WVFrank

No doubt! Internet is a great thing. But it won't be quite like bring there. I saw every one of her 40 pre-season, regular season, All-Star exhibitions, and KY-IN games this past season. Put over 12,000 miles on the wheels............and on this old, rapidly deteriorating body, LOL!

See the link for more info. Very nice affair with a bunch of outstanding candidates and HOF inductees. LaRosa's has done this for a long while and it is so well done. Sydney then packed the car and headed off to the University of Florida. Gonna really miss watching her play! Adolphus Washington, Sydney Moss named LaRosa's MVPs | Cincinnati.com | cincinnati.com

From my perspective there is just a myth here that won't die. Here is my personal experience. It has been stated before on here that Nell "recruited" Sydney Moss. That is absolutely not true. When Sydney decided she was leaving Ryle she didn't even know where she might go, simply that she was leaving even if she had to sit a year. Sydney's mom, having heard about Nell and the Boone program, called Nell. Nell stated emphatically that see couldn't and wouldn't talk about Sydney until and if she ended up at Boone. Since Moss has been at Boone I know that at least two really good players have called Nell and she has given them the same answer she gave Moss' mom..........got to get enrolled and in class at Boone before I can talk to you. This past fall a really good player actually enrolled at Boone. Before she attended any classes her parent called Coach Fookes to ask how the daughter would "fit" into the Boone plans (she would have definitely fit.....perhaps enough to get Boone to the state finals!) and Nell told the parent she wouldn't discuss it until the player was in class. The parent apparently didn't like that approach and enrolled the daughter in another school. I know this has been Coach Fookes' approach in the last three+ years and I suspect it has always been her approach. And that is certainly different than some schools. Again, from personal knowledge, I know of coaches who used their contacts outside school basketball to come into Moss' home and recruit her to their school when she was a very young player. I think Boone could have some rough times this year, particularly with the loss of four seniors including Moss and the loss of a sure starter who has transferred because of a family move. I'd personally rather have great players but if those players aren't available I'd take Coach Fookes coaching my team over anybody I can think of. I suspect her team this season will sneak up and surprise some team that is "better" perhaps at tournament time. Just wanted to throw in what I know to be fact about Coach Fookes and the idea that she is out there recruiting players. I believe good players who have reason to transfer seek out schools and coaches who have demonstrated success. I'd attribute whatever transfers that have gone to Boone over the years to that. If there are any transfers to Boone, and one never knows how things might go, it won't be because Nell "recruited" them.

The combined margin of victory for the two games of 45 points is the second largest for Kentucky when they have swept the Indiana All-Stars. This group was considered by many to be a rather weak group in terms of depth, but I think they formed one of the best Kentucky "TEAMS" in the history of this event. They were very unselfish, shared the ball, didn't care who scored, and played great individual and team defense (at least until about the 8 minute mark of Saturday's game when some players realized it was in the bag and reverted more closely to a typical I'm-gonna-get-mine all-star team!). I had a gentleman sitting in front of me during the boys game bragging about the Indiana Girls Junior All-Stars. They are loaded if you look at credentials and early commitments, and he said "They beat the seniors worse than you guys did tonight". Well actually they didn't! The Indiana juniors beat the seniors in each of the two games they played by 11 points. Kentucky's girls won by 28 in Louisville and by 17 in Indianapolis, and I think that one would have been a near 30 point win had Kentucky stuck to the team play they had exhibited up until the 8 minute mark. I tbelieve they were up 22-24 at that point and the lead was growing. Just another justification to rate this group near the top of Kentucky Girls "Teams" in this series, IMO.

Kentucky girls beat Indiana 92-75, sweep All-Stars series Great job ladies!!!!!! Read more here: Kentucky girls beat Indiana 92-75, sweep All-Stars series | High school basketball | Kentucky.com

Great job last night by Jasmine........I thought she was outstanding! I thought the seniors were much more balanced. More girls got into the scoring act and the 3-point shooting was better. I know Kara Wright was in double figures (and played well overall) and I'm sure Kendall Noble was as well. The guards again played well, pushing the ball and distributing it really well also. Overall I thought a much more solid performance than at Lexington. Now the big ones are here!

Me too. I was shocked that the seniors won, much less by a 76-46 score! For those interested, the game was played in two 20-minute halfs and the seniors led the entire way. They jumped to a 9-3 lead, upped that to 11 points on a couple of occasions before the juniors cut the deficit to 6 at 30-24 about two minutes before the half. The seniors then closed on an 8-1 run to lead 38-25 at halftime. The second half opened with the seniors getting the ball and they ran a set play to Sydney Moss for an And-1 5 seconds in to balloon the lead to 16 and the rout was on. The lead continued to expand and was never closer than 18 from then on. Sydney Moss led the seniors with 19 points and 16 rebounds (in about 22 minutes of play) and I was surprised that the seniors looked to be in as good a shape as the juniors. My logic was that the juniors were playing AAU while the seniors, at least if Sydney was typical(!), weren't doing a lot to stay in shape. I know she had hardly touched a basketball for 3 weeks prior to going to camp this past Saturday. That didn't seem to affect her too much as she worked really hard on the boards. She did miss a couple shots that she'd normally make but overall didn't look to be too out of shape. Both teams missed a lot of open shots that you would normally expect them to make. Play was a bit ragged at times but the seniors played good pressure as well as team defense. Other seniors that flashed really good play at times, at least that caught my eye, included Jasmine Whitfield and Micah Jones. Jones was the seniors' primary 3-point shooter and hit a couple in a row during the second half. Several other of the seniors had solid moments as well and I was a bit surprised that they outrebounded the juniors despite a size disadvantage. The Manual trio of April Wilson, Kara Wright and Leasia Wright played solidly and the guards did a nice job of pushing the ball and distributing in transition or from a set offense. I'd have bet a huge amount of money that the seniors couldn't beat the juniors by 30 and I expect tonight's scrimmage in Louisville to be a different game. One sad note from last night. I saw Lexington Dunbar junior Jordan Fender on crutches (she was supposed to play with the juniors) and found out she had torn an ACL. Good luck to her as she works to come back from that.

Announced in yesterday's Parade Magazine.................although you have to go to the listed website to see the teams, girls and boys.

......................I understand that Ashland Blazer senior Mykal Farris was to sign with Georgetown, KY yesterday. I haven't found anything official online but that came "directly from the horses's mouth" last weekend so I think it is accurate. Congratulations to Mykal who is one of the players I liked well enough at the All-Star tryouts that I thought she should have been picked. Mykal is an outstanding track athlete as well and is competing this weekend in the State Meet in the long jump and triple jump.

Sydney Moss has been selected as the 2012 Dr. Rudy J. Ellis Sports Medicine Center Female High School Athlete of the Year. She was selected by a committee which is associated with the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame Board of Directors. The award is given to the top Female High School Athlete in the State of Kentucky. Sydney will be recognized at the upcoming Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Banquet on Thursday, June 7, 2012 at the Grand Ballroom at the Crown Plaza in Louisville, Kentucky. This award was given last year to Sarah Hammond of Rockcastle County.

Stats per Cincinnati Enquirer: Jordan Scott 7.9 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.9 TO/G, 2.0 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 36.8 FG%, 65.4 FT%, 29.4 3P% From what I saw, Jordan is a strong player, good size, maybe 5-10 (?) and put together. Solid but not outstanding numbers on a balanced team as a junior but definitely capable of more as a senior. One particularly impressive number for Jordan this year was 3.3 offensive rebounds per game. That's good work!

Sure they were! Not sure who you saw that could/would/should bump them out of that status. I'd be interested in hearing who you think those teams are. I'll be happy to discuss/debate this one, particularly with the data out there! Every poll one can find, Litkenhous, Cantrall, Massey, AP, whether opinion polls or computer polls, have those three teams in their final Top 10.

In most polls, yes, ND was a Top 10 team and I'd agree with that, based on all the other ranked teams I saw play. The ninth region was pretty solid with three Top 10 teams and two 1st team All-State selections.

I don't have a dog in this thread's particular fight but I did see a ton of girls hoops and I am firmly convinced Boone and Ryle were top 10 teams in Kentucky this season. Obviously not at the level of Manual and Marion County but who was. But definitely among the next best eight teams in the state IMO.

From Courier-Journal More on Kentucky girls’ All-Stars Posted on April 29, 2012 by Jason Frakes The four seniors who led the Manual High School girls’ basketball team to the state championship in March will get one more chance to play together this summer. April Wilson, Kara Wright, LeAsia Wright and Lauren Bodine were among the 12 players named Sunday to play for the Kentucky squad that will face Indiana in June during the states’ annual All-Stars series. Manual coach Stacy Pendleton is the head coach of the Kentucky squad and – along with the selection committee – didn’t hesitate to name the four Lady Crimsons to the All-Stars squad. “I think having a team with as much continuity as possible is only going to make it better,” Pendleton said. “I felt like what we predominantly had in the state this year was long, athletic kids. We were looking for that kind of team, and that’s the team we picked.” Manual is the first school ever to place four players on the girls’ All-Stars team. Mercy had three players selected to the 1992 squad – Christina Jansen, Katie Roalofs and Kristie Stuckenberg. In all, seven Louisville-area players were selected to this year’s squad, with Mercy twins Christine and Courtney Roush and South Oldham’s Jasmine Whitfield also picked. Boone County’s Sydney Moss was an automatic selection after being named Kentucky’s Miss Basketball on Saturday and will wear the No. 1 jersey when Kentucky faces Indiana on June 8 at Louisville’s Freedom Hall and June 9 at Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The other seniors selected were Marion County’s Bre Elder, Green County’s Micah Jones, Perry County Central’s Kendall Noble and Hopkinsville’s Christy Soldo. Wilson, Whitfield and Noble joined Moss as finalists for the Miss Basketball award. The fifth finalist, Ryle’s Jenna Crittendon, is injured and could not try out for the squad. Ten of the 12 All-Stars have signed with NCAA Division I schools. The Roush twins have signed with Northern Kentucky, which is the process of moving from Division II to Division I. Pendleton pointed out Jones, Soldo and Courtney Roush as the surprise players during tryouts earlier this month. “Micah Jones is a combo guard who shoots it well … and will be able to defend people because she’s so strong and fast,” Pendleton said. “Soldo kind of has an unorthodox game, but she can flat fill it up. She doesn’t miss from 12 to 15 feet. … And Courtney Roush fills a void for us because she’s probably our most sound post defender.” Pendleton expects the team to play a fast pace, much like his Manual squads. “I feel great about the team we picked,” he said. “I know what I’m going to get from my four (Manual) girls and (Mercy’s) two. And what I liked most is there wasn’t one ego in the gym (during tryouts). … They’re all in for winning this thing.” More on Kentucky girls’ All-Stars | Jason Frakes – KHS

From Mike Fields Blog in the Lexington Herald-Leader. Four players from Manual, six from Louisville. Thoughts? Girls’ Kentucky All-Stars basketball roster Published April 29, 2012 Sydney Moss of Boone County, who was named Miss Basketball on Saturday night, heads the girls’ Kentucky All-Stars, whose roster was announced on Sunday. The players were selected from tryouts held at Georgetown College on April 21. State champion Manual has four players on the all-star squad. Here’s the team that will play the Indiana All-Stars on June 8 in Freedom Hall in Louisville, and Feb. 9 in Bankers Life Fieldshouse in Indianapolis: GIRLS’ KENTUCKY ALL-STARS Player, school Ht (College) •Lauren Bodine, Manual 5-8 (Maine) •Bre Elder, Marion County 5-10 (Dayton) •Micah Jones, Green County 5-8 (WKU) •x-Sydney Moss, Boone County 5-10 (Florida) •Kendall Noble, Perry Central 5-10 (WKU) •Christine Roush, Mercy 5-10 (NKU) •Courtney Roush, Mercy 5-11 (NKU) •Christy Soldo, Hopkinsville 5-11 (Murray State) •Jasmine Whitfield, South Oldham 5-11 (Cincinnati) •April Wilson, Manual 5-8 (Purdue) •Kara Wright, Manual 5-11 (Southeast Missouri) •LeAsia Wright, Manual 5-8 (WKU) Head coach: Stacy Pendleton, Manual Assistants: Chris Souder, Mercer County; Jennifer Parsons, Corbin Fields Notes

Heard today that Boone County's senior post player Lydia Nash had a great visit to Union College and was offered a full ride including athletic and academic aid. Congratulations to a great young lady and family and best wishes, Lydia, as you continue your education and basketball career!

Good to see you as well! Looks like your list and mine are not a lot different. Tough to look at that many players in that short time frame and pick 12. And, as I said before, particularly when one has a "vested interest" as we do and you're more focused on that than truly evaluating everyone. I agree that the deficiency will be in post players and overall size. I know the Indiana team has 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 at least so the Kentucky team will have to scrap on the boards and try to press and play uptempo and score in transition. I agree with you on the three Manual players being deserving and would personally have no problem if Coach Pendleton chooses them in his mix.

I attended the All-Star tryouts at Georgetown College yesterday to get to see some players I had not had the opportunity to see and to just watch how things went. There were 37 players on the invited list (Ryle's Jenna Crittendon was not on the list because of her operation) and could determine two no-shows. There may have been more because I could never get an accurate count, but the two I did identify as absent were Akex Botkin from Lexington Catholic and Kara Taulbee from Walton Verona. The morning session opened with a series of station drills, rotating and fast paced and led by a number of state coaches. The purpose seemed to be two-fold, get the players loosened up and let the coaches see how they handled and executed the skills of the various drills. The players were then broken into 4-person teams and they played full court, 5:00 minute games for the rest of the morning session. This gave coaches the opportunity to see players in game like situations. Kentucky head coach Stacy Pendleton of state champion Manual told the players prior to opening drills that coaches weren't looking for just abilty to score but how players worked together and particularly how hard and tough they played man-to-man defense. The players broke for an hour and a half for lunch of chicken and rice (pretty good according to a report I got!) before resuming the afternoon session. After some fundamental passing drills with a lot of movement to loosen the players, the afternoon session was filled with 10:00 minute, officiated (loosely!) games between four teams reached by dividing up the players. This is where I should have gotten an accurate count on the number of players actually there but I was too interested in watching games. After a number of games Coach Pendleton called the players together to thank them for their participation, congratulate them all on outstanding careers, and to tell them the announcement of the 12 player team to represent Kentucky in the two game series against the Indiana All-Stars would come about April 30. I'm glad I don't have to pick that team. There was a lot of talent on display yesterday and getting that down to 12 players is a tough chore. With that said I'm going to give my thoughts on how the team might be composed. I think the four Miss Basketball candidates on hand will be on the team. That would be Sydney Moss, April Wilson, Jasmine Whitfield, and Kendall Noble. I thought each of those players demonsrated yesterday why they are candidates for the Miss Basketball award. I think Manual's Kara Wright had a very good day and will be a selection as well. I'd add Marion County's Bri Elder to that list also. The further one goes down the list te tougher it gets as there are so many players whose abilities are so close. I suspect Owen County's Rianna Gayheart will get a nod. That's what, seven? From there on I'm not sure I could pick another 5 players definitively. From my personal perspective, and I'll admit I was watching one player most of the time as opposed to trying to evaluate all the players, I'd have to lump a number of players together as candidates for those final 5 spots. In that group I'd have Manual's Leasia Wright, the Roush twins from Mercy, Christy Soldo from Hopkinsville, Mykal Farris from Ashland, Kristen Jacob from Lexington Christian, and maybe Micah Jones from Green County. I'm probably missing some others that may have impressed the coaches but I'm speaking from what I saw. Some players I hadn't seen before in that list include the Farris young lady who impressed me as I watched her go against Moss. Same for Jacob from Lexington Christian. She is a big body who banged hard with Moss in the post and showed some good post positioning during that battle. The Kentucky team is going to be short on size and that's why I see her as a candidate. I had seen a bit of Soldo at the Sweet Sixteen and liked her and thought she did well yesterday. She is long and again that's something the Kentucky team doesn't have in abundance. I really liked what I saw from Jones in drills, including the one-on-one sessions during the morning workouts. Again, glad I don't have to pick. It will be interesting to see the make-up of the final 12. Coach Pendeleton is in a bit of a tough spot with 4 of his own players in the tryout group. I can definitely see two of his players on the team and maybe three. That would probably help the Kentucky team as his players would know his system and how he wanted things to run. It could also draw some criticism but his players are definitely legimate strong candidates, IMO. I know there were some other BGP people there yesteday and I'd be interested in their inputs as well. Particularly as to players I haven't mentioned that they saw and liked. One last comment. It was obvious that a lot of the players weren't in top condition. Probably understandable with Spring breaks and the tendency to not work nearly as hard in the off season. Makes one wonder if tryouts shouldn't occur shortly after the HS season is concluded.

Thank you! And the same can be said about your young lady as far as an amazing senior year. She certainly had one also. Best of luck to you guys for the future.

I suspect I'll still be spending time in Kentucky next year. Syd's "little" brother Thad will be a freshman and I figure playing a little ball..........Next!

LOL!! No I didn't foresee anything like what has happened but I did see an abnormal, God-gifted athleticism as early on as 3.

I didn't realize this was in the Cincinnati Enquirer or I'd have linked it originally. Boone County standout Sydney Moss sending her jersey to Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame | The Recruiting Trail

The Womens' Basketball Hall of Fame has requested the "loan" of Boone County's Sydney Moss' jersey to "display in the Hall's 'Ring of Honor' in recognition of her outstanding play for the 2011-2012 season". The jersey will be among some 100 jerseys hanging in the Ring of Honor, including high school and college All-Americans. This is something the HOF has done since 1999, hanging the jerseys for about a year until the next season is complete and new batch of honorees' jerseys are raised. The HOF says the jerseys hung over the years represent an amazing group of players. Congratulations to Sydney on another very nice honor! :thumb:

I figure No. 23 should be Courtney Rouse as you surmise. I can't find a Taylor Stricklen on another team so this is probably just a mistake and should be Sara Sticklen.