Region2 Hype Man

At one point he had offers from Indiana and Xavier. I think he has a lot of untapped potential that could really shine in the CUSA.

First Division 1 commit for Tim Haworth. Got 2 kids to Division 2 and another player on his team now that's a junior has a D1 offer and several others at the NAIA level. If he does leave, he did do a good job of getting kids to the next level in his 8 seasons.

Though not "official", who would be the favorites to land the HHS job if Haworth is gone as expected? -Jon Newton. Former HHS assistant and a great coach at Webster. Would he leave his hometown for a better chance to win a state title? -Kelly Carwile. Former coach as Grayson and known as a top assistant in the state. Did not have great success at Grayson, but the talent level wasn't the same as the Boro schools. -Anthony Babb. Long time assistant for the HHS boys and current Girls Basketball coach. Knows the game and the kids love him to death. -Payton Croft. Trigg coach and former HHS assistant. Highly doubt it because Trigg has struggled under his watch. -Terry Hayes. Lost his job as Superintendent due to controversy, but was beloved at HHS and a good coach when he wasn't coaching a favorite player that cost him his job. 0.0001% chance of happening. Randy McCoy. Former UHA and longtime coach in the state. Loves the city and would love the challenge of getting back into district 8 basketball.

The fact that the newspaper guy from the KNE tweeted that Haworth is still the coach means something is definitely up at HHS. A statement like that is not made unless something is up. It's sounding like a power struggle.

As I said above, I think he still may be the coach officially, but I think they gave him a "quit or get fired" choice. Not to get in too deep, but most close to the program were wondering if he would even be the coach to start the season. I won't elaborate further because this is not the place (and some would say I'm a biased UHA-Grad Haworth hater haha), but this is not a surprise for those who have been "in the know" this year. The record was bad because of injuries, suspensions, tough schedule, but you could definitely watch them at times and could tell they were not focused as a team. They just looked like they weren't giving effort at times and did not play that typical aggressive HHS style he's become known for over the years. I remember back in the day, Terry Hayes was fired but continued to work at the school for the next 5 year. And speaking of Terry Hayes_______that's another story I'm sure you all have seen/heard on the news recently.

It is not official, but a change has been made at HHS. Whether is because of resigning or he was fired, it has yet to be officially determined.

I'm a Heights alumn and I have seen many greats come through our school From Greg Buckner, Harold Swannagan, Isiah Victor, Ravi Moss, Joshua Mack, Ty Edmonson, Scotty Hopson, Tray Hollowell, etc. Those guys all succeeded at some point at the next level. Some more than others(one a freshman now), but Kyky is better at this point than all of those guys. He is a far better player than Hawkins/Willis/Hood were at this point by a long shot. You do not get the looks/offers he gets if he is not the real deal. Calipari does not come and watch kids from Hopkinsville Ky if he is not serious. He will play and contribute from day one. He definitely will play at the power 5 level and put up numbers wherever he is at. If he goes to UK his stats will be lower because of talent around him, but put him at a Florida and he will be their best player.

Don't be surprised to see Tim Haworth from Hopkinsville make a run at this job. He may be leaving this year and has Male connections with Larry Miller being on his staff.

yes

I'm guessing UHA is not a member because Mississippi State commit Drew McGowan is missing from that list.

Campbell County looked well coached with good discipline, UHA was the complete opposite. In the Western part of the state you can run teams out of the gym with pace and athleticism, but at Rupp you have to be able to slow the game down and compete in the halfcourt. UHA brings back about everyone and only loses 2 seniors in the rotation, but they are 2 forwards and probably our tallest players. UHA has issues with depth and size. They need to work on defending in the half court and running set plays in the offseason, if they can fix those things they will be a top 15 team in the state next year. Kyky Tandy is probably the front-runner for Mr. basketball for 2019.

Shortstop in High School and travel ball. They have said he could be a center-fielder when he gets down there in 2 years. His brother was a 2,000 point scorer and played division 1 baseball as well. One of the better families my alma mater has produced. Started on the Scotty Hopson team as a freshman at Rupp 10 years ago.

UHA should be winning this game, but just making some undisciplined mistakes. Tandy should be taking the most shots, but he has teammates that are taking some head-scratching shots. Heights was looking to put the game away, but just failed to capitalize on the momentum. Depth is just our biggest issue and we got too tired at the end. Tandy needs to shoot more and more often. Drew McGowan may be one of the top 5 all-around athletes in the state. Baseball commit to Mississippi State.

Region 10 is one of the better regions in the state. Campbell has played a tough schedule. UHA did not play a tough schedule overall, but having to get past Hoptown and Christian County, both tough teams, to get through district and Region was no small feat. Heights has been one of the most improved teams since their blowout at All-A. I think you really cannot look at results and that be the best indicator of how they are playing at this point in time. I think Campbell looks to be more battle tested and probably should be favored(coming from a UHA grad myself), but sometimes the best player on the floor can just takeover a game and that is all you need to win. UHA is a District 8 team, and that means they love to play fast and get points in transition and force turnovers. UHA's only weaknesses are size and depth. If Campbell can slow the game down and get UHA in foul trouble, they win. If UHA can force turnovers and hit 7-10 3 -pointers, they will win.

I am doing it from a talent/prospect perspective. If you go to the Sweet 16 with a random College Basketball fan out of state and they ask who the players to watch are? They are the players the major scouts are coming to see. No, I haven't seen everyone play and I doubt many have either. Geography and level of competition prevent that from happening for anyone in the state. The scouts are coming to see Tandy and Johnson. I would dare say John CALIPARI came and watched Tandy play and I'd say he only looks at the elite talent in the entire nation.

David Johnson and Kyky Tandy have to be the top 2 for sure.

I always forget he was a Union County legend

Scotty Hopson was a 5-star prospect and was a consensus top 10 player in the nation his senior year. Not many can be able to lay claim to that fact alone. The list is not complete without the legendary Curtis Parker from Christian County High School. Anyone who has seen his stats knows how amazing of a player he was for his time. I think he led CCHS to the state title game. One of the more underrated R2 players from a High School career standpoint was Ty Rogers from Lyon County. Famous for "the shot" in the NCAA tournament, but he was a monster averaging 30+ ppg and 10 rbs per game his last year. Had he been at a better school, he would have gotten in the Mr. Basketball discussion. Curtis Pulley had an underrated high school career as well. He left Hoptown High as their all-time leading scorer(and rebounder I think). He finished runner-up for Mr. Basketball the same year he won Mr. Football. I want to say he led the state in rebounding in one of his seasons.

I'm not super familiar with the 10th region outside of GRC(who is out), so I wanted to know about these teams that UHA may face. What style do they play? Are they very athletic? Do they have size? Do they play tough schedules?

It was a classic. Packed house with Coach Cal in the house. A battle between 2 stars at a level we may not see in R2 for a while. Both teams and coaching staffs were classy and made the region and city very proud. Mr. Ware is going to do big things at the next level and it was a joy to watch him progress from a spot-up 3 point shooter to becoming an all-around elite scorer and high flyer. UHA is going to state with the first big time UK recruiting target since Hopson/Miller back in the day. I think Region 2 is shining bright in the headlines today.

Travis Ford and Ray Harper were also in the building for Ware.

This streak has been interesting to watch. It all started with Ryan Isom and his hot shooting in 2002 to get Stovall his first trophy. Curtis Pulley brought it home the next year for Hoptowns first trip to Rupp in almost 20 years with Terry Hayes coaching, leading to a heartbreaking Fina 4 loss to Chris Lofton. Josh Mack pulled the big upset in 2004 leading UHA to back-2-back state trips, losing in the 2005 Final 4. Marty Cline leaves after his 2 region titles Keith Tandy upset UHA in district in 2006, leading to back to back Rupp trips. Scotty Hopson and Edmonson brought UHA back in 2008 with Randy McCoy leading the way. County came right back with 3 straight titles from 2009-11, led by D1 players Corey Wilford, Donovan Kates, and Mr. Basketball Anthony Hickey (2011 State Champs). County won 5 of 6 Region titles from 2006-2011. Stovall leaves and Hoptown goes on a 4 year run with Tim Haworth. With stacked teams including Jordan Majors, Qualis Matlock, and Tre Edwards, Hoptown was not even challenged in the 8th during that time. CAme close to a State title game in 2013. The "superteam trend" from college/pros came to the city during that time and a few players from UHA/CCHS came and played at Hoptown. Frankie Smith came in and ran through the region in 2016 with a team of Tyrik Edwards, Sebree, and Ware. Hoptown came right back with Cager and Johnson last season to take home Haworth's 5th title in 6 seasons. Tonight is UHA's first R2 title game appearance since 2008. Hoptown and County have both accounted from 9 straight region titles and County winning tonight makes it 10 straight. I still think of all the teams that should have gotten it done, but it just did not happen. I think the biggest part of the streak happened at the end of the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Madisonville had Jon Hood and could have won both of those years. Jon Hood got hurt and did not get to play in Region his Junior or Senior season. We were robbed of seeing Scotty Hopson and Jon Hood in a region title, which would have been legendary. They had a really good team in 2012 and even hosted region, but Hoptown was too much. They have a group of Sophs that they are hyping up and an 8th grader who is highly regarded, but you never know. Henderson has had its chances through the years. In 2004 and 2005 had teams that could have won it going into the region, got embarrassed in 2004 and lost on a Josh Mack jumper in 2005 that broke a lot of hearts. In 2015 they had the #2 team in the state and a chance to win the whole thing at Rupp, but Hoptown took them down in a shocking semi-final upset that was a BIG win in Tim Haworth's career. This year they were returning everyone and were ready to roll against Hoptown, but 3 starters transfer in August and they really miss their chance to do it this year.

Ware isn't getting more offers all because of timing. He was a Division 1 player at the mid-major level last year. SEMO had offered him already last season. He was an elite jump shooter, but his weight/speed were red flags to coaches who thought he could make it at the next level. Over the summer into August, he made it a point to work out and drop weight. He possibly dropped 30-40 pounds and converted it all into muscle. With added quickness and strength to go along with his elite shooting ability, he just became a monster. He goes into the lane with the intent of embarrassing every player who gets in his way. The intensity he plays with is one of a kind. Here is his issue with Division 1 offers. He dropped the weight and started putting up the crazy numbers in late November into December. Most college coaches do their work scouting in the summer and probably did not know about his new and improved strength and stamina. They saw his stats and just assumed it was good games against bad competition, but numbers never tell the whole story. Also, a lot of recruiting services do their evaluating on the summer circuit as well. Once the camps ended, they think there isn't much more a Senior can do to get better and rise up the boards. I think word started getting out about him and more coaches have started to take note. I've heard Travis Ford really wants him bad and Ray Harper saw him Friday. Stansbury is after him too. Every year you see amazing players at mid-majors and wonder "how did that kid not get a bigger offer" or "how was he not a 3 or 4 star recruit" and this is an example of that case. He was a late-bloomer and because of timing/area he just is under the radar. He will go to a mid-major level school and not have the star rating he deserves, but he will be a STEAL at whatever college he goes to play at next season. I can only imagine what he can do in a college strength and conditioning program.

You never know to be honest. You never know what's coming through the halls of the middle schools. Next year Heights loses Tandy, McGowan, and Taquan and they will be hard to replace just because UHA always struggles with depth that the public schools don't have to worry about. Crump will be a star afterwards, but I think in 2020 Madisonville may break the 8th district streak. UHA will be loaded when a certain family has some blood back on the team, but that's another time haha

Heights also had their second lowest point total of the year. Bad first quarter, but Union always does a good job of slowing down the 8th district teams,Union just lacks the horses to do it. That is the strategy to beat CCHS or UHA. Limit possessions. Christian County has the defense to do it, but CCHS does have a weakness that showed in the district title. COunty lacks a true point guard and when they get into a track meet they can turn it over. But the last two games County looks to have played their best games of the year, so the are peaking at the right time. I doubt Kyky is held under 30 points 2 games in a row so he's due for a big one. Good matchups all around Ware vs. Tandy for the scoring Hollowell vs. Trice, the glue guys Crump vs. Mathis/Brody McGowan vs. Long/Tandy, these guys are X factor scorers Lovan vs. Langhi, who owns the paint/glass? Round 4's are always fun.