Doubletake1906

Well said!

Article about One of several D1 prospects for SW. https://wku.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1775746

South Warren Spartans

I don't ever remember Greenwood making it to a State Semi-Final, so your statement makes no sense... And what you don't realize is SW was created from a portion of Warren Central kids and Greenwood kids both. Not to mention the Franklin kids who transfer in... Combine that with the rapid rate they are building new houses in the SW district, and you have a student population unlike any other in Warren County. Their goal when building SW was to make it the BGHS of Warren County schools... They are not there yet bet they are headed in the right direction.

Was the team not good, or did the offense not fit them?

You seemed to have "accidentally" left off Paducah Tilghman in this last statement.... Would you say they don't have much speed? Before you respond, just know that their men's Track team just won State and many of those runners play on their Football team.... South Warren beat them 36-0, thus your argument is not carrying much weight. One thing we can agree on though is that 4A will be much tougher, but it's not because they can't handle the "speed" of teams like JH.... It is simply because there is more depth of talent.

Not true regarding them playing against speedy opponents... Last year they also demolished Paducah Tilgman and E Town... They also narrowly lost to Louisville Central.... All of which traditionally have just as much, if not more, speed as John Hardin...

I would not go as far as to call Louisville Central Average.... Yes they took some hits early in their season but they took a while to figure out who they were as a team. They had a two QB system, and from what I saw, they didn't even find out who was the better of the two until they played Corbin. Therefore they were just hitting their stride when they beat South. And again a lot of them beating South was more so South Warren beating themselves by not executing a solid offensive game plan. I am sure they have learned from their mistakes the past two years.

Similar to PurplePride, I would like to stir the pot a little. The Spartans (now in 4A) will have the most challenging schedule they have had in their past 4 years of existence. The past 2 seasons have been their most successful since the program began posting a combined record of 24-3... With Coach Smith returning for his 2nd year as head coach, and the team returning virtually every starter from both sides of the ball, I believe this team is primed and ready to make a run at a 4A State Championship. Some areas of improvement for them to make that run will have to be filling the void at Running Back, more commitment to the passing game, and cutting down on their turnovers. Julius Allen has been their horse at RB the past two seasons, and he has done an outstanding job. His inside running and ability to squeak out 4-5 yards every time he touched it was very valuable. His counterpart at RB was a Sophomore Speedster who could hit you for a big gain, but is sometimes unpredictable. A super talented athlete, but my expectation is that they utilize a RB by committee with a combination of him with rising Senior Austin McElwain. South Warren lost in the Semi-Final of State due to a few reasons but none bigger than losing the battle of field position and lack of commitment to the passing game. Up until playing Louisville Central, the Spartans had a fairly balanced running and passing attack spreading the ball out to the different recievers to open things up for their running game. I believe they could benefit from getting the ball into their playmakers hands at the reciever positions, and allowing them to make a play... Finally, he Spartans turnover ratio at key moments in games was a little too high last year. My guess is that Coach Smith will spend a lot of time addressing this in the offseason, and it shouldn't be an issue when the season begins. The Spartans district in 4A is tough consisting of football powerhouses like Franklin Simspon, Warren Central, and Warren East. But my opinion is that if they can get out of their district (possibly the toughest in 4A), the odds are in their favor to make it all the way to The State Championship. What are your thoughts?

I believe the Purples might have 2 losses after week 5.... A loss to Saint X and a loss to Owensboro. I believe their is a slight chance they could lose to Grayson County as well later in the season, but that will be a stretch. The big question is how far will they make it in the Playoffs? For what it's worth, I believe 5A is still pretty weak as a whole, and The Purples should make it to the Regional Final. From there it is a toss up!

Not true.... There are only about 2 other Tournaments in the South and Midwest that take place during this live period that are well known for bringing out college coaches. Both those Tournaments are taking place between a 4-7 hour drive away from KY depending on where you live. For many regional AAU teams as well as D1 coaches, KBA is a better option because in July many AAU programs as well as D1 coaches struggle to find quality tournaments that are somewhat close. KBA has provided a viable option... Let's not forget that Colleges have a recruiting budget as well that they have to abide by. They also have assistant coaches that they send to many locations to recruit for them. One big thing that was missed in your statement as well is that Colleges follow PLAYERS not just TEAMS. There are going to be many athletes with D1 offers coming to the event at KBA; thus attracting many D1 programs to attend as well. The last thing a coach wants is for a kid they are heavily recruiting to not see them at an event during the Summer Live period. Lastly, Tom did an OUTSTANDING job with hosting the EYBL event at KBA earlier in the Spring. He has established it as the primary location for high level basketball in the State. Many AAU programs and college coaches around the KY, OH, IN, TN, and VA areas recognize that and will be in attendance because of it. I have no doubt that this event will be loaded with talent, and many low to high D1 as well as some D2 coaches. Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth... I would suggest programs not waste thousands of dollars traveling to a Tournament that's Further away just to say you went, but to save your travel expenses to go to a quality Event right in their Back Yard.

Let's see.... Purples lost all 3 of their leading receivers, their starting QB, and most of their offensive and defensive lines... I don't know but it definitely sounds like a rebuilding year to me; granted they will have a nice 1, 2 punch at running back and a talented speedster in Wilson that could play anywhere from QB to RB or WR, but there are just too many spots to be filled for them to be as dominant as they have been in years past. I look for them to have a winning season, but I feel that they will likely end the season with 2-3 losses...

Everyone in KY should be attending The Summit in Lexington.... The Travelers teams will be there!

Anyone have information on the BGHS camp today? Can't find a schedule anywhere...

Well put!!

You are comparing apples to oranges my friend... EYBL=SEC/ACC, UA=Conference USA, Adidas=WACC/Patriot League

Travelers actually have 2 points not 1 because they have 2 wins and 4 losses out of the 6 pool play games. If a team does not get 1st or 2nd in their pool out of 4 team pools then they have no opportunity to get more than a couple points in each tournament; hence the reason there are 5-6 teams with a lot of points in the 16U EYBL and 20+ Teams with very few points just like the Travelers... The same 5-10 teams continue to make it to Bracket Play and win while everyone else struggle to get out of pool play. The EYBL is the toughest AAU league in the World, therefore getting a win at all is an accomplishment.

He never actually played for Manimal or the Travelers.... From my understanding, they were frustrated with how things were being handled logistically with Hoop Dreams... Not sure how much truth there is to that, but this is not the first time I have heard that in regards to HD...

Quentin Goodin leaves Hoop Dreams to go play with Indiana Elite (Adidas Sponsored). Hoop Dreams has suffered the loss of several players throughout this AAU season in various age groups with the most recent being Goodin.... I don't believe anyone would say that they were surprised to see this coming especially after the events that took place prior to the State AAU Tournament... I hate to see the combo of him and Wright broken up, but at the end of the day, parents have to do what's best for their kids. Thoughts?

I was impressed with this teams ability to shoot the ball...

Hoop Dreams 16U Orange (The "Good" team) lost in pool play to the Louisville Lightening and then lost in the 1st round of Bracket play to the "KY Maulers" in their OWN AGE GROUP... But I don't see any Threads started about that? At the end of the day, half of the Travelers 16U are actually 15U kids, so most were playing up 2 age groups. For those kids to have two victories of 24 and 28 points against 17U teams that made it to the Elite 8 is phenomenal....

Hoop Dreams 16U Orange (The "Good" team) lost in pool play to the Louisville Lightening and then lost in the 1st round of Bracket play to the "KY Maulers" in their OWN AGE GROUP... But I don't see any Threads started about that? At the end of the day, half of the Travelers 16U are actually 15U kids, so most were playing up 2 age groups. For those kids to have two victories of 24 and 28 points against 17U teams that made it to the Elite 8 is phenomenal....

Now 3...

If Hoop Dreams Black is playing and Goodin wanted to play at State, why wouldn't he play with them since it is the same organization?

That's a great question.... Kentucky Basketball Academy > Event Schedules > Tournament Schedules