King of the Bluegrass

Fairdale vs. Martin County Bardstown vs. North Oldham McCracken County vs. LaRue County Male vs. South Oldham Madisonville vs. Clay County Trinity vs. Collins Ballard vs. Trotwood-Madison (OH) Palmetto (FL) vs. Bishop McDevitt (PA) KOB 2019 Bracket Back Page.pdf

See him in the Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass December 19-23 at Fairdale High School.

The KOB will be Dec. 19-23rd this year, below are the participating teams. Kentucky Teams: Trinity Madisonville-North Hopkins Male Ballard Clay County Collins Fairdale LaRue County McCracken County North Oldham Sheldon Clark South Oldham Bardstown Out of State Teams: Wycote Bishop McDevitt (PA) Miami Palmetto (FL) Trotwood Madison (OH) By mutual agreement Brentwood Academy will not be playing in this years tournament. We immediately added Bardstown. Please let me explain. Two years ago Brentwood had a contract to the attend the KOB with their McDonald's All-American Darius Garland. His father, Winston Garland, played in the NBA, an college basketball at Missouri State in Springfield, Missouri. The Bass Pro Classic invited Brentwood Academy to play in their tournament in January. Because of THSAA rules they could not play in both the KOB and the Bass Pro. Missouri State was going to honor Winston and they requested that we allow them to go to Springfield so Darius could be in attendance when he was honored. We immediately let them out of their contract. Darius was the 5th pick in the 2019 NBA Cleveland Cavaliers. On Tuesday Coach Hubie Smith called me an said that he was retiring and that his two best players had transferred...one was a top 20 junior Randy Brady. Coach Smith's assistant got the job and they both agreed that in fairness to the KOB they would be willing to drop out of this years tournament. Brentwood Academy is one of the top programs in Tennessee and they will certainly be back in the KOB in the future.

Please don't under estimate how much we appreciate all the great teams and players across the state of Kentucky. It has been our tradition for 39 years to have 12 kentucky schools and four out-of state teams. It's not easy making the selections...this year it was extremely tough picking the Kentucky schools and even tougher selecting the out-of-state schools. Just this week I had three schools from outside Kentucky wanting to participate. We absolutely like the teams mentioned above but sometimes we must make tough decisions based on paying the expensive. The 2019 field has teams from western Kentucky (McCracken County and Madisonville North Hopkins) and two teams from eastern Kentucky (Clay County and Sheldon Clark...now Martin County) that have great fan following...but tough to make the trip before Christmas. We think all four of these teams will be ranked in the Top 20 preseason. Now...in an effort to pay the bills we need good teams with some very good all-state canidates that will not only bring their fans but will also draw a crowd. Sorry, but some shools just draw better than others and we don't even break even when the gate reciepts won't pay the bills. We are so thankful to all our sponsors...or we couldn't have this event. Sometimes we make mistakes...but for the past 38 years I think we have done a great job of selecting the teams. Last years KOB had five states represented: 5 States...5 in Final Four Trinity - Kentucky State Champions Brentwood - Tennessee Runner-up - Division II / Class 2A Evanston Township - Illinois Runner-up - Class 4A South Shore - New York City - PSAL AA Champions (New York City) - State Runner-up South Miami - Florida Class 9A Final Four

In my opinion, the greatest player to ever play high school basketball in Kentucky, "King" Kelly Coleman passed away today. I was at a gathering in Wayland two weeks after the state tournament. About 50 of us got together because Kelly was not doing well. Late in my career I had the pleasure of spending some time with him at several events. My heart is filled with prayers for all those in Wayland and around the state. I do not know what the arrangements are at this time.

Use Google Chrome on your computer.

The games will be streamed live on the National Federation High Schools network. Go to: NFHSnetwork.com Search: King of the Bluegrass Open account: $14.95 All games are monitored from Atlanta. Not all games will have commentators. Semi-Finals and Finals will have commentators December 19 - 23, 2018 Fairdale High School 1001 Fairdale Rd. Fairdale, KY 40118 Tickets: $10.00 children under 6 free Saturday, December 22, West Gym - Winners Bracket Consolation Bracket Final 3:00 PM University Heights vs Evanston Township Fifth / Sixth Place 4:30 PM Madisonville vs Nashville Brentwood Academy Third / fourth Place 6:00 PM Trinity vs Ballard Championship 7:30 PM Shelbyville Collins vs Brooklyn South Shore Get here early and see our pregame ceremony.

All 28 games will be streamed live on the National Federation High Schools network. Go to: NFHSnetwork.com Search: King of the Bluegrass Open account: $14.95 All games are monitored from Atlanta. Not all games will have commentators. Semi-Finals and Finals will have commentators December 19 - 23, 2018 Fairdale High School 1001 Fairdale Rd. Fairdale, KY 40118 Tickets: $10.00 children under 6 free Saturday, December 22, West Gym - Winners Bracket 4:30 PM Walton-Verona vs Nashville Brentwood Academy 6:00 PM Madisonville vs Lexington Christian 7:30 PM Trinity vs Collins 9:00 PM Ballard vs Brooklyn South Shore East Gym - Consolation Bracket 4:30 PM Spencer County vs South Miami 6:00 PM Fairdale vs LaRue County 7:30 PM Louisville Male vs University Heights 9:00 PM Madison Central vs Evanston Township (These teams are not list as a bracket from top to bottom) Sunday, December 23, Championship Day - 4 Games - 8 teams 3:00 PM Consolation Bracket Final 4:30 PM Fifth / Sixth Place Final 6:00 PM Third / Fourth Place Final 7:30 PM Champi0onship Game - be early for opening ceremony with Churchill Downs bugler, Steve Buttleman,

All 28 games will be streamed live on the National Federation High Schools network. Go to: NFHSnetwork.com Search: King of the Bluegrass Open account: $14.95 All games are monitored from Atlanta. Not all games will have commentators. Semi-Finals and Finals will have commentators December 19 - 23, 2018 Fairdale High School 1001 Fairdale Rd. Fairdale, KY 40118 Tickets: $10.00 children under 6 free Friday, December 21, West Gym - Winners Bracket 4:30 PM Brooklyn South Shore vs Nashville Brentwood Academy 6:00 PM Madisonville vs Collins 7:30 PM Ballard vs Walton-Verona 9:00 PM Lexington Christian vs Trinity East Gym - Consolation Bracket 4:30 PM Evanston Township vs South Miami 6:00 PM Fairdale vs Louisville Male 7:30 PM Spencer County vs Madison Central 9:00 PM University Heights vs LaRue County (These teams are not list as a bracket from top to bottom) Saturday, December 22, - all 16 teams play Sunday, December 23, Championship Day - 4 Games - 8 teams 3:00 PM Consolation Bracket Final 4:30 PM Fifth / Sixth Place Final 6:00 PM Third / Fourth Place Final 7:30 PM Champi0onship Game - be early for opening ceremony with Churchill Downs bugler, Steve Buttleman,

All 28 games will be streamed live on the National Federation High Schools network. Go to: NFHSnetwork.com Search: King of the Bluegrass Open account: $14.95 All games are monitored from Atlanta. Not all games will have commentators. Semi-Finals and Finals will have commentators December 19 - 23, 2018 Fairdale High School 1001 Fairdale Rd. Fairdale, KY 40118 Tickets: $10.00 children under 6 free Thursday, December 20, 4:30 PM Nashville Brentwood Academy vs South Miami 6:00 PM Brooklyn South Shore vs Evanston Township 7:30 PM Fairdale vs Madisonville 9:00 PM University Heights vs Lexington Christian (These teams are not list as a bracket from top to bottom) Friday, December 21, - all 16 teams play Saturday, December 22, - all 16 teams play Sunday, December 23, Championship Day - 8 teams place

Five hour countdown. Coach Chris Mack will be here.

24 hours and counting

All 28 games will be streamed live on the National Federation High Schools network. Go to: NFHSnetwork.com Search: King of the Bluegrass Open account: $14.95 All games are monitored from Atlanta. Not all games will have commentators. Semi-Finals and Finals will have commentators December 19 - 23, 2018 Fairdale High School 1001 Fairdale Rd. Fairdale, KY 40118 Wednesday, December 19, 4:30 PM Louisville Male vs Collins 6:00 PM Trinity vs LaRue County 7:30 PM Madison Central vs Walton-Verona 9:00 PM Ballard vs Spencer County Thursday, December 20, 4:30 PM Nashville Brentwood Academy vs South Miami 6:00 PM Brooklyn South Shore vs Evanston Township 7:30 PM Fairdale vs Madisonville 9:00 PM University Heights vs Lexington Christian (These teams are not list as a bracket from top to bottom) Friday, December 21, - all 16 teams play Saturday, December 22, - all 16 teams play Sunday, December 23, Championship Day - 8 teams play

December 19 - 23, 2018 Fairdale High School 1001 Fairdale Rd. Fairdale, KY 40118 Wednesday, December 19, 4:30 PM Louisville Male vs Collins 6:00 PM Trinity vs LaRue County 7:30 PM Madison Central vs Walton-Verona 9:00 PM Ballard vs Spencer County Thursday, December 20, 4:30 PM Nashville Brentwood Academy vs South Miami 6:00 PM Brooklyn South Shore vs Evanston Township 7:30 PM Fairdale vs Madisonville 9:00 PM University Heights vs Lexington Christian (These teams are not list as a bracket from top to bottom) Friday, December 21, - all 16 teams play Saturday, December 22, - all 16 teams play Sunday, December 23, Championship Day - 8 teams play

Watch out for Male and Madisonville.

In the 1970's the Fairdale coaches met Ocola Vanguard coach Jim Haley while working at B/C All-Stars Basketball Camp in Milledgeville, Georgia. It was there that in 1980 Haley invited Fairdale to his prep tournament...and the rest his history. In December of 1980 Coach Stan Hardin, Assistant Coach Lloyd Gardner and Athletic Director Butch Greschel headed south for an after Christmas basketball tournament in Ocala, Florida. In 1974 Coach Jim Haley, the head coach at Ocala Vanguard, was the brainchild of the first high school tournament in the United States with a national flavor… the Kingdom of the Sun. While enjoying the beautiful Florida sun between games, the basketball guru’s decided if this would work in Florida, in the middle of football country, it would certainly become contagious in a state where basketball is king, Kentucky. Even before the troops arrived home the tournament was named the “King of the Bluegrass Holiday Classic”. Coach Gardner dreamed-up the logo which has been copyrighted. On December 19, 1981 the first ball was tossed up in the King of the Bluegrass. As history will show this 16 team / 26 game prep classic has been recognized as one of the nations finest. In 1981 Tennessee High School from Bristol, Tennessee came to the King of the Bluegrass...went home and started the Arby's Classic. In all, Fairdale attended the Classic six time. Because of our great relationship with "The Chief", he would always call us for recommendations about Kentucky teams...and many of our schools have participated. Jim and I talked almost every month about who we had in our tournaments and who would you recommend on a National level. Today we lost a great friend and basketball on a National scene has suffered the loss of one of the great innovators in our game...coach Haley. Below is the story...copy and paste: Longtime Vanguard coach Jim Haley dies at 74 - Sports - Ocala.com - Ocala, FL

Kyle Rode - Lexington Christian - Liberty University Lance Jones - Evanston Township - Southern Illinois

The following players will be playing in this years KOB...and where they have made a commitment. David Johnson - Trinity - University of Louisville Kekeyvan Tandy - University Heights - Xavier Dieonte Miles - Walton-Verona - Xavier Isaiah Cozart - Madison Central - Western Kentucky University Kyle Rode - Lexington Catholic - Liberty University Isaiah Richards - South Shore (NY) - Florida International Anthony Adkins - LaRue County - University of Louisville Football Drew McGowan - University Heights - Mississippi State Baseball December 19-23, 2018 Fairdale High School Kentucky Teams Fairdale Trinity Ballard Louisville Male Collins LaRue County Lexington Christian Madison Central Madisonville North Hopkins Spencer County University Heights Walton Verona Out-of-State Brentwood Academy - Nashville TN / 2015-16-17-18 State Champions Evanston Township - Evanston, IL / IHSA Class 4A 3rd Place South Miami - Miami, FL/FHSAA 3rd Place South Shore - Brooklyn, NY/ PSAC AA Champions

November

We just got New York City South Shore's Roster for this year Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass. Wow...they are big! 1 - 6'9" 2 - 6'7" 4 - 6'5" 2 - 6'4" 3 - 6'2" 1 - 6'1" 1 - 5'10"

You can see him play in the Chad Gardner Law King of the Bluegrass December 19-23 at Fairdale High School.

We invited Covington Catholic and they are going to play four Cincinnati schools the week before Christmas. I think they will return to the KOB in 2019...they are a class program. As for Fern Creek...several of the parents were out of control after they won the championship game. One parent was yelling and screaming at our athletic director and another was making comments to our coaches...we don't need that. Enough said.

It would be hard for this tournament to exist outside of Fairdale. The KOB put Fairdale on the map for high school basketball. The tradition is what keeps it going...and the community is what keeps the tadition going. Our tradition of highly ranked Kentucky teams and players along with powerhouse teams from outside Kentucky has produced over 450 Divison I players and over 50 NBA, NFL and MLB players. Add to that the numerious State Champions, Mr. Basketballs winners, competition, college coaches in attendance and the hospitility attracts teams from across the nation. This school and this community takes tremendious pride in putting on a first class tournament. Thanks to all who help to make this survive for 38 years...and yes, thank you the fans.

Yes indeed Randy Brady has enrolled at Brentwood Academy. I talked with coach Hubie Smith last night and he confirmed that he is playing withBrentwood Academy this summer.

Please keep your discussion to your interest in the KOB and this years teams. Thanks