SSSGODWIN

I think #21 is Gage Ashcraft. I hope so at least. He's a great kid that works as hard as anyone. I don't know for sure what his AAU plan is. Last year he played for the Ky Royals and Fighting Ducks during the spring season.

Describe him and his game. I coached them in 6th grade and know them kids pretty well.

He's one of the most talented players In NKY in this class. What he has that some of the others don't have is size. He's going to be 6'4"~6'5". He's a really good kid as well.

Correction... 8 steals not rebounds.

There's no doubt in my mind that he's going to be one of the better players in 2020 for this region. The kid is really smart and works as hard as anyone. Being projected to 6'11" doesn't hurt much.

Watched Walton beat Grant Co by 15 Friday night. The losses to the Grant roster have made a big difference.

Does anyone know if Zack Benton is playing for Grant Co 8th? I assume he's playing Freshman. Grant used to have a decent team with Dawalt and Caleb Bush. But since Dawalt is playing JV/Freshman and Caleb transferred I'd assume that team is pretty thin.

I watched Withrow play twice last season. When They walked into the gym I thought they would blow out Kings. I talked to their coach many times last year. He told me about the home life that some of these boys have. Or don't have for that matter. I tried to sponsor one to play AAU for me. I wish I could do more to help some of them. I was going to sponsor one player to play AAU with me last year but his parents just didn't feel comfortable. My point which I think is probably along your lines. When they walk in the gym. (Same with Walnut Hills) the size and athleticism is shocking. But the reality is that these boys don't get the opportunity to play when they are 6,7,8,9 etc like many of the NKY kids. Their families just don't have the means to do it. It's really unfortunate because those kids "get it". I talked to a couple. One specifically didn't have any parents and wanted to play. He was a long athletic three man. He wasn't skilled but you could tell he loved to play. At the time I was looking for a 13 yr old and it didn't work out with him.

Paul Cluxton is very good if he's training. But he hasn't done any training in the last year. It really depends on what your expectations and goals are and what the players needs are. Many people are capable in coaching how to shoot. The challenge is where the player is going to take the reps that are required to significantly improve. Will he/she put the work in. It's very similar to a hitting coach in golf. He will give the instructions but he will then send you on your own to the driving range. It gets extremely expensive to pay for private lessons in shooting. The cost of the instructor, the gym time, balls etc. A player needs daily reps. Upwards of 300-500 shots per day. This is why the drive of the player is critical. To improve at a rate faster than the average player the kids need to put in the work in on their own. When players come to me asking for help, I always tell them. It comes down to how much work they are willing to do when "nobody" is watching or coaching. This is where kids like Jay and Kevin Centers separate. They never stop working on this stuff. The other element is teaching/coaching technique. I learned how to shoot from Dick Baumgartner in the 80's. These techniques are no longer coached. The new generation is learning a different foot work. More of "throwing darts" alignment. Is it a boy or girl? Girls are tearing ACL's at at astonishing rate because of the way they plant prior to shooting. But it all comes down to drive. They need to learn the proper techniques. But, the drive to practice at game speed for many hours when nobody is watching is the #1 key. Send me a private message with your players details and I'll see if I can help you out.

He's a super friendly young man and I wouldn't be surprised if he's not on one of the BP.com best player list in a year or so. Do you know how tall his parents are?

Are you guys talking about the athletic 4 man that is pretty raw? I met him Saturday. I must say he's super nice kid. Looking forward to getting to know him.

I overlooked this last night. Someone said Jay is 2nd Tier?

3-0 Wins over Beechwood, St.Joe and St. Mary. I don't know scores but i think all were double digits. Blessed has a good team. They have Grant Disken who is a crafty little point guard. Personally, I think he's held back by the style they play. He's plays the transition game really well. They also have the big from IHM. They play St.Pius on the 28th. It should be good.

I don't know how he's paid or what his title is. I just know he invited me to a Xavier practice. Maybe he's the water boy. It doesn't matter. The point is Jay Jackson has earned it. He works. Players that want to improve will improve. Those that don't want to work won't improve.

Redford is the trainer for Xavier. He's paid by them to coach basketball.

There have been many comments and discussions on this thread and others talking about the best players etc. With the thread clear I want to acknowledge a certain player. One young man was mentioned earlier but didn't get much steam. The last two days I've watched Jay Jackson (8th grader at Blessed Sacrament) put on a shooting bonanza. Yesterday he was 7/7 and today he was 5/6 all from three point range. I've watch Jay grow up since he was 6 or 7 years old playing baseball and I'm really proud of the young man and player he has become. Fall of 2014 we were playing in the SWOH fall league and towards the end of the season he and his parents came to me asking if I could help find him a shooting coach. Up to that point Jay was a streaky 3 man. He was physical with a great left hand. But, his shooting was very inconsistent. I got him hooked up Brad Redford who is an assistant from Xavier University. Jay started working and working. He started working as hard as any kid I've ever coached. Over the years I've had very few that are as driven as Jay. He is the president of his 8th grade class and as good a young man you can find. But, don't be fooled by the perception he is a three point shooter only. His game is that of a shooting four man that can handle the ball. He's willing to defend the biggest kid on the opposing team and his brain allows him to block shots and rebound against kids you wouldn't expect. Jay Jackson #31 Blessed Sacrament I'm proud of you young man.

Good question. I'm not sure if that has been determined yet.

ABB, I don't know about that. I've coached a lot of those kids in that list. I think a good coach could take that list and compete for a state tournament in 2016. There are a couple ingredients that make a good team. #1 good players, #2 good coaches and most over looked of them all #3 Great parents. Having parents that are committed to a common goal is enormous at this age. When you have 10~12 kids, Coaches and families pulling together some pretty good things can happen. Grouping those three together is key. I'm not taking his side. Hell, I even list a member of The Legends in my post that triggered this. I'm not sure where he's coming from. But I 100% disagree that those you mentioned are the only ones that can compete. In fact, I watched four on that list beat The Ville who did win the D1 state tournament in 15'. They had some help by three other good players but they can compete for sure. Jay Jackson, Kevin Centers, Grant Disken, Lucas Jones were 4/7 of the team that beat The Ville. The funny part is that two of these four were filling in for two others that are also on the list and the team had never practiced together. You clearly don't know what you're talking about.

Yes Draud is a 7th grader. Is he at Beechwood? Even prior to Jefferson, Beechwood was pretty good. Aiden Beiger is a solid player that doesn't get much attention because he didn't play club ball this year. But he's a really good point guard as well.

The class of 2025 and 2026 will be will represent Kentucky Premier well. We had close to 70 totals kids tryout excluding the numbers that Western Ky had. There will be a total of Four 3rd grade/9U teams and Three 2nd grade/8U teams. I can't wait to see these #GoGreen teams in the 2016 Ky State Tournament. I guess i need to change my handle and start working on 2020!

I don't know who the team to beat is. But, I will predict that the most improved team this year will be Ockerman. They've had an average team that was really scrappy. They could shoot as good as anyone. This year they got two transfers. Johnny Hrycak from Gray and Big Lucas Jones from RA Jones. Add these two along with a solid guard combination of Zach Armour, Brayden Locke and Garrison Williams. Johnny will be happy to set these boy's up and Lucas is very quietly becoming a one of the best "true" big men around. Lucas is 6'3" and 205#. He's a low post "pounder". He loves the game and is working his butt off. I'm not saying they win it all. But, they will put a scare in many many teams. Zach Armour has become one of the best 3 point shooters in the area and compete's like very few. I've had the pleasure of coaching many of these boys in club ball and I'm really excited for them.