24Rocks

I realize that now, I misunderstood the eligibility requirements when it comes to age.

Now that it's been confirmed that Turner is at Somerset the question in my mind becomes one of whether or not he'll play basketball. He's played up until now and is good. Somerset can definitely use him after losing Absher and Grundy. Does anyone know how old he is and if eligibility will be an issue?

He’s similar to a lot of players these days in that he needs to learn to shoot from the outside. He only shot 25% from three point range as a senior. His best strategy is to go somewhere with a good shooting coach and put in the work. It needs to be somewhere he can get on the floor. A year or two invested in improving his shot and he could get a lot of good opportunities.

My mistake......

DCA’s Leek Ateny named to the KY/OH and the KY/IN All Star teams.

Kentucky Boys All‑Stars (2026) — complete roster: Tyreek Anthony (Fort Campbell) Leek Ateny (Danville Christian) Keriawn Berry (North Hardin) Anthony Blaackar (Lloyd Memorial) Donovan Bradshaw (Covington Catholic) Reece Davidson (North Laurel) Tylin George (Adair County) Jeremiah Jackson (St. Xavier) Jaden Johnson (Trinity) Damian Jung (Eastern) Athens McGillis (Covington Catholic) Andrew Sparrow (Anderson County) Jacob Spurlock (Boyd County) Jackson Stephan (Henry Clay) Jayden Washington (Christian Academy— Louisville)

Good info. Thanks for compiling this. I’m going to see if I can find some information on strength of schedule and offensive and defensive rankings.

It may not be a factor but they are eligible for NIL money once they enroll in college. According to ChatGPT the extra few months for a top recruit averages to somewhere between 50-200k. Factor that in along with giving yourself a better opportunity to see playing time the next fall and it's a pretty powerful temptation.

I don't disagree that the region is at its best with three team races in each district but after looking at the districts we have some districts with pretty weak teams. The 46th has Burgin, Trinity and Mercer and until Mercer rebuilds it will be down to East and West Jessamine. A quick look at the 48th and there are 3 teams who were decent this year but took major hits from graduation. I have a feeling the entire region is going to be way down next year.

He played a little at Boyle in the 8th grade. Sat out the next year. Went to GRC his sophomore year and played (averaged about 9) and sat out this year due to an ACL injury. He’s a bit of a mystery. When he was at GRC and surrounded with good players he did pretty well. He’s not as athletic as Driver but then few people are.

Some of the best players in the region are graduating and their teams were at the top. Phillips and Farmer from Wayne. Grundy and Absher from Somerset. Ateny and Mikels from DCA. Some of these losses are huge because of the makeup of the teams and the way the coaches used them. Somerset will still have some good three point shooters but Absher and Grundy were a big part of their offense. Similarly, Wayne and DCA are both losing a huge chunk of their offensive production.

Most of the better teams will lose key players. DCA, Wayne, West, and Somerset are all in that boat. PC has some good shooters returning but limited size. Boyle has some good players coming back but if Driver makes the expected jump to college for football that will really hurt them.

When and how do they choose the players for the Kentucky/Indiana all star game? I’m not familiar with the process and I’d appreciate someone explaining it.

I'm not very well informed on the AAU situation in KY and I know that a lot of players participate in it. Is there a good resource I could use to familiarize myself with the teams, schedules, and rosters?

Hager went back to Boyle. One other one went to a basketball academy in North Carolina.

Last year they had at least 3 players transfer out after the season ended. It's always possible that they could have that happen again.

If you want to look at it with a different but interesting perspective go to your favorite AI program and ask about performance degradation after an adrenaline spike. I used ChatGPT and it was really informative. The bottom line is that when you have an adrenaline spike a short time later your performance will take a dive. It's even worse when you are tired. Given the magnitude and excitement of playing for the state championship and with the bright lights and hype of Rupp Arena their adrenaline during the pregame and first half was probably off the charts. A 15 minute halftime and it went in the opposite direction. GRC scored 7 in the 3rd quarter and St. X 6. GRC was 1/10 from the field that quarter. I'm sure there were other factors at work but I thought it was an interesting way to look at what I just witnessed.

If you could identify one factor that made this such a blowout what would it be? Saint X's speed on defense? Something else?

St. X is a very good team but to shoot 12/18 (67%) on three pointers in the state tournament is absurd. If they had shot their normal percentage of 37% CC would have been up by 1. Of course it took good player and ball movement to even get those shots but that is way outside the norm.

They won’t be eligible until next season.

Yes, they're that big. Ateny is 6-10, Mikels is 6-5, Dadisman is 6-4, Domidion is 6-3, Perez, Motley, and Bradshaw are all 6-1. Ateny has to duck to go in a classroom door. They're all pretty slim so they may not appear to be that big. 6 of the 7 of them can dunk the ball.

By my previous comments please don't make the assumption that I'm trying to downplay Great Crossing. They are very good and have played a tough schedule. They move the ball well and appear to be well coached. It will take a very good effort to beat them.

Based on their roster from last year's state tournament and released by the KHSAA, Great Crossing doesn't have a lot of size. Orem was listed at 6-6 on that roster and most places list him at 6-7 now. The next biggest player on that roster is 6-2 and there were 3 of their regular players listed as below 6-0. A couple of their players look a little bit bigger than that now based on the video I've seen. DCA goes 6-10, 6-5, 6-4, 6-3 with 3 players 6-1. Great Crossing's players look pretty quick but not on the level of Warren Central or GRC as far as I can tell. From their stats it looks like they have several players who can shoot from three so DCA will have to get out on them. It might be an interesting matchup. Regarding the postseason, from what I saw in the Great Crossing/Lexington Catholic game it was more of a case of Lexington Catholic not being able to get any shots to fall in the second half than it was a case of what Great Crossing was doing. They were getting good looks, they just couldn't get them to fall. It was similar to the DCA/West Jessamine game, neither team could hit much until DCA finally snapped out of it in the 4th quarter.

It could be an interesting matchup. On paper it looks like this: Massey Ratings: Overall GC 17 DCA 37. Offense: GC 13. DCA 86. Defense: DCA 19 GC 35 Both teams have played a tough schedule but GC's schedule was probably a little more challenging. Common opponents: Lexington Catholic: GC +8. DCA +2. West Jessamine: GRC +24 DCA +4 GRC: DCA -10. GC -26 RPI: DCA .626. GC .594 Massey has GC as an 8 point favorite.