RVaughn

Adkins teams always play great defense and can keep them in games. I don't understand the hype with West Jessamine. They were 17-10 last year and 11-8 in the region. They have the same players back this year and averaging same PPG as last year. Not sure why anyone thought they would contend for region this year.

They will either move Driver outside to WR or if anybody moves to OLine it would be Pendygraft. Hager has multiple P4 offers at TE so couldn't see him going to Oline.

With that size and shooting ability he could possibly get bigger offers as the season goes on. The key always with college is if he can guard a D-1 wing.

I saw he just got an offer from Campbellsville. Does he have any other offers? Did he play AAU this last summer?

Will Grayden Reid be going back to CAL also with Hobbs?

I am not sure who is hosting 45th this year.

Agreed. Burgin and DCA would be better off not hosting district either and working out something with one of the other schools where they share gate money or something like that. I have seen district tourney games at Burgin that aren't full because people don't go thinking it will be too packed to get in. If it is at a bigger gym more people could go and they would ultimately make more gate money.

Wayne has a good team. Farmer went crazy against Boyle with 29 & 12. Phillips should probably get 12th region player of the year and I was impressed with Morgan. They could make some noise in the 12th region tourney if they keep progressing.

Wow that must have struck a nerve with you. Obviously last year's Mercer team is special to you, we get it. My original post was all facts about kids leaving Mercer and having success at other schools. Also facts Mercer is currently 1-11. I have not said anything bad about the coach or current players that is you downplaying the kid's stats that left. Since you brought up last year's team a strong argument would not be walking on at TN Tech after averaging 11 ppg. I would be more impressed if you listed any full scholarship offers at minimum to NAIA or D-2. Winning 12th region player of the year is a big accomplishment but is subjective based on that year's group of seniors. It is fact that it is given to the best Senior in the region that year but not all years are created equal. In 2018 Trevon won it averaging 26 PPG while Fitzgerald averaged 30 PPG and didn't win it along with Hunter Stephens averaged 25 PPG that same year. I would say Fitzgerald wins it in almost any year but 2018. Sebastian averaged 27 as a JR in 2019 probably the best player in the region but it is a SR award. Sometimes the top two contenders for 12th region player of the year average 16PPG and 14PPG. Mercer admin can keep their head in the sand and pretend like everything is great. In my opinion there is a problem in their athletic depart that starts at the top. Blaming kids and parents for getting out to better situations won't fix it.

Buy in is a two way street between parents, kids and the school district. It can't be all on the parents and kids to buy in. Boyle gets buy in because they do everything the right way on and off the field. They have good leadership within their administration. They have a history of winning that all plays a part in buy in. Adkins is a very good person and coach but for whatever reason he and his family looked at what was going on at Mercer and decided it wasn't the best fit for his son and transferred him out. I think that speaks volumes for what is going on at Mercer. Your question about who you replace in the starting lineup was answered perfectly by QueenoftheSouth above. Out of that starting 5 which one could you have put on another team and averaged 21 a game? The fact is there was a kid on that team that didn't play that got on a new team this year and has proved he can average 21 a game.

Your comparison with Boyle football isn’t quite apples to apples. Boyle football has 13 state championships and Mercer has won region once in 20 years in basketball. I am not saying it is a coaching issue with basketball but it is a fact Mercer is losing kids at an alarming rate and also a fact these kids are having success at other schools when they didn’t play at Mercer. At some point Mercer Admins need to stop blaming the kids/parents and start trying to understand why everyone is leaving before they become the laughing stock of the 12th region in all sports.

Mercer 1-11. What is going on with their athletics after Football going 1-11 this year? Andrew Sparrow rarely got off the bench for them last year and is averaging 21 PPG at Anderson this year. Reed is Danville's leading scoring and transferred from Mercer. Collier Sexton may end up starting at Boyle or being a key player when he gets back healthy also rarely played at Mercer last year. They might have a decent team if all those guys didn't leave. The majority of their team transferred or quit playing all together.

Did he ever get any D-2 or FCS D-1 scholarship offers? He was a great high school player and could break a big play at any time. For him there are bigger guys with same 40 time that have film playing receiver. It is harder than people think to step on a college campus and play WR when you didn't play it in high school and other guys have been playing WR in High School the last 4 years. Hope he kills it there.

Did anybody sign from this team on the early signing day?

Taylor only beat Wayne by 5 and Wayne barely beat Garrard. Who knows this early in the season. Boyle needs to stay out of foul trouble and handle full court pressure. Driver is extremely hard to stop. Most teams flop every possession and pray that the refs bail them out. Everyone knows how much 12th region refs love to call a charge.

I see Danville mentioned a few times. Are they supposed to be good this year?

If he did not have the last name Yeast and a few other factors he would or should have been gone mid season. Mercer Admin will probably allow it to be run in the ground some more before they do anything. Harris was very well liked at Mercer. He left when they hired Yeast along with several other good assistants.

Mercer Admin would never admit this but they would have been so much better off right now hiring Harris instead of Yeast. Would love to see Harris get his shot at being a head coach to make that decision even more obvious than it already is.

I know who they were missing and even though a good player maybe changes getting beat by 40 instead of 50.

A major part of it is if the school they are transferring from tries to fight it. Also How do you move in or out of a school district for private schools? Unlike county or non private schools for example how do you move into the LCA school district like you are required to move into the Henry Clay school district? Obviously the private schools don't have school district that you can move into.

Where is Delano Collins going for college or what kind of offers does he have? He is an impressive player.

Agreed on this Boyle lost their starting QB in the middle of the Lexington Catholic game and offensively have gotten better and back up/ now starting QB seems much more comfortable since then. Defensively they did have some D lineman out early in the season and got them back. Boyle lost their starting safety after the Highlands game probably for the season. The backup safety has been playing great for them since then. I would say for the most part this is the healthiest Boyle has been all year. The concern with Harney is that most of his big plays aren't from a designed play. That is why he is so hard to stop for most teams and will be no different for Boyle. Turnovers will be the difference in this game. Boyle can't afford to have any.

0-0 end of 1st qtr

That is really tall. If Grace was just tall without the skill she had they don't win the 1st region championship with the guards they had. Quisenberry coming in the 2nd year helped with guard play. Unless they have new or way improved guard play I don't know that just having a tall player will get it done this year. 12th region is way down from what it used to be so easier now but I would go West, Rock then maybe Pulaski or SW 3-4. If the new big is skilled and they have guards at DCA they are in the mix also.

King from Rock is best returning guard in the region so you have to put them up there as one of favorites. Marshall is good at West but has not proven yet she can put the team on her back when it counts in the region tourney. Unless a team has a generational Big like DCA had with Grace historically the 12th region has been won by the team with the best guard play.