wheelhouse

I was at the game and not far from the pep section in question, and nobody meant any harm. The only time some folks became uncomfortable was when the chant of "A-C-T" went up. Nothing to fight over, but the old suburban-schools-are-smart-and-urban-schools-are-athletic stereotype is unappealing even when it's just in jest. Beechwood is an acknowledged academic powerhouse whose programs should be admired and emulated, but I am under the impression the current Holmes team carries a decent GPA and has at least one Kentucky Governor's Scholarship candidate on the roster. And believe it or not, Holmes students are surprisingly quiet at home games -- no targeted chanting, anyway. Holmes parents and alums, on the other hand, have been known to chime in on occasion.

Up to this point Markel has played for a few different AAU teams in different regions, which may have limited the looks he's gotten. The Travelers should be a great fit for him and he will certainly get noticed from here on out!

If these players have been splitting squads all season then I doubt anybody has any beef. On the other hand, if they haven't played JV until the tournament commenced -- well, if more than one team is doing it I assume nobody is breaking any rules, but it doesn't seem quite kosher. The entire JV phenomenon is odd in general, at least in this part of the country.

So it's been confusing and seemingly unorganized for years? Just kidding -- many thanks for helping to clear things up and thanks also to the hard-working, patient folks who make tournaments happen. I do wish more BGP threads involved JV action in general -- but just in case that sounds like I'm volunteering, I hereby retract the statement.

My apologies if there's already a thread on this. Apparently some version of a 2013-2014 JV tournament is already underway...which is news to some players and families. Yesterday (a.k.a. Friday, Jan. 24) Holmes' JV played at Calvary Christian and next weekend the winner -- in this case, Holmes -- will play the winner of a Ludlow-vs.-Lloyd game. There may be other games going on but nobody seems to know one way or another, and some players involved did not even know about yesterday's game until, well, yesterday. Last year's JV season was confusing enough given the fact that 1) some regular season games were counted as playoff games and 2) the JV final was presented as an unadvertised opener for the freshman championship at CCH. This season's JV situation seems to be at least as puzzling, and it's only January. Any clarification will be much appreciated!

I think that is a great point -- if we equate "level playing field" with "fair" then many of us will produce different definitions of what it is. At the same time, I would suggest that most of us know "unfair" when we see it. Those of us who express concern over the current transfer situation(s) probably do so because of the following scenarios: 1. For any number of reasons, School A develops reputation as athletic powerhouse. School A then attracts transfers who don't like being the only strong players in small or underdeveloped programs. Less-than-level playing field ensues, and it becomes self-perpetuating as each year brings its own group of regional (or international) kids and parents who like the idea of winning year after year. Schools B, C, and D can't promise that type of winning, hence they get few if any high-end transfer athletes, hence the gap persists or widens. As one college coach recently told me about a particular high school: "Not everyone starts out playing at [school A] but sooner or later everyone sure ends up playing at [school A]." 2. Player A sees the writing on the wall as his current coach plans to move or as a bunch of senior athletes graduate with a "talent gap" looming over the next few years. Player B works his way up the ranks at his local school and all evidence suggests that if B works his posterior off this summer, then he'll finally start in the fall. Player B does work said posterior off, only to watch helplessly as A swoops in towards the end of summer workouts. 3. School C has a big enough local talent pool to stay competitive in sports, but the athletic program doesn't always emphasize academics enough for Player C or his family; some of the players and their families are comfortable with that situation, which makes Player C's family even less happy. Now, Player C is a decent player who doesn't necessarily want to win more games or get more clock; he just wants to play ball at a school with different educational resources and/or attitudes. If he transfers to another school for that reason, he may well be told that he can't play ball for a year -- and after all, according to some folks' logic, if he's moving on the basis of academics rather than athletics, shouldn't he be okay with having to sit out a year? There aren't any easy answers, but "let everyone play wherever they wish whenever they wish" isn't a coherent philosophy, and the current inconsistencies in enforcement make things confusing. I'm sure BGP contributors have other examples as well as some rebuttals, and that's what makes this a great place to hang out!

I'm giving this one last shot: "nobody" means "nobody" -- it does not mean "no other BGP members." The statement that originally started this woeful exchange was your assertion that "not one" person -- your words -- at other schools would be upset by the types of transfers occurring at Cordia if those other schools were receiving those transfers. I stated then, and I will restate now, that you cannot support that type of statement unless you know what everyone at NCC, Holmes, and countless other schools think about the situation. I also pointed out that not everyone on BGP will necessarily weigh in on this topic because relevant players and their families could easily see the posts and take them personally. Likewise, your current assertion that "all schools in the state benefit form transfers somehow" is unsupportable unless you quite literally know what's going on at every school in the state. For the record, I'm still not saying your ideas are wrong; I am simply saying you are making statements that are too broad and too absolute to prove, and that some mindful rewording could promote a way better discussion than the one we're having now. If your primary goal is having the last word, by all means respond and claim victory. If, on the other hand, you would like to elevate the level of discourse the next time this sort of topic surfaces, please consider a different approach. Either way, I will respect your opinion.

Those are excellent questions. I do not know whether state athletic organizations maintain those statistics -- at least officially -- but it's possible that someone somewhere has produced an article, thesis, or dissertation that involves those issues and uses those numbers. I can't promise anything, but give me a few days.

I understand quite clearly what you are saying, including the larger context of your statement, and I use the word "humbly" in all seriousness rather than sarcastically. In fact, I am not even saying that I necessarily disagree with all of your basic points. However, the way you used the term "crap" indicates that you believe *everybody* who suggests academics should be at least as important as athletics when considering a transfer is being hypocritical (though some of us really mean it when we say it). You reinforce that perception in this comment when you claim that "nobody cares when a kid who doesn't play any sports at all leaves a lesser school or a horrible environment to get a better education or a better life experience at an out of district school." You are obviously a bright individual with a decent handle on language, but "everybody believes this" or "nobody cares about that" are unsupportable statements -- they do not benefit your argument or the larger discussion.

While I appreciate the passion everyone brings to this debate, I think we should be careful about telling other people what they are thinking. Unless you have spoken to all parties involved at NCC and Holmes -- players, parents, and staff -- then you are not in a position to state that "everyone" is okay or not okay with those schools' recent transfers. Believe it or not, not everyone comes to BGP to express their opinions. Plus, I imagine some people who might argue against certain players' eligibility would choose to stay quiet, because they do not want to be (mis)perceived as posting negative comments about the players or families themselves. As a professional educator and a sports fan, I would also humbly suggest that valuing academics over athletics is not a sentiment that deserves to be in the same sentence as the term "crap."

Thanks for pointing this out, BBF -- JV players often fall between the cracks, particularly at schools where the varsity squads make news regularly. Not only did Holmes' JV beat Woodward's JV by over 30 last night, but I'd hope folks would remember the recent Stop-DWI Holiday Classic final in which Holmes' second unit outperformed Dixie's starters for the opening eight minutes.

I was told by a Holmes player that McCracken County requested the match-up with the Bulldogs.

Not to stray further off topic -- and I defer to Walter on this -- but I do not believe Holmes has set their starting 5 yet.

Okay....This summer the Brolley kid was asked back to Tusculum's elite camp; as I heard it, there were only 10 invitees total this time and coaches apparently indicated they would like to know his Holmes schedule when it comes available. No misinformation, and all legit from an NCAA standpoint, correct? So can we call this a look, or at least a look-ish event? He has also received a letter from D3 Albion College. Not trying to draw flak or hit any hot buttons, just trying carefully to ease my way out of Clyde's club. (No disrespect, Clyde.)

I get what you're saying here and I am with you 100% -- okay, I still think there are other schools who take as much flack as Scott County, but we can agree that that is not the primary issue here. As for the primary issue, I think you and I are on the same page: it saddens me if any player or parent sees athletics as the single most important factor in deciding where a young person is educated. They are called "high schools" because they are, well, schools rather than farm teams. As for the double standard regarding KHSAA complaints, I see that point as well but I don't know enough about the rules or about the actors to say anything intelligent. I do know first-hand, however, some families at KY schools who have been less than thrilled when stud athletes transfer into their programs on short notice and displace kids who have stayed loyal, worked hard, and played it by the book.

I absolutely understand your position, Jim. However, this actually proves the opposite of your and James B's point. If you check the bigger picture you will notice that people get just as "worked up" over other transfers involving other programs. This particular thread involves Scott County so people are weighing in on Scott County, but there is no evidence that people target Scott County for any more praise or criticism than other programs in similar situations. Claiming that "everyone is jealous of us" is sometimes a roundabout way of saying, "we're special" -- in the final analysis, it is an unproductive line of thinking.

I think we all get your point. At the same time, you may wish to check the other BGP threads that focus on players and their various (real, potential, or imaginary) transfer moves before assuming "everybody" is jealous of your particular school. This kid isn't the only highly valued player around and your school isn't the only one that attracts talent.

A Holmes JV kid said yesterday that they're playing in the middle school gym across from the field house. I sure hope so -- the court surface in that senior gym is scary.

This is definitely not worth a thread diversion, particularly since I meant it as a piece of fun rather than a point of contention. I happily defer to Sandman. As he puts it: play on.

It's a great word, and not necessarily archaic: "Let us shun self-analyzation, self-consciousness, morbidness, affectation, attitudinizing. Let us look ahead as little as possible, keeping our eyes on our brushes and on the world of beauty around us." -- Mariana Griswold Van Rensselaer (arts/architecture author, 1851 –1934)

Not your worry -- I earned the bus-toss on this one and I'm grateful that everyone has handled it with good will and humor. I guess we'll revisit the topic in two to three years!

Well, color me stupid. You obviously know your stuff and we can assume the college knows their stuff, so after reading your post I got very scared very quickly and immediately checked with a member of the kid's family. The last thing I'd want is folks getting in trouble over an ill-considered blog post. You are indeed correct, it was an elite camp letter -- it apparently used the word "prospect" somewhere in the blurb, but definitely not an athlete recruiting letter. The phone call was from college admissions, not athletics, but other members of the same AAU team got them at the same time, so either 1) Tusculum used the tourney roster for their general prospective student database, which I assume is totally kosher, or 2) it's just a coincidence. Btw, I didn't mean to imply that Tennessee's oldest liberal arts college was "small" in stature -- the student enrollment is compact, so I simply meant that they probably have to do a lot of work without a ton of personnel. Either way, I feel like a total idiot -- a well-intentioned idiot who just wanted to offer a local kid his due, but an idiot nonetheless. This is my second big apology of the week, so maybe I need to take a break and let more competent BGP contributors do their thing.

This is what I know: the kid played up two grade levels last summer with a Cincy team (Team One) that also plays a few Kentucky tournaments. It wouldn't be hard to imagine a smaller Tennessee school scouting a Louisville or Lexington sanctioned event, so perhaps they saw him there and thought he was a rising junior. They sent a letter, he attended prospects camp, and they have been in touch at some point this year regarding scholarships -- I'm not an NCAA rules wizard but I assume it's all on the level, and while it doesn't sound like what we call an offer, it does sound like what we call a look. Last I checked, he's playing with Team One again this summer but this time with a 9th grade team. I know he played a lot of JV at Holmes this past year and was a least dressing varsity.

Just one look as far as I know: Tusculum College, somewhere in Tennessee. So with all the players you mention above plus Pouncy, Jeffries, and Englemon, "interesting" is an understatement. I'm sure the Holmes coaches will get the best out of all of them.

Yep. He seemed to wear a different number on each team, but he maintained the same pigment throughout the season.