wildcatfan

Middle school Ockerman finished in the top 3 teams in the state tournament. RA Jones finished in the top 5. Ockerman won one Boone-Kenton conference championship and finished runner up another year. Boone boys played on the KY Patriots and various Shining Stars teams. Earls, Popp, and Gabbard have been on 4-5 KY state AAU champs with different teams and medaled at nationals a couple of times. I don't believe any of them have played on a losing team. District, conference championships at Boone last year, and regional runner-up to the eventual state champion by virtue of a 3-point loss. Those aren't bad results.

He is a good shot blocker. Probably would help to have more upper body strength. I think he will be one of the top players in the 9th region his senior year.

I have heard/seen the following: Committed: Josh Sewell - Miami, OH Sean Samsel - Findlay Washington - USC Rico Johnson - Ohio U Donovan Gibbs - IUIPUI Elisha Justice - Louisville (walk-on) Offered and/or recruited Euton - EKU, Akron Chad Jackson - James Madison, EKU Daniel O'Conner - Tusculum Mike Gabbard - Ashland, W. Liberty St., Mass. Lowell Will Evans - Ashland, St. Anselm Austin Flannery - Walsh Guyn - Charlotte, plus interest from several others Popp - Ohio Dominican Epley - Bellarmine Thomas Jackson - Wright State Vance Hall - Louisville??? Some D3 offers/recruits: Pillaschafke? Andy Earls - Mt. St. Joe Popp - Thomas More, Mt. St. Joe, Wilmington Ben Watson? Garret Keller-Smith? Chris Richards?

Agreed. Montgomery, Gabbard, Popp, and Cotton all fare better in open court because of their spead, court vision, athleticism, and quickness. Earls is better suited for open court too. He runs the floor well, and his strength/tendency is not post play. Brown and Lay are more suited for half court. Boone also has a couple of other small senior guards who can't create their own shots but can knock down some threes in open court. Overall, I think Boone's players are more suited to open court, vs full court. I thought the same was true last year too. McFarland was best as a slasher. They are not especially big or strong inside.

If Boone playes both Gabbard and Popp on the floor together, those are two very quick/good guard that Holmes has to guard, and it might make things a little easier for Earls, Cotton, etc.

Holmes is the favorite again but will not run the table, IMO. Same thing was said each of the last two years, and it did not happen.

:thumb:

Is the system what got the wins or the talent? Except the loaded 2004 class at Boone, up until the last few years with the 2009 and 2010 classes coming through, the results don't seem to be as desirable. An argument can be made that they may even do better with some adjustments. Nobody remembers the runners up in the long run. If what they did last year didn't win them a regional championship, I say try something different, IMO. Don't be satisfied with a runner up finish. I know the players aren't. It will be awhile before a class as good overall as this 2010 class comes through Boone again. Wins have followed this class of Boone players throughout their basketball careers, all the way from middle school and AAU ball into high school ball.

It's possible, but if every shot is criticized and held under a microscope by the coaches, the shooters won't have/gain the confidence they need, and they will be hesitant. Thamann can catch fire sometimes, but he won't see a lot of PT because of his defense/ball handling/size. He is streaky. Popp is capable. He has shot about that from outside his sophomore season. 40% is pretty darned good. I don't think too many high school kids shoot that for an entire season. I believe the half court game is not condusive to their personnel. I know there have been a least a couple of players unhappy and some seniors not return each of the last few years for one reason or another, but I don't know the reasons. I've also heard parents grumble, but this might be true of a lot of teams. I don't think there were any issues at all between the players. As far as I could tell, they all got along well. I'd like to see Boone open it up this year.

I've always agreed with this. Half court game nullifies some of the advantage of the good guards who see the floor well and work well in transition from defense to offense and big men who run the floor well. Setting up in a half court offense gives the defense time to recover and set up if they aren't as quick, etc. Up and down the court also often gets 3 point shooters wide open shots. Boone should be able to press a lot and rotate kids in and out. They have lots of quick guards.

McFarland was the leading rebounder. Brown is a very good rebounder, and he scores inside well because of his strength and girth. I agree that Montgomery has a better outside shot. I think McFarland was the better defender and passer than Montgomery currently is. Brown is down low, but Boone needs rebounding. Earls does not rebound as well (I think he was 3rd or 4th on the team in rebounds last year) and often hangs around outside. He will need to step up his rebounding and inside post play this year, IMO. I think the 8 players that should see the most time are Gabbard, Earls, Popp, Cotton, Brown, Montgomery, Lay, and Schutze, with the first 4 being locks. Different combinations will probably be used at times for different situations, but who knows for sure except the coaches...

Should be a good one. You can never sleep on Louisville schools like Manual. They usually have good athleticism. Manual's Samsel and Nicolic are both fine players, too. Earls could have his hands full if Nicolic is dominant in the paint. Boone can throw a 6'7" junior in there if needed too. Seneca should be tough too. Most of these teams should be good this year.

If he gets offered a walk-on at Louisville, I wouldn't accept if he gets a scholarship offer from EKU.

And how many is most of the better players in each region? Statistics on the NCAA site indicated that only a little over 3% of high school players go on to play college at any level each year. Let's say each high school team has an average of 5 seniors each year. That means only 3 or 4 players out of every 20 high school teams would go on to play in college each year. I'm sure that will be higher in some areas and lower in others.

I wouldn't be surprised. They seem to every year.

I've seen state and other tournament AAU games played with just as much effort/passion over the years, but you're right, it is not related to this topic directly.

I think Lay will start at the fifth spot initially. Brown could as he gets back from football. Brown and Montgomery will both see plenty of time, with Brown probably getting more this year, IMO.

While I think his size works against him playing for a D1 school and succeeding, I don't agree with your comment about players not playing hard in AAU ball. What do you base that generalization on? Some kids play hard regardless where they are at, and vice versa. Many play hard in AAU because that's where they pick up the college interest in most cases -- not in high school ball.

I'm also wondering whether Boone will carry the 9 seniors that have been in the program. I can't see all of them contributing. At least 3 played almost no varsity ball last year (1 played strictly JV). 6 of them are basically guards 6'0" or under. How would they all get PT, and what about the underclassmen?

It is Bryans to lose this year, IMO.

Some D2s spread their scholarship money out thinly among all of their players.

Maybe he shined in AAU ball. Maybe they ran a different system.

Looks like NKU missed the boat on at least one local player. I guess D1 transfers aren't necessarily always the way to go...

It appears he is one of their better players/scorers at West Liberty.

True, although size is not as much a factor at D3 and NAIA. Even the D2 schools have small guards, but most are very quick and very good shooters.