I did not want to get this started on the Behrens thread.

 

I just have a question for all the people who are condeming the girls program at Boone because of the girls who have and will transfer to Boone.

 

Why does everyone put the blame on the coach? I don't think the coach has ever asked any player to come to Boone so why does she get the blame. It is the parents who make the decision. I know for a fact the only thing that comes out of Nell's mouth when parents start telling her about their kids coming to Boone is: As long as you live in the Boone Co school district everyone is welcomed to try out for the team. That is the extent of it.

 

So, if a family decides to move and live in Florence is that Coach Fookes' fault, not in my opinion. In general, I just get tired of everyone crying about transfers, this goes for any sport at any school. As long as there is a legitamate move(ownership of a home) and they reside in that particular school district, let them alone. That is a choice the parents have made and no one else, there business not ours.

I agree 100%. Nell, on several occasions, said she does not worry about who transfers and who does not. She coaches the girls that show up and want to play, and if a girl is inelligible she would not be allowed on her floor. So if the transfer bashers want to gripe E-mail the parents of the students who transfer and ask them if it bothers you that much or better yet E-mail the coach they are transfering from and find out why they are leaving, that would be a good place to start.

My daughter plays basketball for a Northern Ky High School team. She is now in her Junior year and has been playing Varsity for 4 years. She is a player that most teams would love to have on their team. As a Sophomore she was All-District, HM All-Region, HM Cin. Enquirer All-star team. Top 15 in NKy. in PPG and rpg. I bring this up because recently there was a coaching change and I asked my daughter if she would like to play for BC. We had been asked by a couple of parents on BC to consider. In addition, my wife also took classes with Nell at NKU. My point is, I believe Nell gets a bad rap when people talk about recruiting to BC. I think Nell would have loved to have my daughter play for her but it NEVER came up in conversations with her, by either party. As a matter of fact, Nell did the classiest thing I have ever seen and told us that our new coach will do a wonderful job for our daughter. To date the new coach has done that wonderful job with her and I see her growing as a player and person on a daily basis. By the way, my daughter told me she had no intentions of transfering school she was playing with her friends of many years, no matter what the outcome.

 

I do have a question though, once Nell retires, where will all of the talent transfer to next?

My daughter plays basketball for a Northern Ky High School team. She is now in her Junior year and has been playing Varsity for 4 years. She is a player that most teams would love to have on their team. As a Sophomore she was All-District, HM All-Region, HM Cin. Enquirer All-star team. Top 15 in NKy. in PPG and rpg. I bring this up because recently there was a coaching change and I asked my daughter if she would like to play for BC. We had been asked by a couple of parents on BC to consider. In addition, my wife also took classes with Nell at NKU. My point is, I believe Nell gets a bad rap when people talk about recruiting to BC. I think Nell would have loved to have my daughter play for her but it NEVER came up in conversations with her, by either party. As a matter of fact, Nell did the classiest thing I have ever seen and told us that our new coach will do a wonderful job for our daughter. To date the new coach has done that wonderful job with her and I see her growing as a player and person on a daily basis. By the way, my daughter told me she had no intentions of transfering school she was playing with her friends of many years, no matter what the outcome.

 

I do have a question though, once Nell retires, where will all of the talent transfer to next?

 

Great point. :thumb:

I think that would depend on who would be named the head coach. Same question came up w/Beechwood when Yeagle left.

 

I think the programs speak for themselves, all though, it does help to have great coaches running the show.

3pt you are absolutely correct. It depends on who the new coach will be. LexCath just lost one of their superstars to a transfer. When is the last time that has happened? It's this way for every sport (HHS-football, St.Henry-volleyball, NDA-soccer and so on). In this case Boone just happens to be fairly successful in girl's basketball.

 

If you build it they will come.

3pt you are absolutely correct. It depends on who the new coach will be. LexCath just lost one of their superstars to a transfer. When is the last time that has happened? It's this way for every sport (HHS-football, St.Henry-volleyball, NDA-soccer and so on). In this case Boone just happens to be fairly successful in girl's basketball.

 

If you build it they will come.

 

I have been involved w/one of the schools who gets accused of recruiting and I can honestly say w/my hand on a stack of bibles, no one has ever approached another athlete from another school to come and play. It is usually done by parents who have had kids play at that school.

 

If you build it they will come, how perfect and so true!! All the programs mentioned have built great programs and kids/parents know this. So, where better to send your student/athletes.

 

It will be interesting to see if the Stevenson? girl is declared eligible to play this yr.

PlayerDad: this is a great post. After knowing Nell for quite a while I told her I would like for my Daughter to play for her program. She immediately said "this is a subject that I cannot discuss and you’ll have to do what you feel is best for your family and no matter what you choose to do she will be fine". Each time I spoke to her I wanted to ask questions and when this subject came up she shut me down with the same response. She runs her program exactly the way she wants with no wavering and no exceptions. She is a good person that is soley judged by most based on her coaching style and sideline antics. The players that are not prepared for the discipline/hardwork usually quit and the players that can handle her discipline and her classroom demands love her and would jump off of a bridge for her. Someone said it best when they said “she will coach whoever shows up for tryouts and will play with the cards she is dealt”.

I understand the transfer thing because we all want our daughters/sons to have the best opportunities they can have. I know my daughter will be playing at the next level, but that might not necessarily be true for some others without some solid coaching, high visibility, etc.... In addition I am all about fair. What about the 5 girls that have been playing in the Boone County School System that were displaced by the 5 that transfered in recently. Do they have to transfer to play ball? They may be better than the 6 - 10 man on most teams but can't play for Boone. I think that for the most part there are some very good High School coaches that can do well by some of these girls that transfer to BC, I think that sometimes they just need to give them (the coaches) a chance. My daughter , if nothing else, has taught me that sometimes the talent pool is a little thin, but transferring to a school just to win is overrated. She is helping to build a program with her talent and skills. After Varsity practice, she goes back for another 2 hours and works with the freshmen. In my mind this is the mark of a true winner and she will surely be noticed for her efforts.

I don't blame Nell Fookes at all. Great coach.. I blame parents entirely.. You know in not a single one of these threads on topics like this do I see where the kid transfered because they thought he/she would get a better education.. It is all about sports and that dear parents is what is wrong with high school athletics these days..

I don't blame Nell Fookes at all. Great coach.. I blame parents entirely.. You know in not a single one of these threads on topics like this do I see where the kid transfered because they thought he/she would get a better education.. It is all about sports and that dear parents is what is wrong with high school athletics these days..

 

If it wasn't for athletics many kids would not be in school to get an education. Some would not have the opportunity to go to college w/out athletics.

 

My daugher will get educated where ever she attends. My size 10 foot will make sure of that. I commented before in regards to this, no one can tell me that one/two schools have better teachers than the others. Yes, Beechwood, Highlands and others score high on state testing but, IMO, it is not the teachers, it is the family life these kids come from. They are pushed from home to do well in the classroom. If they don't do well in the classroom any more it don't matter how good they are in athletics. College has become a business. They are not willing to take a chance on an avg student when they can sign a A/B student and not risk losing this star athlete due to grades.

 

I believe athletics and education go hand in hand and as long as I keep up w/my daughter she will learn no matter what school she is attending.

PlayerDad: You obviously considered moving your Daughter so you must understand why some people do it. It sounds as if your Daughter is a star in the program and thrives in that roll, plus wanting to stay with her friends and help the younger girls is commendable. I don't know you or your Daughter; however, it sounds as if she puts in a lot of work during the off-season and you probably spend a lot of money as well. I may be wrong, but you sound like a Dad that may have nudged his Daughter a little if she played for a bad program (say 2-24) and perhaps a coach that could not help develop her skills. If she did not want to stay to build a program from scratch, was miserable, and not doing well in the classroom would you have put a stake in the ground and made her stay? If you decided to move your family, would you just move anywhere, or perhaps do a little research and put her at a good school with a coach with a proven track record on and off the floor?

 

Boone was the youngest team in the area and played 4 freshmen a ton of minutes. One kid came from Conner MS so if you call her a transfer then the team only had one transfer on the roster. Not one person would have moved their kid there just to win Bball games. There was no way to have predicted the outcome of their season when 9 of their 13 players were freshman and sophomores. Expectations were a .500 season at best. It is NOT about winning games, it is the Coach and the demands that she requires for these young women on and off the floor.

 

WO314: You have made up your mind so for those parents to offer any reasons for moving will fall on deaf ears so why should they bother. Fookes is more demanding in the classroom than she is on the floor so you should be happy they are becoming much better educated by being there.

 

If Boone County was like Kenton County there would really be some hard feelings. In Kenton County you can choose any school that you want to attend so the players are gravitating out to SK since the program has been turned around by Stowers. I know several players that would have never gone to Ryle or Conner if they could have played at Boone.

PlayerDad: You obviously considered moving your Daughter so you must understand why some people do it. It sounds as if your Daughter is a star in the program and thrives in that roll, plus wanting to stay with her friends and help the younger girls is commendable. I don't know you or your Daughter; however, it sounds as if she puts in a lot of work during the off-season and you probably spend a lot of money as well. I may be wrong, but you sound like a Dad that may have nudged his Daughter a little if she played for a bad program (say 2-24) and perhaps a coach that could not help develop her skills. If she did not want to stay to build a program from scratch, was miserable, and not doing well in the classroom would you have put a stake in the ground and made her stay? If you decided to move your family, would you just move anywhere, or perhaps do a little research and put her at a good school with a coach with a proven track record on and off the floor?

 

Boone was the youngest team in the area and played 4 freshmen a ton of minutes. One kid came from Conner MS so if you call her a transfer then the team only had one transfer on the roster. Not one person would have moved their kid there just to win Bball games. There was no way to have predicted the outcome of their season when 9 of their 13 players were freshman and sophomores. Expectations were a .500 season at best. It is NOT about winning games, it is the Coach and the demands that she requires for these young women on and off the floor.

 

WO314: You have made up your mind so for those parents to offer any reasons for moving will fall on deaf ears so why should they bother. Fookes is more demanding in the classroom than she is on the floor so you should be happy they are becoming much better educated by being there.

 

If Boone County was like Kenton County there would really be some hard feelings. In Kenton County you can choose any school that you want to attend so the players are gravitating out to SK since the program has been turned around by Stowers. I know several players that would have never gone to Ryle or Conner if they could have played at Boone.

 

:thumb: You are absolutely correct, I have made up my mind just as you have and there isn't anything that either of us will say or do to change the others minds so lets just let it go. Good luck to you and yours..

I am already on record as saying that I do understand the transfer thing, do I have any strong feelings about it one way or another, not really, it is what it is and some things are more important for one than another. I don't nudge my daughter in any direction. Her love of the game is her motivation. My greatest hope for my daughter is to be a productive, caring person. Basketball is just something she does. As a matter of fact, I did spend a lot of money when she was playing AAU for a team in Cincinnati, this last year she did not play and chose to take some time off. I told her if she wanted I would line up a personal trainer so she could keep in shape. She ended up working out with an ex-Xavier player once a week ($40/week). In addition she played volleyball. Would my daughter love to play on a winning team, yes. Her AAU team was top 5 in Ohio two years in a row in her age group. Is it a necessity in high school ball, no. My daughter has been in advance placement classes since 8th. grade, with that being said, if she were not able to get an education that I thought was fitting then I would have no recourse but to transfer (There is a point where a parent must take the reins) but with her input. As before when she was asked if she would like to transfer to BC she would have a say in it. What I have learned over the last couple of years is it is not me who is directly effected by transfering it would be my daughter. The overflow would be on me. Talking with recruiters they have mentioned that the most important aspect in choosing a school/university is one. are you going to have the opportunity to play., two. do you mesh with the others., and three are you happy. A man much more wizer than me has expressed that if your daughter goes to a D1 school, loves the game of basketball, and is riding the bench, her school work will suffer and ultimately has set herself up for failure. If she chooses to to D11, D111 or NAIA and is playing, is happy, then her chances to succeed are far greater. My point is, that it is not whether I am happy or not it not my choice. As my daughter goes forward with her career we are looking at coaches and their on and off the court success but with 1,2, and 3 in mind. It is not the most necessary criteria for high school choice.

Thanks for the post. I believe we are pretty much on the same page for the most part.

 

It also depends on the scout/recruiter that you spoke with. The input I received was "if the current situation is not right for your child and if you have the means/resources available then put your son/daughter in the best possible place to be developed for success in and out of the classroom, but above all, she must be happy in order to reach her full potential in both areas".