HSBallFan78

The missing players from Christian are not their main players from what I understand. Sounds like an excuse from the coach. Christian County beat Warren Central without the same players earlier this week by 10. And Warren Central is a very good team with 2 of the top sophomores in the state. Considering that 4 of the starters for Henry Clay had never played much varsity before, it IS a very good win for them. I think Henry Clay will surprise some teams this year. Of course when you are in a district with Scott Co and Bryan Station, you can be good and still not get out of your district. The 11th region is killer, along with the 7th.

Good win for Henry Clay considering they are such a young team. Lost 4 starters from last year. Saw the Keisling kid (soph) had 17 points tonight. A couple other sophomores to watch from HC are Tray Stewart, Brandon Wilder and Brandon Nichols. I thought both HC and Bryan Station would be down this year, but both got good upset wins.

Watched the Scott County team tonight. They should have won it, but the way things go sometimes. This may be the only loss Scott County has all year. I think SC may be the greatest team ever assembled in the state of KY. Not only do they have talent, but they seem to play well together. Good passing team. Run their plays and pass well. Euton, Jackson, Guyn have all improved from last year. Only real negative I saw, was Jacksons play. Although he has improved and is very good, he seems to want to dominate the ball. This happened last year at Rose Hill, which is understandable considering it was him and Euton. But with all this other talent, they have got to get the ball to Phares and Euton more down low. Personally, I am not a SC fan, but you got to admire what this team will be.

Hope Stenzel is OK. Has a lot of potential.

Would like to see Bell Co win it all.

Only 2 points each in the first OT? Wow. Early season with a lot of new young players.

LexCath will have challenges this year, even though they have Sanford and Botkin. Sanford will probably average 20+ for the season. Botkin is very strong also. They also have a couple of good young kids in Martin and Schuette. However their young big men have a ways to develop. Dunbar should be the clear favorite to win that district.

Nothing regular for the city teams. Sometimes one of the Lexington stations carries a local game. Usually just a Friday game though. On AM, it is usually 590 or 630. There is also a sister station on FM that carries some of the games (101.5 maybe).

Saw Corbin in the summer.... a very strong team. I am surprised they beat GRC as badly as they did. What about Zollo? I am hearing rumors that he may not be as good as "advertised". I am starting to worry a little about Billy G recruiting kids so early (8th-9th grade). Having played and watched basketball for 35 years, I have seen a lot of kids peak at 15, and some at 35. Seems to be a lot more risky, the younger you get committments.

I saw Clay County some in the summer, and they looked pretty solid. Of course it is hard to tell with summer ball, as the teams are usually not full strength due to football. They had some decent height, and strength. Several very good shooters, especially from 3 point range. Clay county has some tradition. When I was growing up, they were the mountain power-house for so many years. Bobby Keith's record was something like 800-125. What a coach. Henry Clay has a lot of new faces this year. Saw them in the summer also. Mostly sophomores and a couple of seniors. Not much height, but very fast. Prince Stewart is a great shooter, but has a very unconventional shot. Here are some young kids to keep an eye on from HC..... Daniel Keisling, Brandon Wilder, Trey Stewart(Prince's younger brother), and Justin Henderson. Wilder and Keisling had a great AAU season, winning the state 15U with the ICE. Ryan Fucci (TC), Taylor Martin (LexCat), Travis Purvis (GRC) were also on the ICE. Great that basketball season is upon us. KY has some fantastic talent and there will be some great tournaments and games this season. Wow, can't wait.

Didn't Bell beat them 21-0 earlier this year?

New faces for Henry Clay this year : Brandon Wilder (So) Marquell Johnson (Jr) TJ Barnes (Sr) Bradley Tilford (Sr) Justin Henderson (So) Daniel Kelsling (So) Brandon Nichols (So) Not very big, but fast. Should be a very good team by end of the season. They also have a large Sophmore class, which should grow together the next 3 seasons.

Franklin should have a very good team this year.

Shotwell is a very good player, and is improving. Guess he wasn't a "high profile" name, so the KHSAA didn't make him eligible. If his name was Euton or Jackson, he'd be eligible no matter what. Too bad for the kid. Doesn't seem fair considering they let Euton and Jackson play.

Not sure if Morones and Ashford are out. That makes all 5 starters from last year, and their 6th man (Larry Johnson). Plus the kids that went to Catholic. Bryan Station and Henry Clay are both young this year. Tough being in the same district as Scott Co.

Will probably be a challenging year for BS after loosing such great senior talent. In addition, I think they have lost a couple of their best incoming players to LexCath. Also hears some rumor about Ashford and Morones not playing this year. Anyone else in the know?

I heard this back in the summer that he was leaving. Then he wasn't, and now he is again. Guess they are wanting to get him some more exposure.

Is Otis Webb even eligible? He didn't play much last year due to academics. And when he did, I wasn't impressed. Watching him a couple of years ago, I thought he was the best player in his age in Lexington. But he seems to have kind of peaked to me. Just hasn't developed. Also Bryan Station related, is Seth Becham still there? Or was he one of the Bryan Station transfers to Catholic this year? Left off the list...... Brandon WILDER from Henry Clay. He started for Henry Clay's freshman team as an 8th grader. He and Fucci won state 15U AAU this year. Kimbro definitely the cream of the 2011 crop. Stenzel is getting better every game and should move up ranking wise. And I love Barksdale at Tates Creek. Should be a beast this year. Talent level in KY is getting back to where it used to be.

Looked pretty out of it during AAU season from the games I saw. However has lots of potential. Great kid on and off the court. Needs to take it to the next level this season, if he wants to get a good scholly. Look forward to seeing him.

Phares can be very good, if he WANTS to be. I thought he really turned it on during the latter part of last season. But I wasn't impressed when I saw him in the offseason/AAU season. I have heard he really isn't into basketball and that may be what impacts his motivation. But when he wants to be, he can dominate.

Overall a pretty comprehensive list, and I generally agree. Taylor Botkin also. He is a very solid player, but is kind of "quiet", and doesn't get the proper attention based on the rest of his team and region he plays in. Basketball practice starts Wednesday - Yea !

Everybody's a recruiting service now. Almost every game is recorded by someone and posted online immediately. You can see hundreds of players from the comfort of your own home now. And make your own "recruiting service". The coaches do this too, and they primarily go to the mega-camp events. The recruiting game has changed a lot the last 20-30 years.

I am not the greatest Guyn fan, but he should definitely be one of the top 6 underclassmen in KY. Stenzel did attend the Bolus camp this summer. Gelawn Guyn did not attend this year from what I know. I understand that Gelawn and his dad got into it with Bolus in 2007. Gelawn got mad cause he didn't think the team he got put on was getting enough attention, and that his team was not showcasing him enough. His dad came in and got into with Rick and so he left the camp early. Maybe that is why he is not on the Bolus ranking.

Seeing HC this past 2 years and the summer, they have a lot of potential. Their freshman and JV teams were very good last year. Each team probably lost 4-5 games all year. They will be small as the previous poster noted. But they are quick, smart, and should be good shooters. The key is will they play well together. They have 3 sophomores who played/started for their freshman team as 8th graders (Trey Stewart, Brandon Wilder, Justin Henderson). Keep an eye on the Wilder kid. He is probably one of the top sophomores in the state. His AAU team (ICE) has won the KY state 2 of the last 3 years. Came in 3rd in Nationals a few years ago, and 7th this year I believe. He is one of the smartest players I have seen (along with the Fucci kid from Tates Creeek), is an above average shooter, pretty fast, and decent defender. Can play 3-4 different positions. He should really have a breakout year this year. Also, they have a junior (Johnson) who is a very good pure shooter. I have seen him get on streaks and be unstoppable. TJ Barnes is a decent post/wing player, with good around the basket moves. But they will start 4 (possibly 5) new players this year. So it will be tough, considering one of the toughest districts and regions in the state. But by next year, they will be top 25 in the state I believe.

I saw them play this summer. Good solid team with potential.