8 hours ago, 12th Region Fan said:

Pulaski should have more expectations coming into the season this coming year than last. Losing Blankenship will hurt them tremendously. That kid played his heart out every single night. However, a healthy Carson Fraley with Anderson, Cook, and Idlewine  would warrant them to be in the top 5 in my opinion. 
 

I do agree on your top 3. I may put them in a different order, but that is the three. Should be an exciting offseason, and summer ball will be here soon! 

I’m with you Pulaski has the best program.  They plug in and produce.  Somerset is a step behind, but has also built a solid program.  Their JV and middle school teams are very solid as well.  47th district will be very good with Pulaski, Rock and SHS again.

Bump.

Now that we have had some of the coaching vacancies hammered out and we are approaching the end of the school year, are we feeling any differently on this region? Is DCA now even more of an unknown with a coach that is stepping into a Central Kentucky job for the first time? Is the 46th a complete tossup or will Mercer run away with it? What can we expect from Wayne County's Post-Coach-Woods-Era?

I’m curious to see DCA and Wayne. Does anyone know what their summer schedules look like? I just think there are too many unknowns surrounding those two programs to pen them in as top 3 at this moment for me. Do they both have the talent? Absolutely. 

1 hour ago, se7ens said:

Now that we have had some of the coaching vacancies hammered out and we are approaching the end of the school year, are we feeling any differently on this region? Is DCA now even more of an unknown with a coach that is stepping into a Central Kentucky job for the first time? Is the 46th a complete tossup or will Mercer run away with it? What can we expect from Wayne County's Post-Coach-Woods-Era?

I did some reading on the new coach at DCA, Shaun Busick.  He's got a solid resume in Indiana.  I don't think it will make much difference going from Indiana to the 12th region unless the officiating is a lot different.  He's had experience coaching big men, probably more experience than most 12th region coaches have had.  Some coaches in the 12th go for years and never have anyone over 6-6.  If DCA is going to do anything this year, especially with Fugate gone, it will be if they maximize their size advantage.  I don't recall a 12th region team having two guys over 6-10.  Fugate was the only really quick player they had coming back and now he's gone.  Boyd has experience and is a tough competitor but he's not quick.  

Based on an article I read he'd been a man to man coach all of his life but switched to zone when he had Rick Smits' son who topped out at 7-2.  I'd say we might see him go to a zone with the two big guys to keep them out of foul trouble and clog up the lane.  If they play it well it might make up some for their lack of experience and make good use of their two big guys.  Scoring will also be an issue because as of now they don't have any good outside shooters.  It will definitely be a coaching challenge.

10 hours ago, se7ens said:

Now that we have had some of the coaching vacancies hammered out and we are approaching the end of the school year, are we feeling any differently on this region? Is DCA now even more of an unknown with a coach that is stepping into a Central Kentucky job for the first time? Is the 46th a complete tossup or will Mercer run away with it? What can we expect from Wayne County's Post-Coach-Woods-Era?

With the loss of Fugate, DCA is even more limited in terms of depth. They have 3 solid or better players and then it’ll be a challenge. Fortunately, Danville & Garrard will be down again this year. Lincoln lost most everyone other than Baird. And Boyle, who was only a .500 team last year, figures to lose its top 2 scorers (leaving early for football) and 3 out of 5 starters. They do return 2 good sophomores in Turner and Driver, but I’m not sure what they’ll have beyond those 2, so it figures to be a tough year for them. Definitely the weakest the 45th has been in years.

As for the 46th, it will be a tougher district. I look for West to be a lot more competitive this year and East should be above average again. But Mercer is the clear favorite and has to be one of the top 2-3 teams in the region. They return a lot, including Trevor Ellis.

Regarding Wayne, Dumphord is now at Southwest. There are rumblings that a couple other starters could be leaving as well. Either way, they likely won’t be as good as last year.

On 5/15/2024 at 1:14 PM, 24Rocks said:

I did some reading on the new coach at DCA, Shaun Busick.  He's got a solid resume in Indiana.  I don't think it will make much difference going from Indiana to the 12th region unless the officiating is a lot different.  He's had experience coaching big men, probably more experience than most 12th region coaches have had.  Some coaches in the 12th go for years and never have anyone over 6-6.  If DCA is going to do anything this year, especially with Fugate gone, it will be if they maximize their size advantage.  I don't recall a 12th region team having two guys over 6-10.  Fugate was the only really quick player they had coming back and now he's gone.  Boyd has experience and is a tough competitor but he's not quick.  

Based on an article I read he'd been a man to man coach all of his life but switched to zone when he had Rick Smits' son who topped out at 7-2.  I'd say we might see him go to a zone with the two big guys to keep them out of foul trouble and clog up the lane.  If they play it well it might make up some for their lack of experience and make good use of their two big guys.  Scoring will also be an issue because as of now they don't have any good outside shooters.  It will definitely be a coaching challenge.

That’s a lot of detailed information 

I would imagine DCA playing a similar style to last yr? It’s crazy what one shot or free throw can do- had DCA not failed to close out Somerset and won the region do you think Story would still be coach? 

2 hours ago, catfan09 said:

That’s a lot of detailed information 

I would imagine DCA playing a similar style to last yr? It’s crazy what one shot or free throw can do- had DCA not failed to close out Somerset and won the region do you think Story would still be coach? 

I would think they would play slow on offense and try to control the pace given their players.  I think they'll consider going to a zone on defense in order to not risk getting their big players in foul trouble.  The only real advantage they have now is the 2 big men so they'll want to protect them.  

You posed an interesting question.  I would think the same parents who were behind this would still be pushing it even if Coach Story had won the region but it would have been more difficult to pull off.  

On 5/15/2024 at 9:39 PM, QueenoftheSouth said:

With the loss of Fugate, DCA is even more limited in terms of depth. They have 3 solid or better players and then it’ll be a challenge. Fortunately, Danville & Garrard will be down again this year. Lincoln lost most everyone other than Baird. And Boyle, who was only a .500 team last year, figures to lose its top 2 scorers (leaving early for football) and 3 out of 5 starters. They do return 2 good sophomores in Turner and Driver, but I’m not sure what they’ll have beyond those 2, so it figures to be a tough year for them. Definitely the weakest the 45th has been in years.

As for the 46th, it will be a tougher district. I look for West to be a lot more competitive this year and East should be above average again. But Mercer is the clear favorite and has to be one of the top 2-3 teams in the region. They return a lot, including Trevor Ellis.

Regarding Wayne, Dumphord is now at Southwest. There are rumblings that a couple other starters could be leaving as well. Either way, they likely won’t be as good as last year.

It appears this domino has fallen...

2 hours ago, LethalPG said:

It appears this domino has fallen...

I thought a couple of their players wound up at Pulaski.  Has this been confirmed?

Looks like Wayne Count'y Seth Farmer is on the move. He wrote a letter thanking the Wayne County community. He's probably going to Pulaski County. 

47 minutes ago, Statsdontlie said:

Looks like Wayne Count'y Seth Farmer is on the move. He wrote a letter thanking the Wayne County community. He's probably going to Pulaski County. 

He has Pulaski in the profile- guessing you’re right 

21 hours ago, 24Rocks said:

I would think they would play slow on offense and try to control the pace given their players.  I think they'll consider going to a zone on defense in order to not risk getting their big players in foul trouble.  The only real advantage they have now is the 2 big men so they'll want to protect them.  

You posed an interesting question.  I would think the same parents who were behind this would still be pushing it even if Coach Story had won the region but it would have been more difficult to pull off.  

Interesting/ seems like a possible toxic situation- hopefully the new coach can play the cards right. 

46 minutes ago, catfan09 said:

Interesting/ seems like a possible toxic situation- hopefully the new coach can play the cards right. 

They're supposed to have 17 games scheduled this summer.  I haven't seen the schedule yet but I'd like see some of them.  

2 hours ago, 24Rocks said:

I thought a couple of their players wound up at Pulaski.  Has this been confirmed?

As @Statsdontliestated, Seth Farmer came out today writing a “goodbye letter” to Wayne co.  Odd times.  And yes, Pulaski is the destination.  Kendall Phillips was also on campus today.