HDE

I think London was in the 12th Region. Gaffney played at Cumberland, not Lynch.

13th Region Second team: Rodney Woods, Frank Selvey, Tony Pietrowski, Larry Pursiful and Walt Allen Third team: Ty Proffitt, Bob Slusher, Ray Mills, Glen Campbell and Robert Mayhall

13th Region G - Phil Cox, G - Richie Farmer, G - Charles Thomas, F - Nick Sanford C - Wah Jones

I hear that so much now. I wonder when that became a decision for players. They don't vote for who starts or who makes varsity or what plays to run.

They can come and go anytime they want?

I've been on the Knox Central bandwagon, but I have to wonder a little after seeing them play Harlan in the SEKC Panorama. They won by 15. I wonder about the status of Barger. Both Adams and Barger missed the scrimmage due to injury. Adams was sitting with the team, but I didn't see Barger, except in the stands during the girls scrimmage.

I definitely think they have a chance. Some of the young post players will get better. I think Smith is the best athlete on the floor though when they play and Wolfe may be second, but North has a lot of talent and even more size. I'd just rank North below KC and Clay at this point until I see improvement. Les may be the first to call it though. I think North is in the same group as Corbin, HCHS, Whitley and Williamsburg at this point.

It should be a lot of fun. I'd admire you for not taking the easy way out and picking the defending champ. I picked Knox Central last spring. The coaches picked Clay. North does look good on paper, and in warmups. I think may be a year away. If it comes together though, they could be fabulous. I saw them this summer and they still had a ways to go, but their best player was hurt. Plus, Collier is still something of a question mark. Do you think he will be eligible soon?

No doubt North has the best size and length. I don't know about talent yet though. If I'm at Clay or KC, I have to like the players I have.

How did North get to be in an entirely new level from Corbin and Whitley, for example? Whitley beat them pretty bad last year and they also have everyone back.

Looks good overall. I think North is a little too high and Harlan County is too low. You never know though until they start playing.

I think Corbin started three seniors last year along with Taylor and Maguet. Hopper and Browning were really good off the bench last year and both will be seniors this season. Corbin's first five is solid but didn't seem to have much depth this summer.

Harlan's Jordan Brock is the top sophomore in the 13th. Harlan County's Blair Green is the top freshmen in the 13th, and I think she was ranked No. 1 in the state by Rick Bolus in that class.

Like some others have said, it was a huge mistake to ever let anything like this get printed. He is clearly accusing the coach of doing something both illegal and unethical. I would be very concerned if I was involved in management at the newspaper. It's almost like someone in the composing department put this in after the paper had been edited. It's hard to believe any editor would let it run.

Yeah, I agree. I think he should already be in the top 20. I think he's the best junior in the 13th. Maybe the best player overall.

I'm not familiar with the AAU teams. I don't think Jordan would be related though. There's only one Brock on the Harlan team.

Upper level Division I, I guess, using football terminology. One big oversight is Jordan Brock not being listed anywhere. She will be the second ranked player in the 13th Region going into the season, behind only Morris.

I can't believe anyone thinks "the other guy is doing it, too" argument has any merit. Does that ever work when you get stopped for speeding and you were passed by three other cars. Do you think the judge would drop the charges if you told him that "Yes, I shot four people, but the guy across the street shot two, so you should have arrested him, too." I don't buy the "making the community proud" argument either. You bring in a bunch of guys from all over the country just to play basketball and somehow that is supposed to make the community feel good about themselves when their kids can't even make the team anymore.

Rice won't be in the top 20, at least not to start the year. He's not done anything yet in varsity competition. I don't think Farmer will be No. 1. He played well at the end, but not very consistent through much of the season. Baxter, Barger, Broughton, Smith and Marsee will probably be the top five.

I agree that recruiting is an issue across the state, but I can't understand why you see no difference between teams who supplement their roster with a player and a school who depends almost exclusively on players who are only there to play basketball. You mentioned Clay, but my guess is Cordia had more transfers in one season than Clay had in 25 years. Also, Oneida Baptist has had a much better program than Cordia through the years. They had very good teams in the past, and did add numerous players from around the country. The difference was OBI brought in students who played basketball, not basketball players who went to class to stay eligible.

I thought Keita was 2018

Harlan 1968 The Dragons tied Lynch that season. Lynch won the district and won the state championship. Harlan didn't make the playoffs and I don't think they lost a game, one at the most, and had the one tie.

I didn't see Wayne this summer and I know they're good. Southwestern was impressive when I saw them at the KBA.

He had some good teams and always seemed to get a lot out of them. I remember picking him as coach of the year in the region once when his team overachieved. I don't remember any of those teams doing a lot of damage in the regional tournament though. Of course, neither Whitley nor Pineville have done a lot of damage since he left, even though Pineville did have the big win over Corbin a few years ago.

Williamsburg did beat Hazard last year and lost less in graduation.