devils advocate

2004- Lofton(UT), Rondo(UK), Ty Rogers(WKU), T. Farley(UofL), Demetrius Green(MTSU), Lonnel Dewalt(football), Demetrius Goins(NC A&T), Graham(Wright St)(?), Justin Taylor(T.Tech), Darnell Dials(EKU), Boris Siakim(WKU), Matt Mareseca(WKU), Parfait(Rhode Is.), Micheal James(FLA. Int), Green(S.Ill), Brock Whitney(Juco) 2007- Jeff Brooks(Penn St.), Pettigrew(WKU),Matt Walls(Marshall),Twany Beckham(Miss St), Ty Profit(Notre Dame),P.Knowles(UofL), Riley Benock(Miss St), J. Anderson(Liberty), Matt Fraliex(Murray St), VanHoose(Evansville), Thomas Coleman(NC A&T),Andre Miller(juco),Spencer Perrin(juco), Reggie Smith(juco), Austin Hill(Juco), Nick Britt(juco) Thought these were two of the better classes in the last 4 or 5 years. Any thoughts?

Morehead is DI but he's a walk on I beleive.

What do you think about all the talent J-Town has assembled. Remember when nobody talked about them. Heard they have the top middle school kid coming next year too.

Can't really argue wtih you about the talent being down, but it does go in cycles.Usually even in a down year they produce 3 or 4 DI players. May take 2 years (juco) to get there but....like this year Iroquois has a kid that probably goes DI after juco, Eastern had a big kid that'll probably go juco, The kid from Manuel that's going to Morehead St. would probably go DI with exposure from juco, and PRP's other big kid too. So there's always some talent even if its low level.

Look at the comparison of the two.... the devil versus the saint hugh? Bender was jealous of teammates.... this and that.... VanHoose was this great person...WOW! Aint got nothin to do with BBall! Hmmm....Proves my point exactly! Thanks, couldnt have proved it without you. Voting for All-State and Mr. Basketball in Kentucky is a joke!!!

Several years Louisville has multiple DI players. Many dont get recognized statewide but they're there. A lot of kids go to jucos then to DI programs. Some dont make the grades. Without a doubt most talented area in the state. In the past one of the most talented in the country. Street & Smith doesnt have an all metro team for Louisville in their magazine for nothing. I'd take the 2002(?) class over this years as far as overall talent! Carlos Hurt(Mcdonalds & UofL), Brandon Bender(Top 50 recruit & UofL), P. Sparks(WKU & UK), Carrier(UK), Tony Key(Top 75 recruit), Larry Obannon(UofL), Brian Thornton(Vandy & Xavier), Terrenc Harbut(Ohio U), Jerome Gumms(San Fransisco), Jeremy Kelly(UT-Martin), Coric Riggs(UofL), Adam Chiles(UK), Lamar Owens(S. Ill), Terrez Dewalt(EKU), Brandon Wardlow(Southern U.), Ronny Dawn(Marshall) Micheal Haney(EKU). Sure Im leaving someone out but oh well. Class had decent size too. This years class is lacking in the post.

Was Jared Carpenter maning the post or somone 6'4. See its not about numbers, i can drop 50 on some 5th graders. Its about who you do it against. Still folks are pulling out stats but none for the Pearl game. That's alright I'll find them and post em. If dude dropped 36 and 22 on Pearl he wouldve been a McDonalds. But he wasnt he was a productive overhyped high school player.

Oh Im not stat boy, but I've given a number of games that can be researched. All I have are raw numbers. Who was on the teams he torched. Other then Gadzuric nobodies been mentioned. And I've got all the state tourney stats but if you know bball the its all about the draw up there. He coulda been playin somebody from a silly region. So who hasn't given what? Still wanna see the Pearl stats.

Remember reading about that game. He gave up 26 though. How many free throws he shoot. Numbers can be deceiving you know! Wish I could think of that station outta Louisville you used to be able to order those KY/IN games from. Might be something you wanna look at....well maybe not! Anybody playing for UCLA before Howland got there was soft! The west coast aint know for bruisin. Naw dude was alright. Just couldnt see him doing that on Bender, Lamont Barnes, or Estill in high school. What about the Pearl game?

Thank you that's all I've asked people to acknowledge. Everybody is like Bender was this and that but he had a great high school career. I've already said VanHoose was decent, cant deny what he did but he was overrated to me. When you compare their high school careers they both accomplished great things but for some reason he didnt have the statewide recognition as Vanhoose, that was the point I was making. Still nobody has given me a solid reason other then his college career. Didn't see Bender in the torney I talked about but USA Today doesnt just give out a #4 ranking without your team being loaded. Was living in Nashville when Paintsville played Pearl-Cohn. Didnt make that game but saw Pearl play twice. Very athletic, long, and physical! Read the article though thats how i knew they got hammered. UHA was there too, can't remember who they played but they won their game. Not going to lie about being at a game to seem informed, check my work I follow the game of bball.

Tell me what VanHoose did when they played Nashville Pearl-Cohn with Ron Slay and John Henderson. Paintsville got drilled!

Do your homework! They played in many national tourneys while he was in high school and he produced. Know for a fact they beat one of the Cali powers pretty easy. USA Today had them (Cali team) like 4th. Many big kids on their roster. Still did what he wanted. A top 50 recruit. Played in the Roundball Classic with many Mcdonalds. They just dont give you that! Come on people get serious. Like I said earlier if you dont like him as a person thats one thing but gotta acknowledge dude had a high school career most folks would kill for.

Saw VanHoose against Owensboro when they won state. And I saw him as a sr. in both KY/IN All-Star games. Didn't do it for me. Nothing personal. I love talking basketball but I give examples of why I feel the way I do. Sure wish somebody could give me some solid claims to why they feel the way they do.

See "Sweet Sixteen" you gotta read all my posts before you come in with some off the wall comments. Not once have I said Bender was the best nothing. Actually nobody has told me why he wasnt good, other then what he did in college. The post is about high school. The man won state averaging a double double as a Soph. Had a national rep. And he was productive. As I've said before a lot less talented less productive folks have had more state wide recognition then Bender and its crazy to me. Somebody tell me something this man did as a prep player that he shouldnt have gotten any respect for and I'll leave it alone.

A high D1 talent. Coming off a state championship(that his 20 second half pts won by the way) ,with MVP honors, and you play at a top teir school! That award was his to lose! Had he committed to UK its a wrap. Now I will say this, if Miller does what he did this year with the ring and all its a way closer race. But if Miller loses in regionals and Mackey went back to state, even if he loses its his.

Agree with the Brian Thornton thing. Saw him play Carrier in the LIT. Posted up his wide body well. Didnt have the lift Bender did or the aggressiveness. BG had Carrier handle the ball a lot that game, actually was better with the ball then I would've thought. Still wasn't impressed. Did see tape of the game in the KOB where he hit all those deep threes! Pretty amazing. Sparks pretty much was his team, so he had the super green light. Used to be around the 3rd region so I got to see him a lot. Really shined in the KY/IN game. Handed Chris Thomas(Mcdonalds PG) his lunch! 26 in Naptown and almost a triple double in Owensboro. Had a sick length of the court bounce pass. The game is a great measure of talent cause everyone is a college level player. Plus the game is high intensity! Every year since I've been following whoever does pretty well in that game does well in college. There are exceptions of course.

So why was O'bannon better? I liked Bender because whenever I saw him play he demanded the paint area. I remember Ballard played Trinity at the L-ville Gardens in the 7th region finals I beleive. Trinity had a big frontline that year. Bender goes to the post, calls for the ball, splits a double team and throws it down on like a six-seven kid! Big time move for a soph.! Showed great aggressiveness. I just saw and liked what the college coaches and recruiters did. A big physical aggressive kid that wasnt scared to tussle underneath! Most big kids the state produces dont have that streak in them. And most people would say the game is more then dunks.... and their right.... but an aggressive dunk can ignite a team and the fans. Also a lot of times one team may be intimidated by the other so its always great to have that aggression in the post to block a shot, pull down that tough rebound in traffic, or posterize your man! Thats why I liked Bender. Would love to see some numbers for his high school career.

Sparks probably was the best player that year truthfully. Outplayed Chris Thomas(McDonalds then Notre Dame) in both games. Just didnt have that ring on his resume or he was Mr. Basketball. Carrier didnt have the resume either but to keep from giving it to Bender he got it. Every other year its the body of work. Like this year, if Mackey had stayed straight he wins it. Well maybe not since he commited to IU and Miller goes to UK. But based on the hype going into the season it was his to lose.

Wanted to see what everybody thought.

O'bannon became a better player in college but in high school he wasnt better then Bender. He wasnt on the wing like he was at UofL. Wasn't shooting the three like that either. Saw him at the LIT and in the KY/IN that year. Folks had to convince Ricky P too offer. Never was a state champion either. Thats' huge! Had Bender not won state everybody would be holding it against him. So why was Bender not the best player ,IYO, his sr. year? Read my past posts to see why he shoulda got it IMO.

Just mention Hopson playing harder this year because most posters say thats their biggest complaint! That's yours right?

Man I appreciate you keeping this going, I really do. I can talk hoops all day. Anyway I just think he was more talented then VanHoose. And he didnt get his due statewide because of his off the court issues. He accomplished the same things as VanHoose in high school and played against better talent IMO. So why wasnt he Mr. Basketball is my question. Throughout the history of the award if you go to state as a youngster and produce your name is at the top of the list for Mr. Basketball. Unless you do a Bud Mackey the award is yours. No body in his class rose to his level of play statewide. So Benders story shows me that its more then just on the court play that determines KY's post season awards. Just used VanHoose as an example.

Well most of the posters say Sloan had a terrible try out but he made the team. That's over Edmondson, Moorman, all the Louisville kids, and a host of others. Kids mthat are going to eventually have DI scolarships.

Not in high school! Only thing he got over him was Mr. Basketball. And Bender shoulda got that. Both got rings. So hey u can't really make that statement. If u wanna get picky neither is in the NBA so it doesnt matter what happened in college. But my focus was high school from the jump! And the big boys in the state yawned at your boy! Tubby woulda let Bender come to Lex!

I've been to the KY/IN All-star game in Frankfort and Owensboro and believe it or not most years the talent is very close. Only when IN's been loaded has it really gotten ugly. KY IMO puts some talented kids on the team but they also try to get kids from all over the state to attract fans. To me its not just about winning games. A UK connection is going to bring fans, so if you got that and some statewide hype you're in. Had Stepp walked on at UK he probably makes this years team based on being All-state.(Delph's rep. wasn't big enough state wide IMO). So my point is politics is huge here.