coach4life

I agree. It's not just his skills that make him a great player. This kid knows the game of basketball and always plays with a ton of heart! He is a playmaker and makes the players around him better.

Not in NKY, middle school girls basketball doesn't start until volleyball is over toward the end of October and goes through the middle of February. This is why you won't see many NKY teams play in many of the early tournaments in other parts of KY.

I have disputed this reason in my previous post. It has nothing to do with winning games. Sometimes the parents think their daughter is ready for high school ball, but in reality they may not be. Anytime a high school coach has wanted to pull up an 8th grader from our school, we have left the decision to the parent and the player. The principals don't really have any say in the matter. The only time our school stepped in and requested that the girl not be pulled up was when that would have only left 7 players on the team. Once I told the high school coach that, they decided not to pull the player up because we would not be able to have a middle school team. The coach did not want to hurt the feeder program. It had nothing to do with winning, but everything to do with being able to put a team on the floor.

[/Where is this in writing? I just read the Boone County Middle Schools athletic bylaws and it is not in there and it is not in our school SBDM minutes. Was this just one particular school in Boone County?

I would like to clear some misconceptions up. First, the Boone County Middle School league is nothing like intramurals. In intramurals, students play within their own school. The Boone Middle Schools play interscholastic basketball, which IMO is a very tough league to play in. My school has played a few of the other schools outside of the conference and defeated them, i.e. Campbell County, who is supposed to be very tough in their respective league, yet we are at the bottom of the standings in the Boone league. So, from what I have seen, the level of talent and play in Boone County Middle Schools is very high compared to some other leagues around here. Second, there is no rule that states that middle school players in Boone County can't play high school. The actual rule is that if a player chooses to play high school basketball, they are not eligible for the middle school conference games or tournament. The reason for this rule is probably so that girls who move up to play high school don't come back to the middle school to play in the tournament. However, the choice is left up to the high school coach, parents, and the player. I have known two girls to be asked by a high school coach to play up, and neither chose to do it because they would get more playing time at the middle school level and they wanted to play with their friends. One is still playing in high school and having a great career and the other is on full basketball scholarship and starting as a freshman on their college team. Please keep in mind that these decisions are not made lightly and are made in the best interest of the player. The decisions are not made so that middle school teams can win a tournament!

The Boone County high schools are strong at the high school level and do not need middle school players to fill their rosters. Second, girls can move up if the varsity coach wants them to play up, but at this time most are not needed. A few years ago, an 8th grader was asked to move up to play high school, but it would have only left 7 girls on the 8th grade team. So, the high school coach decided not to move her up because she did not want to hurt the feeder program. This has nothing to do with egos and trying to win games, but rather trying to keep a strong feeder program intact. Most high school coaches in Boone County have a good relationship with their feeder programs. Also, the middle schools in Boone County do play non-conference games, not just in tournaments. They play other teams, such as Walton-Verona, Highlands, St. Henry, etc.

I've always called them "gut sprints" or "suicides".

Boone's new freshman coach is Zach Ashley. Boone will be pretty strong if they all play freshman.

Almost all of his school friends will be at Boone, so it can't really be that (about 85-90% of RA Jones feeds into Boone). It could possibly be wanting to play with his peewee teammates.

I think Travis wants to go to Ryle, which is the district he lives in, because he does not want to follow in his brother's footsteps. He wants to be known as Travis, not Cody's little brother. I've known both of them and they are tremendous athletes and very good students. I'm sure Travis is going to have an outstanding career at Ryle.

Well I heard Oppenheimer(#10) for Boone's freshman team is a real hard runner. I think he had between 130-145 yards rushing against Dixie on 10/10/07 thats coming out of the Fullback position. He also plays a pretty stong defense. I think he is their MLB.

I saw some of the freshman summer league games played at Ryle in June. The most impressive team there was Boone County. They have a lot of very talented players led by Travis Montgomery, Trevan Brown, and Jordan Oppenheimer. They beat Ryle, Cov Cath, and Dixie by at least 20 points. I know some of the teams did not have all of their players there and they could have injuries and transfers, but Boone looked good in June. Ryle will have another very talented group of Freshman again this year. I believe they were undefeated in their 8th grade league.

Travis Montgomery (6'1 guard/forward from Boone) is one of the top incoming freshman in the 9th region. He had a great showing at the middle school state tournament at the KBA in Lexington scoring 27 points against a very talented Russell County team. He has a great outside shot, but is also a slasher/scorer in the paint. He is a very versatile player - he can score, defend, rebound, and handle the ball. His basketball IQ and work ethic is very high and he will contribute a lot to the Boone team the next four years. He definately is a player to watch in the class of 2011!

Anyone know how the Boone freshman did this week?

I've seen the Gabbard kid from Boone play this summer and he is very impressive. As a sophomore he is already among the top guards in the 9th. I'm interested to see how much his stock rises over the next 3 years.

I have seen Gabbard from Boone play this summer and he looks outstanding. He will be a huge impact as the starting point guard on the varsity team this year. He is a real quick point guard with excellent handles and court vision and has the ability to score.

Yes, last year's freshman were very talented, but really only went five deep. I saw this year's freshman class play in a few league games in June and they looked great. They are very deep with one of the best freshman post players in the area in Brown and one of the best all-around player and outstanding shooter in Montgomery. Add Bradley, Barnes, Moore, Oppenheimer, Fookes and Smith and a couple 6 footers in Crabtree and another player (sorry don't know his name) and you have a very talented group. Boone will be very good for the next few years.

If it is who I am thinking, yes she used to coach under Coach Fookes at BCHS. Plus she has a daughter in the 6th grade at the feeder school.

The middle schools in Boone County have been participating in a research study to find out why girls are more likely to have this type of injury. The study has been going for the last three years and will follow these girls through their high school careers. Hopefully they will find out why this occurs.

Our middle school league ran into this situation this year. A kid was held back in 7th grade and played two years in a row on the same team. There needs to be some regulation of this in middle school.

Thanks for all of the information. I will look into some of these camps for my players. I received a brochure from Ten Star All Star basketball camp which is by invitation only. Have any coaches ever had any of their players apply for and attend this camp?

and that really good point guard will be there for a couple more years with those two.

Actually, coaches pay an annual fee in the state of KY to be a part of the KHSAA Coaches Association. This gives them a pass to get into games in this state.

Can anyone tell me what the best basketball camps are in this area? I have some very talented players and want them to get some great instruction and some exposure in the state. I receive lots of pamplets and flyers for camps, but I want to know which ones are worth the money.