area of the region. To think that they don't have the talent available that Elliot, Morgan, Rowan, etc do is stretching things a bit.

Of the schools you mentioned lets take it on case by case basis

 

Elliott County: is a small town school that has their kids believing and playing together as a team as soon as they seem to learn how to walk. With no other sport that is competitive on any level every kid growing up near Sandy Hook is dribbling a basketball. So there is no drama or infighting with multiple sports and their coaches. I can't say that is the case everywhere else, especially at good ol' Ashland.

 

Morgan County: This is a school much like Elliott where basketball is the focus. It's also a school that has benefited recently from convenient transfers that have bolstered their chances. This is no knock on Coach Perry and the great job he has done in building a program.

 

Rowan County: The Vikings are not far from one of the only areas of the state that continues to grow in Lexington-Fayette. I was once a resident in Rowan County and I can tell that there is more job opportunity there than the Ohio River Cities areas of the 16th Region. Thus the chance to keep families and their student athletes is greater.

 

With all of this said, I agree there is no reason as to why Ashland should not be competitive for a Region title year in and year out. There are many factors as we both have laid out. The bottom line is the current coach I believe has the right mindset to handle the reigns, I just hope the vocal alums have patience.

Biggs can coach. Funny how so many MC fans were bad mouthing him during the season.

 

Don't think there has ever been a time where they've bad mouthed a coach. I am starting to think that if they weren't talking about him that he should be worried.