4pointplay

Valid points and really comes down to matter of opinion. I did see Fangman in the early portion of the AAU and was impressed with his overall play. Would have liked to have seen him in July in the bigger tournies. I would put him and Flesch somewhere in the 6-10 range of players in the 9th (Brown in that same range) and would have Connelly just outside the top 10. Not a knock on Connelly because with his athleticism if he had focused on basketball and not football he might be a top 5 player in the region.

If my memory serves me correctly they combine D2 & D3. There were two players of the year Rico Johnson (D1) and Grant Pangallo (D2 & 3). Fangman was one of the very few juniors to be named to either team.

I think Fangman is a top 10 player in the 9th Region. I wouldn't put him ahead of Brown on the players mentioned but would put him ahead of Flesch and Connelly. Fangman was a very productive player for Beechwood last season and Beechwood played a very tough non-D3 schedule. Beechwood is limited by their conference and having to play the other D3 schools twice and I think that hurts their players sometimes in others eyes when making comparisons. The coaches thought enough of Fangman to vote him to their seasons end all conference teams.

Mason and GRC and then a pretty wide gap. I like Mason Co as #1 until GRC proves they can beat them when it counts. To be the champ you have to beat the champ.

Beechwood has a real good shot at running the table in DIII again. Their youg kids got a lot of good experience last season. Beechwood is my darkhorse to win the district and make some noise in the regional.

Didn't Campbell County lose their entire starting five from last year. Last year in District Finals Campbell started five seniors. McGovney might have been one of their 5 best players but he wasn't starting at that point. Scott brings back as much or more than anyone else in the district. Good to see Campbell County wanting to play uptempo but nobody in district runs like Scott.

I think the most immediate effext on losing these players is depth. To play Boohers pressing style effectively you either need the depth to be able to give kids a blow or you better be the most conditioned team in the area. When you get tired you either lose that step physically or lose that focus mentally. Should be an interesting transition for Holmes this season.

If Dixie gets a big year from Stansberry they will be awfully tough with their guard play.

Put up their numbers from last year and compare then and look at the schedule they played to post those numbers. Scott played a much tougher schedule. While you may not put Smith in the top 3 players in the 9th he would be in the conversation. As it is he will probably be ranked in the top 5 players in the 10th Region where the talent level is significantly higher this year than in the 9th. As I said earlier Flesch is a good player but you really can't compare their resumes.

Over the past two seasons Smith has led Northern Kentucky in assists and averaged 9 ppg and 13 ppg respectively. District MVP two years in a row, All 10th Region, CJ Honorable Mention All State and if he was in the 9th Region would be a top 3 player with Giesler and Thelen. As it is he is a top 5 player in the loaded 10th Region. Flesch is a good player but not the same caliber player as Smith. Put up the stats from last two years on the varsity level and then make that comparison.

Maybe but he is still 6'8" or 6'9" with a big time wingspan in a region with a whole bunch of 6'5" and 6'6" post players at best. Thelen might be better served playing the 4 with his ability to hit the 15-17 foot jumper but he plays the 5 and produces. No doubt Hodges has potential as you can't teach size but in my opinion not a top 5 player in the 9th and if you open it up to all of Northern Kentucky maybe not a top 10 player.

Good list but I would exchange Giesler with Stauffer at the number 1 position and probably put Thelen as #2. Stauffer would be a close #3 1. Giesler 2. Thelen 3. Stauffer 4. Stewart 5.Montgomery 6. Brown 7. Trammel 8. Hatton 9. Hodges 10. Fangman/Flesch I know there will be screaming about rating Hodges that low but in my opinion he has to produce more on the court at the high school level. Feel the same way about Kevon Rice at Holmes and until they put it together on the court I can't rate potential. Fangman deserves to be in the top 10 or in that next group. He is underrated athletically and he can shoot. I would have liked to have seen him at more of thebig time events later in the summer to see how he played against the better competition

But didn't the Colonels have an article written about them earlier? Too bad the author didn't do his homework to include the Bats. Some nice players on that team as well. Bluegrass does a nice job with their teams and I would think Bats did the organization proud by the way they played this summer. Don't know if I would call Bats their top team just because they did not travel to some of the more high profile tournaments that the Seminoles did. With that being said who in the organization is being recruited to play baseball in college and where?

Ryle is a very good team but 61-7 and running for 600 yards? That is just physical domination. Expected a Ryle win but nothing like this.

Have not heard of any transfers into Scott. I could see Campbell County with Russell coaching there and these young men being advised by the same person who helped land Foster at Newport last year.

Saw Crabtree a lot this summer and has really improved his offensive game. Boone will be deep on the front line but guard play will make or break this team.

Hightchew from NewCath got a lot of experience last year playing in the same back court as Pangallo. I think he will make a smooth transition to the point and Giesler is a POY candidate. While Dixie might lack front court depth their guards will create match up problems. You can shuffle the deck in the 9th next year and probably not be too far off with any prediction. There is a lot of very average teams in the 9th next year and as mentioned in another thread probably not a team that could legitimately be considered a top 20-25 team in the state.

Hard to disagree with anyone's picks with everyone being pretty much equal. Whoever gets hot at end of the year will have an opportunity to get to Rupp. My early season pick for top team would probably be Dixie. High school basketball is a guards game and they have the best combo with Hatton and Trammell. If NewCath can get some solid guard play at the point they are a top 5 team. Same with Highlands, if they can get some good play at the point I think they are a top 5 team. Beechwood is a top 10 team right now with what they have returning and could be a darkhorse to win their district and make some noise in regional. 1.Dixie 2. NewCath 3. Conner 4. Highlands 5. Boone Co 6. Holmes 7.CovCath 8.Beechwood 9. Ryle 10. Holy Cross

Initial thought would be when did they move Walton Verona back into the 9th Region!

Some high schools coaches are better at helping high school athletes market themselves to colleges. Some coaches are pretty well connected in the recruiting circles and some are not. Same with the AAU coaches. The student athlete has the opportunity and ability to perform at the NCAA certified events and at the high school level to get their "name" out there. They can also attend the "Elite" Camps hosted at the various schools. College coaches are a tight knit fraternity and if they see a kid who might not fit their program but could help one of their buddies they will relay the info. The reality is that D1 is a very difficult goal to obtain. When you mention Ohio U and Miami (Oh) you need to look at the players they are recruiting. Miami recruited Josh Sewell out of Trinity last year and he was a candidate for Mr Basketball in Kentucky. Ohio U recruited Rico Johnson from Holmes the Northern Kentucky player of the year and just recently obtained a commitment from Stevie Taylor out of Columbus who is generally regarded as the top PG in the state of Ohio for 2011. Travis is a good player but probably not a D1 caliber player at the level of a Miami or Ohio U. I would be very surprised if any of the class of 2011 in Northern Kentucky actually gets a D1 ride.

If it were only that easy then we would have a lot more players playing D1 out of Northern Kentucky. Travis is a good player....probably a top 10 player in Northern Kentucky but we just don't produce that many D1 players out of this area. If he is getting a solid D2 look that is pretty good.

In Northern Kentucky I would go with Giesler, Thelen and Stauffer as the top big men.

I am a big fan of Northern Kentucky basketball and most years think it is underrated. However, next year in the 9th is going to be grind all season long with 8-10 very even but very average basketball teams fighting it out for a chance to go to Rupp. I would agree that there probably isn't even a top 20 team in Northern Kentucky for next season.

Highlands??? Don't know if any team in Northern Kentucky is going to be worthy of top 10 consideration for next season and Highlands graduated a whole bunch of seniors???

Always great to win any tournament but why wouldn't Bulldogs go to Vegas or Orlando? If you look at the brackets for the USSSA tourney there was less than 30 teams for the 17U and I can't imagine the college coaches showing up to a tournament where there are only a few quality teams? In Orlando you are playing in front of 50-60 coaches some games with coaches from all levels, same in Vegas?