John Noble has resigned. Which is odd especially with the team he would of had next season. 

Looks like he’s heading to Leslie County according to @eliteproducer on Twitter.

Coach Noble is very close to Leslie’ County’s girls coach Larry Sparks. Larry is the retired Leslie County superintendent and presently coaches the Lady Eagles basketball team. He coached John in high school when they were both at Buckhorn many years ago.  Coach Sparks is very high in Noble. I’m sure the Leslie County people are happy with this hire. He coached tiny Buckhorn, enrollment around 160, to the 14th region KHSAA championship about 5 years ago. And his Breathitt County team this year won the All A region and finished runner up to Pikeville at the All A State Tournament,with a win over a very talented Lyon County team on their way to the championship game. He has a solid resume. 

Breathitt is returning two All State performers next season.  Nice opening for someone. 

Couple candidates I'll throw out there.

Jon Bentley (Montgomery County head coach). Led Estill county to a 14th region championship and has several victories over Breathitt County. Has over 200 coaching wins already.

Brian Hall (Current Estill boys head coach). Used to coach Breathitt way back when. From the mountain area (Hi-Hat/Floyd County) which he would be closer to home/stomping grounds.

Doug Noble (Breathitt assistant?) Coached Breathitt County several years ago. Bleeds bobcat blue.

7 hours ago, LethalPG said:

Breathitt is returning two All State performers next season.  Nice opening for someone. 

Wow. Didn’t realize Breathitt had two All-State kids. Impressive. 

Is Breathitt the favorite in the 14th next season? 

On 4/15/2022 at 8:24 PM, Co@chPitino said:

Is Breathitt the favorite in the 14th next season? 

As of right now if all the rosters stay the same and there’s no transfer additions to other 14th region teams, yes….Breathitt County is most definitely the favorite to win the 2023 regional tournament. They return a second team All State guard in sophomore-to-be Austin Sperry. They also return hot shooting  junior guard Luke Bellamy, 6’8 forward/center Christian Collins, and 6’5 forward Bryce Hoskins. Top reserve and 3 point threat Andrew Combs will round out the probable starting 5. 
Breathitt County is coming off a 26-8 season, winner of 55th district tournament,  runner up in the 14th region tournament, winner of the 14th region All A and runner up to Pikeville in the All A State Championship game. 
The Bobcats have not played in the KHSAA state tournament since 1995, the longest stretch of not winning a regional title since the late 1950’s. So to say their fans are hungry for a regional banner and a trip to Rupp is phrasing it mildly. 

Odd then for the coach to leave given all you have stated.

I’d think a coach would be very happy to have all that returning.

What gives?

41 minutes ago, Falcon Pride said:

Odd then for the coach to leave given all you have stated.

I’d think a coach would be very happy to have all that returning.

What gives?

Coach Noble is from Buckhorn. Played basketball there in the early 1990s. He knows quite a few of the Leslie County people and is close to their former superintendent Larry Sparks, who is now the Leslie girls basketball coach. Sparks has also coached the Leslie boys in the past. He coached Noble in at The Horn, as the Wildcat fans frequently call their school. The Leslie administration went after Noble and was able to sway him to come to Hyden. 
I live in an adjoining county and don’t know all the happenings at Breathitt. I was told, though, that Coach Noble was tired of the complaining by some of the fan base. Some of this was in social media and everyone had an opinion on how he should do this or that with his team. He’s been there four years and I suppose Leslie County started looking enticing to him and he decided to start anew at another school. 

14 hours ago, Falcon Pride said:

Odd then for the coach to leave given all you have stated.

I’d think a coach would be very happy to have all that returning.

What gives?

I've heard money played a big factor in swaying his decision.  Which, usually is the case.  Leslie Co. was 3-24 this past season, but does have a talented PG.  Coach Noble will probably be able to upgrade the roster as well. 

16 hours ago, LethalPG said:

I've heard money played a big factor in swaying his decision.  Which, usually is the case.  Leslie Co. was 3-24 this past season, but does have a talented PG.  Coach Noble will probably be able to upgrade the roster as well. 

There was a rumor a few weeks ago that the point guard you are referring to, Wyatt Hensley, was transferring to Hazard. But I want to empathize that is only a rumor and rumors run rampant in mountain basketball, particularly at this time of the year. 

On 4/15/2022 at 1:11 PM, All State Baseball said:

Couple candidates I'll throw out there.

Jon Bentley (Montgomery County head coach). Led Estill county to a 14th region championship and has several victories over Breathitt County. Has over 200 coaching wins already.

Brian Hall (Current Estill boys head coach). Used to coach Breathitt way back when. From the mountain area (Hi-Hat/Floyd County) which he would be closer to home/stomping grounds.

Doug Noble (Breathitt assistant?) Coached Breathitt County several years ago. Bleeds bobcat blue.

None of these three in consideration.

On 4/23/2022 at 4:23 PM, nikeman49 said:

None of these three in consideration.

Who is in consideration?

Couple interviews today, better keep names private