coach4life

You are probably right. I have not really looked into age restrictions for high school athletes.

Yes, but only misses the cut-off by a few days. What bothers me about this is that he has only been playing basketball since 8th grade and has never not been eligible due to grades. The reason he can't play is due to decisions that were made in elementary school. There are other reasons here that I will not go in to, but I hate that because of a decision made when he was really young he only receives 3 years of high school eligibility. It's not like he was a kid that failed grades as some might think. He also was a Katrina transplant. I wonder if he would be eligible to play in his home state?

Doss is a JR not a SR. Doss had the first 8 points of the game for SK and 11 out of the first 15 points. They stopped going to him in the 2nd half, which is why his production decreased. Doss is still coming off a knee injury which he has been doing physical therapy for. Once he gets his legs under him...watch out.

I agree that guard play will be the issue with Boone this year. None of their guards have much varsity experience other than Montgomery, who played point guard all through middle school and his freshman and JV years. Downs, Stanley, and Pitts do not have much experience, but all are very quick, especially Pitts. I think he will be the key once he learns the system. He can provide a spark off the bench. Pitts did not play last year, but was one of Holmes best players his freshman year and played against very tough competition this summer. I hope he gets a chance to contribute.

I did see Dontel quite a bit this summer in both game and practice situations. He is definitely one of the top athletes in the region. He is so smooth and can hurt you in many different ways and is very difficult to defend. I heard several college coaches at the big certified events this summer talking about his athletic ability during a game. With that said, the only downside to his game is his intensity/urgency. It's almost like he gets bored on the court sometimes. In his defense, he probably does get bored because he knows he can score on anyone if he wants to. I would like to see Dontel take over more games like I saw a few times this summer and increase his urgency on the defensive end. Once he does that you will probably see his name on the top ten list.

And I was not complaining about the system per se, just the fact that in that system it is difficult to showcase his shooting ability because taking 3 point shots is frowned upon. There is nothing wrong with a coach preferring to get inside shots or penetration to the rim, but for someone who can shoot outside this is difficult to showcase.

To add to this, Travis can definitely shoot the ball, but does not have the green light to shoot 3's. He just does not play in a system that allows him to showcase this talent.

Travis Montgomery is being recruited by a school in the Patriot League. They have been in constant contact and have come to watch him at open gyms. So, apparently there are some kids in this senior class that may play at the DI level, but not a major DI.

Apparently others will disagree. David has been contacted by a small DI school in Indiana and went on a official visit this week. They saw him play at the Adidas May Classic this summer and have been in contact with him. This was also the tournament that got him some recognition from Jody Demling of the Louisville-Courier, which is why he was named as a player to watch for the 2012 class. David is a great kid and deserves whatever good comes his way.

Doss is a big kid that can score. He did not have an opportunity to show much of that last year. I saw several games on JV and the offense was very guard oriented, with Doss the only big body inside. Doss can score inside, mid-range, and shoot the 3. In summer ball playing against some pretty good competition, he shot a very high percentage from beyond the arc. Most were set plays like a pick and pop with the point guard. He even represented his team in the 3-point contest at the Grand Nationals in Cleveland and placed 3rd overall. The kid can shoot the ball, but usually plays inside due to his size and lack of quickness.

It's Stephens, not Stevenson. Is he even eligible this year?

I have not seen Al Dean play, but I saw Carter New play this summer and that kid is an athlete. He was injured early in the summer, so he did not finish out his AAU season. But from what I saw this kid can handle the point guard duties.

I believe Pitts will be eligible because his family has moved into the district and he has not played any varsity. I believe Stephens will have to sit out a year. He has not dressed for football yet.

From what I heard, Pitts enrolled at Boone today and will start school there tomorrow.

I recently heard that Hoskins is back in KY and will suit up for the Bulldogs this year. That will give them a little more size inside.

I agree that Dontel will be the best player on this team. I saw him play at the KY Hoopfest and at the Vegas of the Midwest tourneys this summer and he looked great. He probably had 25-30 points in the final four game of the Vegas tourney gold bracket. He can score with ease and really lets the game come to him. I believe 2 of the players mentioned will not be at Holmes next year. Last time I talked to Hoskins he had moved out of the state. Also, Stephens has already transferred to Simon Kenton. As for Ja'Keith, this kid probably impressed me the most this summer. He is super quick and has very good court sense. I was watching one of the Heat games this summer and I heard the opposing coach during pre-game say their main focus was to stop his penetration. He was very good at penetrating and getting other kids the ball. When they would stop his penetration he would just start lighting it up from outside. He is very tough to defend. This kid just needs a coach to have confidence in him and he will shine.

I have talked with Travis about this and he really does want to play basketball at the next level. He has been talking about this since 6th grade. He and I have talked about his recruiting and he is willing to do whatever he needs to do. He will e-mail college coaches, send videos, whatever he needs to do. He has realized if it is going to get done, he will have to do it himself. Unfortunately that's how it is at some schools. Thankfully Travis has a great family and support system around him to help him with this process. It's not going to hurt that he is an Honor Roll student and a great leader on and off the court. I wish him nothing but the best because he deserves it!

I agree...I was shocked to see him listed as a tight end. I believe he played defense at Holmes if I'm not mistaken. From what I understand David just was not happy in Covington.

It's David Stephens. And yes, he does play basketball too.

Not to take anything away from Travis, but I thought it was pretty cool that another 9th region player won a national dunk contest earlier this summer against kids older than him. Tyler Bray from Ryle (but transferring to Lloyd this year) won the dunk contest at Grand Nationals in Cleveland. The neat thing about it...they both went to the same middle school and both have done the same plyometric program! I guess it works!

Congrats Travis! This is awesome! I guess those plyo workouts have helped! I can't wait to see Travis play this year. Great kid and fun to watch.

He played his freshman year, but did not play last year, which was his sophomore year. He will be a junior this year.

He was at Ryle but just moved into Lloyd district and is enrolled there and will be there next year. I believe he has been going to some open gyms. Tyler is extremely athletic. He is 6'3 and won the dunk competition at grand nationals in Cleveland a few weeks ago. The final dunk that won it was Tyler jumping over his 6'6 teammate in the lane and dunking it. Truly unbelieveable dunk. The whole gym rushed the floor after that dunk! He played great most of the weekend and got a lot of attention. I believe he had at least 10 blocks against Indiana Elite One, including about 3 on Ron Patterson, one of Indiana's top 2012 players. Their whole bench just kept shaking their head everytime he blocked one of their players. Very good defensive player, but still needs some offensive work.

NKY Heat 16U opened the tournament with a 10-point win over the Tennessee Tigers. Ja'Keith Pitts (Holmes) had a great game shooting 100% from 3-point range with three 3's and having 15 points overall and several assists. His quickness and court vision is a definite asset to this team. Dontel Rice (Holmes) chipped in with about 10 points. Tate Mullins (Ryle), Tyler Bray (Lloyd), Dylan James (Ryle), Keenan Palmer (Boone), and Charles Knox (Holmes) played very well. NKY Heat is playing without their big man 6'6 JR Doss from Simon Kenton this weekend. This was a great defensive game for the Heat, holding the Tigers to only 13 points for most of the first half. They have a big test tomorrow against Indiana Elite One.

Mikey called today to let me know that he will be playing at WKU next year. They did not have a scholarship to give, so he will be a preferred walk-on with scholarship opportunities for his last 3 years. He was very glad that he gets to play at the next level, especially DI, and get a good education on top of that. Congrats to Mikey!