Athena

When you pick an all-star team you should pick the very best your state has to offer. The "BIG" problem in Kentucky is: (1) They do not get the best players in the state ( they maybe had 5 out of the Top 12 in the state this year, most of the others were ordinary players (2) In order to assure you get the best players in the state you will need to appoint a Game Director and a girls director that know what they are doing(the individuals involved now are clueless) (3) An independent Committee should then be formed to determine who is chosen for the team, those Committee Members must have a broad and comprehensive knowledge of the Girls Basketball in Kentucky as well as be individuals of high integrity and honesty (4) In no case should any High School coach be involved in the selection of a player for the team where they are the players High School coach (as was the case this year with 5 players making the team) in each of those cases none of those players were rated in the Top 15 of the state. I am not accusing anyone in the process of anything dishonest, however the appearance of independence should always be of up most importance. Active high school coaches should not be involved with the picking of the team other than to make nominations.

Iroquois

Monthgomery

Simon Kenton

Casey County

Elizabethtown

Rowan County

Clay County

Henderson County

Iroquois

Casey

Elizabethtown

Henderson

Iroquois

Elizabethtown

Iroquois

Total Points: 92

I look for Highlands to bring their best defensive game this time around and end up with the victory. If they don't bring their best defense, it will go the other way.

What is the basis for the Division 1; 2; 3? Is it the Top 10; Second 10 and Third 10 in the Region and is it by position?

Good win for Wayne County. They have put together 3 quality wins going into the tournament. The 12th region should be interesting to say the least.

Hey Dreamland, that is a big win for the Wayne County group. What about the individual line on the players?

Does anyone have the line score by individual points, rebounds etc.?

Who nominates the kids for these awards? Henry Clay has a young lady Brittany Coles who should have been nominated.

The Blue Chip All-Stars Scouting Service run by the Underwood family submits players to the committee I know each year. I am sure there are others that provide information like the Adidas Grassroots organization and the Nike grassroots people also.

Did you see her play?

 

http://http://www.kyathletichalloffame.org/news.htm

 

From Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2008:

Jaime Walz-Richey

Highlands HS, WKU-state’s all-time leading scorer for boys and girls (4,948 points); Miss Basketball, national Gatorade high school Player of Year, 1996; ranked number one HS recruit in USA as senior; eight different organizations named her Kentucky Player of Year including the Associated Press and Courier-Journal; AP Kentucky Female Athlete of Year in 1996; Sports Illustrated Athlete of Month in February in 1996; Four years at Western, All-Sun Belt in 2000, played in three NCAA tournaments.

 

I had this conversation about who was the best girls player they ever saw play in the state of Ky. and Mrs.Fookes said without a doubt Jamie Walz.

I respect MS Fookes very much and it is commendable that she would make that comment. You may want to ask SHA coach who the best players she has ever seen play out of Kentucky. I am not sure how many times MS Fookes played against Chrystal Kelly or Arnika Brown( who was offered as a Freshman by Pat Summitt) both were rated # 1 players in the Nation by all of the major Scouting Serivces Nationally in their respective grades each year they played in H.S. They also achieved many of the same accolades as you noted above for Walz. Also to date Arnika has out performed Jamie and been much more dominating in the Sun Belt. Take a look at what Chrystal Kelly achieved while at WKU as well as in H.S. 3 State Titles b/4 going to WKU and everyone's Miss Basketball. Now keep in mind I have never said Walz was not a good player, she was certainly a very good player, I saw all of them play including Jamie Walz, IMO she was not nearly as dominating as Chrystal or Arnika! If Arnika (She was in 3 state tournaments and runner up to Chrystal in I believe 2 of those) had not come along at the same time as Chrystal she would have had multiple state championships as well. Both of those players were much more dominating and again IMO were overall much better players than Walz. I also give Hallman and Booth(from your region) who had multiple MAJOR COLLEGE offers the edge against Walz. Hallman was a lock down defensive player and was also Miss Basketball with other multiple accolades coming out of H.S. Booth was just as good and was Player of the Week multiple times overall and in a row as a freshman at Xavier in the very tough A10. Booth and Hallman both were quicker, more athletic over all better rebounders and much much better on the defensive side of the ball, no comparison there! I guess my point would be in high school if you have someone that can score, they play a lot of weaker teams in an overall weak region, and you take almost all of the shots you certainly are going to score a lot of points but that does not make you the best player. A very good player I agree but not the best, I still like Kyra Elzy and I bet you that Pat Summitt does as well. Sorry.

Didn't see the game but looks as if they have some nice size. Who are the starters for North, by number please?

 

[ATTACH]26548[/ATTACH]

#32 is Bramblett and she is just 5-9; she is their tallest player. But she is a very good player both inside and out.

I'll plead ignorance as to King Kelly Coleman - although I do know that his team got to the state tournament - but do not know what he did after high school. The Ervin Stepp comparison to Jaime Walz is apples and oranges - no one will rationally argue that Ervin Stepp was the dominant player that Jaime Walz was in high school - his point totals were a function of lots of shots and poor competition. Jaime Walz numbers reflect that she shot a lot when her team needed it - as a sophomore, she put up bigger numbers than when she was a senior, and her team got to the state finals.

 

I appreciate what Elzy did after high school, but I would be curious to hear how successful her teams were in high school - honestly I don't know. Unless she won a state championship, though, it's hard to sell the argument of her over Jaime - the records that Jaime holds are not limited to scoring - look at all-time numbers of rebounds and assists, as well.

Ervin Stepp was a dominant scorer and is still a legend in eastern kentucky just as Jamie is in northern kentucky, he put up more numbers than her, 50 plus points a game. So was King Kelly in high school put up big numbers over 50 per game his senior year. When Stepp came out everyone complained about Joe Hall not recruiting him, as it ended up he could not even start at Eastern KY U., Kelly bombed out at Kentucky Wesleyan! Now with Jamie, her high school career was pretty much the same, she took significantly all of the shots for her team and like Grigsby played against a lot of weaker teams in Northern just like there is now. IMO You have had 2 better players than Walz out of that area in the last 10 years and both of them graduated the same year; Tara Booth and Erica Hallman, IMO both were much better complete players in High School as well as in College, Check it out. Either one of those players could have scored 50 points a game if their coach called on them to do all of the scoring. No one could stop them. ELZY was a more complete and better player than WALZ, it is just that simple. Too many people get too caught up in the number of points scored, that is a fact. Sorry no disrespect to Jamie, she was a very good player and is a very good coach, without her NH would have beaten them by 20 even with a bad game. She will IMO have your team in the Sweet 16 this year and I predict again next year, you are lucky she may be the best coach up in that area after Nell Fookes, Boone County; Brian Neal, Thomas More and Coach Wentzel-NKU:p

Sat on the sidelines of this thread until now, but Athena certainly has a strong predisposition against Highlands - and Jaime Richey - that is evident in other threads as well. In this game against North Hardin, it was a single possession game until late in the fourth quarter - on North Hardin's home floor. Both sides can argue how well/poorly their team or the other played, but it should be obvious to EVERYONE that neither team dominated or outclassed the other. Come on.

 

And as for Athena's criticism of Highlands' level of competition, that is not the first time in the last week that she has raised it as an issue - last week it was to explain away the almost 5,000 points that Jaime Walz scored in the most illustrious high school career in Ky history. Which, by the way, is an utterly ridiculous argument in that Jaime did play in the state tournament numerous times and got to the state finals in 94 - oh, and she was the NATIONAL player of the year her senior year.

Hey Henry, You may want to get back on the sidelines, I believe I have complimented Highlands as a good basketball team and their little point guard played an excellent game. Check my post I have complimented your coach Jamie as well, she is a very good coach and was a very good high school player, excellent high school scorer (took most of the shots for her team), which I compliment her on. The problem you are experiencing is you need to recognize she may not have been the best player in the state during her career. Check it out, KYRA ELZY, 2 National Championship Rings and 1 Gold Medal, she was the consummate team player, defense, offense and understanding of the game, recruited heavily by Pat Summitt, most wins in history men's or women's coaches, also had offers from numerous other Big Time Colleges! I was just merely recognizing a Super Team Player in KYRA ELZY that in my opinion was just simply a better all around player than Jamie and her total career IMO proves it! You may also want to check where the North Hardin vs Highlands game was played, check it out, JOHN HARDIN! I do not believe in the past the 9th region year in and year out has the quality of teams you find in other parts of the state i.e. 5th, 6th, 7th and 11th to name a few. I do agree with you in that NH played a very poor game, yet won. Also for another poster that stated who is coming back for Highlands next year, NH has their 3 Juniors back and one of the top 8th graders in the state in the Roberts kid! Should be a good game next year!:dancingpa, Also as to Most Illustrious Basketball Careers in History; have you ever heard of King Kelly Coleman or Ervin Stepp(I believe both had great Illustrious high school scoring careers but bombed out in college, I believe they averaged over 50 per game for their careers but their careers in High School was legendary the competition and number of shots they put up has something to do with their awesome point totals but they were not great players:p!)

GPFAN, First of all no one is kidding you, you got a fair called game, not sure what your are referenceing about all 3 being horrible? Are you talking about Smiley, Edwards and Bramblett? If so you should get checked out then apologize for that remark, all 3 of those kids first of all are very good kids and secondly all 3 will be playing Division 1 basketball eventually, the 2 Juniors I believe have already been offered and the Sophomore is being recruited heavily by several D-1 schools. Thirdly there was no home cooking your team just simply got beat and lucky it was as close as it was! You may want to answere the question of how your team did against Iroquois, Manual, Dunbar and on yes we know about North Hardin, most of us know the answer on the others as well. I am sure the refs took those games away from you also. To be the best you have to play the best and WIN! Your team has not done that, live with it! Highlands is a good team and well coached.

I though if you were a middle school player and played up with a varsity team at the High School level and decided not to go to that school when you go to High School, they would have to sit out 1 year? Is that correct?

Does anyone have the stats who was doing the damage scoring and rebounding?

bjim, How did Highlands do against those teams you listed? Iroquois, Dunbar, Manual and North Hardin are all very athletic with some very good players, did Highlands beat those teams? Sacred Heart is a very well coached team, but I would not put them in the very athletic category. Highlands is a very good team and well coached, I believe they have a very good chance to be in the sweet 16 in Bowling Green. I noted you played Iroquois & Dunbar in Scrimmages that may be a little different than in a regular game but would qualify as playing against some very good athletes and players, did Highlands beat them? The game with NH was a good game very competitive both teams gave a very good effort. I was particularily impressed with the Allen kid, very good player who came to play.

Yes, your argument is Illogical in every regard. Your team played the very best that they could. The problem is they do not see that type of athletes in their region and when they do most of the time they just can't deal with it, some of your kids were over dribbling, getting out of control and frusterated thus the charging fouls etc. The referees did a very good job missed some got some right for both teams. I would suggest that your team get out of their comfort zone in the 9th region and play against some of the better athletic teams in the state. It will do all of the teams a lot of good. If the 3 best players for NH had played to their typicall game or gotten close to their averages the game would have been closer to a 20 point win or at least double digits. No disrespect just stating what I saw, NH is the stronger team and was able to win despite their 3 best players(all of which are D-1 Players) having a sub-par game.

Highlands and many opportunities to win this game and quite frankly should have won. They were only down three with a couple of minutes left. I have a new found respect for 9th region officials after watching the crew that was out there on Saturday. Katie Allen played great. The Birds had 5 offensive fouls called against them to North Hardin's none. Nevertheless Highlands still should have won the game and should learn many lessons from it. North Hardin is a very athletic team, good luck the rest of the year.

bjim, I don't agree with you! The team that won should have won, they beat Highlands 2 out of 4 quarters tied 1 quarter with Highlands winning the first quarter, I think by only 1 point. Why would you say something so illogical? Not only should NH have won the game they did without their 3 studs(Smiley, Bramblett and Edwards) playing well. They did get a good game, not great, out of their 8th grader. They beat Highlands, your team, with Allen getting probably the best game she has had all year, that may not happen again against a team with the talent that NH has. NH is the best team, I won't comment on refereeing, that is a non-issue, during the course of a game they miss them both ways!

Thanks for bringing Kyra Elzy up; I was not familiar with her - and frankly I don't know how I wasn't - but I think that, without any doubt, their senior year (1996) had to be the highest profile year in the history of Kentucky girls basketball. Anyone know how seriously Jaime was recruited by Tennessee?

She received attention from many major colleges because of her numbers just like the Grigsby kid. Neither was very athletic, not very quick or athletic, size probably was a factor for the major colleges lack of offers for Jamie. Jamie's lack of athletism and size may have been a factor at the college level. She was a scorer and in high school everything was built around her just like the Grigsby kid. Both were very good high school players and excellent scorers against the caliber of teams they played against. If they did not score for their team then their team would not have scored many points at all. Kyra Elzy on the other hand was a consummate athlete, with size, length and played every part of the game. Summitt recruited her heavily from her Junior year on and flew to her games in private planes over a 2 year period of time. It was a good year for Kentucky basketball.

Jaime was hampered by knee injuries in college. She was a good college player, but not the scorer like she was in high school.

There was another high school All-American that graduated the same time as Walz, she went to University of Tennessee ended up earning 2 NCAA Championship rings and one Gold Medal, named KYRA ELZY:p! Played for Mark Evans in High School at Oldham County had a great high school career but did not get a lot of shots but was very respectible at double digits in both scoring and rebounds I believe, a great defensive player, the system she was in spread the shots around but she was a great high school player(I believe she was also a High School All-American player), she was also exceptional at Tennessee, with those Championship Rings and Gold Medal! Great ambassador for Kentucky now an assistant coach at University of Kentucky! I was just wondering if we will ever have anyone again good enough to accomplish ELZY'S success at Tennessee? Also does anyone out there believe anyone will ever eclipse Geri Grigsby's scoring records? :dancingpa

The Blue Chip Early Exposure and Fundamentals Camp for Middle School Players is June 26-29 is at Mid-America Sports Center and cost $315 for 4 days http://www.bluechipcamp.com. I believe Coach Summitt's camp is around $625 but not sure.

Jaime Walz, now Jaime Richey (head coach at Highlands) scored 4,948 points and was named the national player of the year as a senior at Highlands in 1996. Will anyone ever approach that record (which would require averaging 28 ppg for 30 games ........ for SIX YEARS!) I think it is worth noting, too, that she did that against the top competition in the state, and didn't load up on small outmanned schools.

That is a lot of points regardless of who you get them against or how:p many shot you take a game. Does anyone have any information on what her College Career was like and how many records she had there?

Anyone have the players stats? Points, Rebounds etc.

Who is clearly the best player?

I would say Adia Mathies. She is rated # 1 by Blue Chip All-Stars and is rated as the # 4 player in the Nation. From what I have seen of her over the last 3 years she is one of the best I have see play in many years.

Martin is clearly the 2nd best player in the state. She shows up every night to play. DePaul is getting a great kid and an excellent player in Martin. Clifton is going to be a very good player for WKU as well. When Barnette accepts she is the 3rd option and looks to the other 2 girls first LCA is going to be very hard to beat. Look for them to be ready to play come tournament time, they should make the trip to BG. They have the talent to win it all again but must get Martin and Clifton's best game with Barnette being the 3rd option and looking to Martin and Clifton first IMO.

Hey hook shot I like your post never heard that saying "All of the eggs have not yet hatched but they sure have a good start" great saying I am going to try and remember it!