There is no doubt that basketball does not get the support football does for the most part in Louisville. Ballard is a basketball school, but all and all football is way more supported in Louisville. Also, I didn't mean to knock Lville area coaches. There are some very good ones. But a lot of the football programs are gettng some of the best of the best.

I don't agree with the first statement. Aside from Trinity and St. Xavier and possibly Male, at which other schools in Louisville does football get more support than basketball?

 

Most of the Louisville schools have more success with basketball than football ... then again, part of that is due to the presence of Trinity, St. Xavier and Male.

I don't agree with the first statement. Aside from Trinity and St. Xavier and possibly Male, at which other schools in Louisville does football get more support than basketball?

 

Most of the Louisville schools have more success with basketball than football ... then again, part of that is due to the presence of Trinity, St. Xavier and Male.

 

Manuel and Eastern are more of footbal schools IMO. Football has obviously surpassed basketball in UL. The best athletes seem to be more focused on football. Who was the last great D-1 player out of Louisville? The ony 1 I can think of in recent memory is Rondo. Also a lot of the good athletes who have home support go to Trinity and St. X and focus on football.

Manuel and Eastern are more of footbal schools IMO. Football has obviously surpassed basketball in UL. The best athletes seem to be more focused on football. Who was the last great D-1 player out of Louisville? The ony 1 I can think of in recent memory is Rondo. Also a lot of the good athletes who have home support go to Trinity and St. X and focus on football.

Manual, perhaps, but the basketball program there is poised to make a run the next three years, assuming all their players stay on board.

 

On Eastern, I don't see your argument. When is the last time Eastern made a splash in football?

Manual, perhaps, but the basketball program there is poised to make a run the next three years, assuming all their players stay on board.

 

On Eastern, I don't see your argument. When is the last time Eastern made a splash in football?

 

I meant to say Central. They were good in both this year. But basketball-wise they were very athletic and made a nice run in March. But basically basktball has fallen off some in Louisville compared to what it was.

I wouldn't agree on Central, even. They did win a state title in football, but it was in a relatively weak smaller 3A and they clearly had the most talent and athletes in the class. Central has much more tradition on the basketball side.

I wouldn't agree on Central, even. They did win a state title in football, but it was in a relatively weak smaller 3A and they clearly had the most talent and athletes in the class. Central has much more tradition on the basketball side.

 

Tradition true. The school is small and 75% of the students are females. They choose from lesser numbers of males than a lot of All "A" teams did.

Tradition true. The school is small and 75% of the students are females. They choose from lesser numbers of males than a lot of All "A" teams did.

Not quite true ... they are in Class 3A in football based on the number of boys in the school. None of the schools placed in 3A (Somerset and Russellville play up) are in the All A Classic.

I really look for the talent in Louisville to continue to get better in basketball. The AAU scene is getting bigger and bigger in Louisville. Alot of younger kids in louisville today come up through AAU's(Kimbro, Cosby, Jenkins, Sewell, Stroud) to name a few. I was at MID America Sports complex this weekend and the talent and abilities of younger kids today at the 5th and 6th grade level is amazing. A kid for the KY Gators 6th grade team hit 6/7 3 pointers. Basketball still pays the bills in the state from the Sweet Sixteen. Problem in Baksetball is there is no place for kids to go. We have one Junior college in the whole state. Our NAIA schools want D-1 transfers. The rest of the schools academic reuirements are so tough that a lot of kids cant get in.

 

That's not the answer. The only "big" game a sixth grader should be playing in is in a pickup game against his friends, brothers, whoever, where bragging rights are at stack the next day at school.

 

Way too many people turn AAU basketball into the be all end all, and coincidentally, way too many people make way too much money by being involved in AAU basketball. It's a necessary evil at the high school level because of NCAA evaluation periods, but it's become way to important to way too many people at the younger levels.:banana:

There is no doubt that basketball does not get the support football does for the most part in Louisville. Ballard is a basketball school, but all and all football is way more supported in Louisville. Also, I didn't mean to knock Lville area coaches. There are some very good ones. But a lot of the football programs are gettng some of the best of the best.

 

I doubted you were knocking Louisville area basketball coches, it just read that way. :thumb: And you're right, Louisville has attracted some really good football coaches in the last 10 years.

 

But, I've never gotten this "basketball school/football school" arguement. Or the perceived support from schools you are talking about. If a kid can play, he can play. Are you telling me a player averages less points a game if he's at a football school?

When I say the level of competition, I do not, necessarily, mean completing for the State Championship. We still have the perennial favorites who win a lot of championships, and we still have some team that struggle to compete. But, what I see as improving is the middle section of teams that have stepped up their level of competition.

 

10-15 years ago there was several teams at the top in each class, and there was a large group at the bottom that could barely field a team and struggled to win more then a few games. Then you had a probably one third of the teams that were good but just could not beat the very top of the class.

 

Now, I personally see, one or two very good programs at the top, and a very small group at the bottom that still have trouble competing, but the middle group has grown. There are a lot of teams in the middle that can and do win, and have a legitimate shot at beating the very top teams in their class. Maybe not every year, but they have become more competitive.

 

I don't know what class of football you follow, but I follow 1A and have since birth. So, I will use last season's 1A to illustrate my point. Beechwood was the top and everyone thought they would be champions by a land slide. They did win the State Championship, but by less they one score. LCA played them very close and even had a chance to beat them and fell short. Now you could say the two best teams played hard, but LCA only beat Raceland by two points in the district championship, on a last second field goal. And LCA beat Hazard to make it to the State Championship game, Hazard had beaten LCA earlier in the season.

 

Most people, not even me, would not claim that Raceland or Hazard are state powers, no one gave LCA a shot until after the Championship game. But, there was less then a touchdown that separated Beechwood, LCA, Raceland, and Hazard. Throw, Frankfort, Mayfield, and some other teams in this argument and you have quite a few teams at the top of 1A. That is very competitive.

 

But the bolded statement says it all for me. If the state creates enough classes, eventually everyone would look competitive. Right now in football, you have to be better than about 35 teams of close to the same enrollment to be called a "state champ". Heck, the soccer players have it tougher than that. In basketball, to be a state champ you have to be better than about 210 schools.

 

I understand what you're saying, but when I watch high school football, I don't think a lot about class. I try to decide if the team can play or not. I think the huge number of classes allows too many teams a crutch for developing.

I thought the overall level of play in the Sweet Sixteen tournament was down this year.

 

I don't think this is a valid argument for the strength of state basketball but maybe more about the balance. Four of the top 6 ranked teams were from the 11th region. Only one could go to the Sweet Sixteen. Same goes for the 7th region where I believe there were upsets.

I wouldn't agree on Central, even. They did win a state title in football, but it was in a relatively weak smaller 3A and they clearly had the most talent and athletes in the class. Central has much more tradition on the basketball side.

 

But they have obviously committed to being good at football though.

Back to the topic at hand, I do believe basketball is getting very strong in Kentucky. We just had a year with great players like:

 

Darius Miller

Landon Slone

Shelvin Mack

Arrez Henderson

Scotty Hopson

Victor Moses

Aaron Morris

Taylor Stewart

Tywan Edmonson

 

Just to name a few. Look at some of the players in the state next year:

 

Jon Hood

Dakota Euton

Chad Jackson

Ricardo Johnson

Elijah Pittman

Jake Jenkins

Vee Sanford

Richie Phares

Gelawn Guyn

Lawence Morones

Josh Whitaker

Chiles from Ballard

Cox from Ballard (I believe they will be back)

 

And a ton more very good players coming up!!!

But they have obviously committed to being good at football though.

Which doesn't mean they can't be good in basketball, too ...

That's not the answer. The only "big" game a sixth grader should be playing in is in a pickup game against his friends, brothers, whoever, where bragging rights are at stack the next day at school.

 

Way too many people turn AAU basketball into the be all end all, and coincidentally, way too many people make way too much money by being involved in AAU basketball. It's a necessary evil at the high school level because of NCAA evaluation periods, but it's become way to important to way too many people at the younger levels.:banana:

 

I used to agree with that and some of the issues you bring up are a problem. There are some shady characters. However if parents do their homework there are some legitimate programs out there right now that do a good job. Teams are more organized and good fundamentals are being taught. A young kid will benefit more on an AAU team run right then playing in the back yard. Too many AAU teams play every weekend and a lot of pressure put on these kids by parents and coaches. Thats why parents need to do their homework and ask questions about money, commitments, travel, and amount of games they will play. AAU has made a huge impact on improving the girls. Just look at all the young players starting on varsity teams in Louisville. They all played AAU's