OldhamOldie

I watched him at the All-A and think Weyer is a fine player. I also coached at the Division I level and would have had no interest in recruiting him. He made a good choice in going to a Division II school that will allow him to make the most of his ability.

No, the NKU coaches said the previous staff offered Weyer. The new hires decided Weyer was better off playing at a smaller level because of his size and limitations going up against Division I small forwards. He has neither the outside shot nor athletic ability to keep up in Division I. That is why they pulled back the offer. That comes from NKU coaches, and I believe they have a better grasp on it than you. Those are facts, unlike your emotional rant.

Good job with this article. The 8th Region is going to be enjoyable to watch. My long-shot sleeper in this? Simon Kenton. I watched them twice and think they could be a big factor. I don't think they can win the region, but they can win their district, get a great draw and advance to the finals if they can pull together. They don't have the best shooters, but I like their size and competitiveness. In the end, it might come down to Owen County vs. either South Oldham or Oldham County. That's assuming the regional draw doesn't put two of them against each other in the opening game.

Since I know little of Bellarmine and who they play, I went and looked at their schedule from this season. Bellarmine has lost to schools such as Midwestern State (!?!), Findlay, Parkside, Drury (!?). So for you to make a statement about Bellarmine beating a lot of Division I schools is less than informed, and sounds like a Bellarmine fan who wishes his/her team was in Division I. I am certain teams like NKU would have no trouble beating the aforementioned schools that Bellarmine has lost to this season. But Bellarmine does have some stirring wins like over the likes of Saint Catharine and Ohio Valley and McKendree.

Exactly 40 years ago this week, Bellevue pulled off one of the biggest upsets in 35th District history by knocking off heavily favored Newport in the first round. Newport had just concluded the regular season by knocking off Holmes and Newport Catholic. Steve Ridder and his Bellevue teammates stunned the 9th Region by eliminating Newport - with Dickie Boothe, Mitch McIntosh, Leonard Slaughter, Fred Lane, Rob Allen, Clint Miller, Darrell Bedord - in the first round of district play. That Bellevue team advanced to the regional and also upset Highlands. Can the Tigers repeat history exactly 40 years later vs. Newport in the first round?

I think it will be competitive, but Simon Kenton wins this one by a score of 68-57.

Having watched both teams, I would take Walton in this one. I do not think Grant County will be at full strength. I say Walton wins this one, 63-55.

This is right on target. From what I understand, NKU will have a legit Division I roster next season once they add the current bunch of recruits. With Williams and Faulkner joining them, and they also have a transfer from Alabama, the gap is about to get very large. I'm sure Bellarmine is a fine small-college program, so no offense to them. But they would have no shot at competing night after night with Division I programs with the type of players they must recruit. NKU I am told was a perennial 20-win team in Division II several years ago. Now they have not had a winning season since joining Division I. That is no surprise. It should be a lesson to Bellarmine fans that there is a HUGE difference in the two levels.

I know very little of Bellarmine except they are right down the road from us in Louisville and play Division II. I can assure you there is a HUGE difference in athletes who play Division II and Division I. One of my buddies talks with NKU coaches and they decided NOT to offer Weyer even though the previous coaching staff did because he is not a Division I player. That does not mean he is not a fine player, just that he is better off with more of a chance to excel at a small program like Bellarmine. My assessment is that he is not close to Williams, Goodin or Faulkner, and the recruiting process backs that up.

I saw Weyer at the All-A and he is a fine player, but I would not put him up there with Williams, Goodin and Faulkner. I believe I heard Weyer is headed to play at a Division II school, so I would imagine that might reinforce my argument.

Williams is the best player in this state. Faulkner and Goodin are right there as well.

I looked up Campbell County's record, and they have lost 12 games. Would be hard to win Mr. Basketball with 12 losses in the regular season. I think this situation will also hurt Faulkner, as Caverna has lost 10 games. But Faulkner is a fantastic player who has excelled in a very tough region. I am only vaguely familiar with the 10th Region where Campbell County plays.

It's a three-horse race: Williams, Faulkner, Goodin. I am sure Wilson is a good player, but the other three are on another level this season.

I think both Duvall and Simpson did tremendous jobs this season. Owen County has the best team in the 8th Region and arguably the top player in the state. South Oldham was expected to have a good season, but the Dragons have used their uncanny three-point shooting to win 24 games. You could have done a co-coach of the year, but I like it better when one person receives the recognition. Both are great coaches, just so happened this year South Oldham surprised a lot of us. Owen County is on course to win a state championship if they continue playing this way, and they have a great draw at the Sweet 16 if they can get there. I would guess Duvall would take a trip to the Sweet 16 and a possible state title, Mr. Basketball for Carson Williams (which I think is a lock now).

In the dictionary, disconnect is defined as "to separate (something) from something else: to break a connection between two or more things." With no dog in your fight, to an outsider it appears Highlands is disconnected between football and basketball camps. Some of the posters are saying the basketball team's problems are the football players, while others are saying they need to have football players to field basketball. That's a pretty big disconnect, at least from an 8th Region guy's perspective. I know when Ken Shields was the head coach, some of his better teams had very few if any footballers. I do not know the Highlands enrollment, but considering they play at the 5A level, I assume there are plenty of boys in the school. I realize many of the better kids go to Newport Central Catholic, Covington Catholic and maybe even Bishop Brossart (that never happened back when I played in the early 1970s), but there must be an adequate number of boys to play basketball only.

South Oldham has enjoyed a great season and Coach Simpson does a fantastic job. He earned this recognition. All of us in Oldham County are proud of the job he does!

Agree with all you said. The press in Louisville and Lexington have virtually ignored this young man, but he is a great player. I also like Faulkner and Goodin, but I believe Williams has earned it. As a supporter of the three Oldham County schools, I have seen enough to know he is the best in Kentucky this year.

I heard the same. How does a player finish with 10 or 11 steals when the opposing team only has 9 total turnovers? Interesting.

I just looked at the Litkenhous Ratings and want to amend my final score prediction: Highlands 61, Dayton 44.

See the thread from today regarding their game with Covington Catholic. It is very entertaining and indicates a great disconnect in Ft. Thomas.

Those are disturbing numbers/trends for Highlands. I was not aware of those statistics. You are correct, one or two good players can lead a high school basketball team to competitive levels at the least with a decent supporting cast. Your numbers from today regarding minutes indicates Covington Catholic called off the dogs or this one might have been a score of historic proportions.

How could anyone pick against Highlands in this one? They just lost by 60 points, but I would hope that will serve as a supreme motivator. I have not seen either team and know nothing about either. But I'll say Highlands 47, Dayton 42.

A thoroughly entertaining thread from an 8th region guy's perspective! It sounds like a disconnect certainly exists in Ft. Thomas, and lines have been drawn. That is unfortunate for the kids. I'm glad we don't have these type of issues in the Oldham County school systems. I would still have to wonder about losing by 60 points, unless it is the Piarist School or Covington Latin and their unique situations.

I believe a high school basketball coach has to use basketball-only players as his nucleus, and then if any football players can help, so be it. But you can't rely on footballers and start a schedule on December 19th. That is asking for trouble on a lot of levels.

Sounds like a lot has changed since I live up there in 9th region land. Back in those days, the Highlands players would all play at the Ft. Thomas Armory year round. We used to come over from Florence and play against them and Highlands was very good. It was unheard of in those days for them to lose to a Beechwood by 20 points. Ken Shields had been at St. Thomas High School and he built Highlands into a power. I remember most of his first teams had virtually no football players. Sounds like that has become a huge issue up there in Ft. Thomas.