Henry Steele

Way to go fellas! And I agree, as to Salter, very steep trajectory over the past two years... I understand that the 6th grade Ft. Thomas/Gametime team (which is essentially the 6th grade Highlands team plus a 5th grader) also won big every game at the Campbell County tournament.

Who do the girls at those schools play AAU with?

Played with Holmes as a 6th grader... then last year at Turkeyfoot... now back to Holmes....

Campbell county gold, st. Mary's, summit view, Georgetown middle (?)

So the Campbell County tournament, particularly this year's 8th grade field, did a great job of drawing good teams... but I wonder why they would have structured the pools the way they did. I am not complaining, because I think it is great to play challenging teams early in the season, but honestly I think the best, 2nd best, 3rd best and 4th best teams are all in the A pool ... Its great that CCMS Purple, Highlands, Gray and Twenhofel will all play 3 meaningful games in pool play, but it pretty much eliminates the meaning of the championship game where the winner of the A pool plays the winner of the B pool ...

You have to draw the line somewhere, but I tend to agree with ennam... it makes the most sense to me to have it coincide with the school year... i.e. June 1. Of course, as soon as you do that, you have the late May birthdays complaining about being almost a whole year younger.... gotta draw the line somewhere....

Saw Ty Houston (Woodland 8th grade) play yesterday at Sports of All Sorts. Very, very strong and improved quickness getting off the floor. At about 6'1" or so, I'd put him as the top "5" in northern Kentucky (slightly ahead of Rankin or Bramwell, Coldiron, Thelen, Starkey). Haven't seen Holmes play yet, but I'd be curious to hear who their bigs are.

You got a varsity and JV roster yet?

I've heard the same... pretty good group ... the pipeline is full at NCC!!

I think it might wind up being unfortunate that Beechwood is playing the "small school" division of the NKMSAA league... heck, I even thought they had a pretty competitive group of 8th grade kids, too....

But the problem is that now they are out of sync with schools, at least the way most people think about it. Now, the oldest legal 6th graders will be playing 13U, 7th graders will be playing 14U, 8th will be playing 15U, until you get to freshman, when it is back the way it used to be.

McDaniel, too, I believe, is at NCC. I only saw Holy Trinity play a few times, but was Posey the best on that team? Admittedly, I didn't see them much, but I saw a lot more of Pangallo, Hall, Iles and McDaniel... just a little surprising, given what I saw, that he would be the one player off of that team identified as one of the region's top incoming freshman.

I think they do a great job at bringing in competitive kids over the summer to challenge their kids... they also had kids from Highlands, Campbell County, Holmes, even a kid from Xavier, playing in open gyms over the summer. I love the passion for basketball at NCC... Pangallos and Dawns love being there and it's infectious.

This is the posey that played for holy trinity last year?

I don't know guys, he has progressed a lot over the last six months. He played in some open gyms at NCC and I am pretty sure he'd be getting minutes there.... I think you guys are underestimating him

Fairly certain that I know who every one of those girls are, and I am not surprised. The only additions that I have heard are that it was two eighth graders at Ryle playing up, in addition to the 7th grader, and that there is a very young 7th grader at Holmes that is playing up (and who may wind up being the biggest surprise of them all IMO).

Yep, and We All Can Go (playing out of Tennessee) finished third at the D2 Nationals, as well, correct? Were the two Kentucky kids on this list on the WACG team that finished third?

100 percent positive. i have had to copy his birth certificate a dozen times.

Are you talking about the big kid that played for Holmes as a 6th grader and Tichenor last year as a 7th grader, who also plays with the Legends? I don't recall any other big kids that played 7th for Holmes last year....

I agree with Tig, but I don't want to keep beating the drum or be elected president of the fan club. I have seen him play A LOT the last few months, including open gyms at NCC and in a national AAU tournament, and I think his game has gone to a different level. I could be wrong... but I don't think I am. He is long, can light it up, has an exceptional handle, is dunking in games at the age of 13, and has 2 parents that played D1 college basketball. I will just wait and see how things develop...

What 8th grader in the Commonwealth of Kentucky would you put ahead of him? Because honestly I don't think anyone in northern Kentucky is even close, so I am wondering who you have seen that is more impressive.

I don't know what you saw, but I have trouble believing you have the right kid. a) I have never seen his dad at a game; b) his uncle, who comes to some games, I have never heard say a word. Go to the high school boys/top players class of 2019 thread... Walter linked to some Dontae highlights. See if that is the kid you're thinking of. Actually, I think you can google him (Dontae Allen) and you'll find video....

Yes, 8th grade session at SOAS. The Royals played up in the 9th without him. I believe he wore number 8 for the Warriors... but if you had seen them play, and he had been there, there is no way you could have missed him I don't think.

I had no idea the HMS 8th was that small a number.... pretty shocking....

I certainly think Highlands 8th and 7th have to be considered among the best in those divisions because of the restriction against their more skilled players playing up. Conner may present competition at both age groups, although it depends on how many girls from each of those teams get pulled up onto high school teams. I have one question about Turkeyfoot's 8th grade team. I was told that a team called "Sun" that played out at Sports of All Sorts was the Turkeyfoot 8th grade team, and they were pretty decent. I would expect that if that was, indeed, the Turkeyfoot 8th grade team, they would present some formidable competition. Many of those girls had on Dixie gear, though, so I was curious if that was last year's 8th grade team or this year's and whether some of those girls are playing up. Anyone know?