State Tournament

[Golfer101]

I think if you compare the Chesapeake and Wheelersburg game this year to the one a few years back you will see what I mean by my statement.

[yabbadabbadoo]

10 of the remaining 16 are either a private school or prep school with all 4 in DIII being a private school. I know it is argued every year on here but until they change things up it is not going to be any different. All of the better players in the bigger cities are now going to the private schools as you have Lakewood St. Eds and Cleveland East Technical in DI. Cols. Bishop watterson and ASVSM's in DII. Cleveland St. Joes, Cols. Bishop Ready and Cin. Roger Bacon and Lima Central catholic in DIII and Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas and Harvest Prep in DIV.

Public schools can't compete with that.

There will be hardly anyone other than the fans who could give a darn who wins at the DIII games with 4 private schools there. Ready had the worst fan base I've ever seen at the Convo. Decent student section but no fans. Roger Bacon might bring a decent following but I remember when Wheelersburg played St. Joes in 2006 we had them outnumberd 5-1 on fans.

[The Exile]

Just an FYI, Cleveland East Tech is a public school (trade school) in the Cleveland Municipal District.

[trojandave]

I always enjoy going to the state tournament.......regardless of who's playing. I was absolutely thrilled to see Cleveland East Tech make it to the Final 4 in D1.........they are one of the "old time" power programs that were always gunning for the state tournament in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's. I remember their 1972 Class AAA state championship team that featured point guard Larry Bolden and center Jim Abrams. They have one of the great nicknames in Ohio........the Scarabs (an Egyptian beetle). East Tech has the record for most consecutive appearances in the Final 4......6 straight from 1958-1963. I don't mind seeing 4 private schools in the D3 Final 4.......I just want to see quality basketball, no matter who is playing.

This year marked the end of a streak dating back to 2003 that a SE district boys team made the state tournament. Actually, the SE District has fared well over the last decade, with 3 state titles (Chillicothe, South Webster, and Oak Hill), and 2 state runnerups (Portsmouth and Ironton).

As far as public vs. private schools, that is not an issue with me........my Portsmouth Trojans lost to Cincinnati Summit Country Day in the 2012 D3 state championship game not because they were private, but because they played better than we did. SCD hit a 3 pointer at the end of the 3rd quarter to go up 36-28, and PHS never recovered. That was a winnable game for the Trojans. Still, I was very proud of our kids for having made it that far. Portsmouth historically has fared well against private schools, but we have had our share of losses against them also.

The class(division) system that is currently in place is not perfect, nor will any system set up in the future be perfect either. If one day the public and private schools are separated, then what is the next debate..........urban vs. rural schools? The biggest discrepancy of all is in D1, where the enrollment figures can vary from around 400 to over 1100. Last year's state championship game in D1 was between Mentor and Toledo Rogers.........Mentor had 999 boys, while Toledo Rogers had 381 (the same as Chillicothe right now). Rare to see two schools with such a huge difference in enrollment meeting at that level.......definitely not the norm. The OHSAA went to 7 divisions in football, mainly to accommodate the large enrollment discrepancy among the "big" schools, perhaps a 5th division could be added in basketball to achieve the same goal. If the OHSAA were to make any changes whatsoever, I could accept going to 5 divisions in basketball, and I for a long time used to be an advocate of not having too many divisions.

Open enrollment has changed the landscape of public school athletics......although some districts don't allow it, quite a few do.........Portsmouth (2010 census 20,226) is a D3 school and the migration of kids going to other schools in Scioto County is one of the main reasons why.

[Steely Dan]

trojandave, that is a great post right there. Thank you!

[Golfer101]

I always respect and enjoy reading trojandave's post. I still think the current system is unfair. Out of the three state titles and two state runnerups in SE District how many had transfers? I know of at least three of those teams did because I watched them play on other teams the year before. If your not a private school or a school that recruits the odds are against you. I like to see that team come along about once a decade that does with their home town kids that have played together since grade school. I feel high school players jump teams like the NBA. At least in college they have to sit out a year. I guess it is the society we live in. No loyalty. What's best for me society.

[trojandave]

Fred Sanford: In the SE part of the state, there have been a number of instances where transfers made a HUGE difference in the success of a basketball team.........and Portsmouth has had a few come their way also. I'm sure, though, that with approximately 800 high schools that play basketball in the state, that quite a few don't hit the lottery when it comes to transfers. Some of the teams that traditionally make the state tournament on a regular basis probably do benefit from new faces coming into their program that weren't there a season or two ago. As far as I'm concerned, if a situation involving a transfer is legal, then it's okay with me.......because some transfers move in due to circumstances not relevant to basketball. I know at Portsmouth we have had that issue come up a couple of times over the last several years, with kids whose family background was unstable in some way, but they were also good basketball players. The best thing for them at the time was to move to Portsmouth to settle in to a more stable home life, but because they were basketball players it seemed like the move was basketball oriented, when actually it was not.

When I attended Portsmouth High School (1972-1975), even then we were not immune to the occasional transfer who happened to play basketball for the Trojans.......not every single player in PHS history was born and raised in Portsmouth.........demographically speaking, that's a virtual impossibility over the course of 100 years. People moved back then, and even more so today, especially with the significant portion of the population migrating from the Northern US to the Southern US. In Ohio, many suburbs back 50-70 years ago were small towns with small schools. Upper Arlington competed in the small class of schools in the OHSAA state tournament in the 1930's, but look today.........UA is one this year's Final 4 teams in D1. Suburbs now commonly sport a population of 30,000 and up.

No system will be perfect for the production of the state basketball tournament, but with economic, personal, and social issues facing many families, there will always be a mobile segment of the population. It's just when a basketball player(s) is ajoined to that situation does it raise eyebrows, and I understand that. At the same time, though, the transfer issue will never be eliminated nor should it be for the reasons I have stated.

[Golfer101]

trojandave as always I enjoy reading your perspective. I agree a lot of transfers are because of family situations and I agree no system will ever be fair. I wouldn't be telling the truth if I said I didn't enjoy watching LeBron and Josh Duncan going at it in the state tournament. That is the only game I can really remember from that year. I enjoyed watching all those teams you mentioned from the SE District as well and rooted them on regardless if they had transfers or not. I do feel sorry for the little schools that play with their own players year after year and continue to get beat by teams reloading their rosters. I feel most small school talent comes in cycles although their are a few with programs that keep them competitive even when the talent is down some. I guess I feel these schools may wait ten years to get a team with good talent only to be beat by a team in the regionals that gets exceptional talent every year. I do enjoy watching high school basketball although I do think a lot of the loyalty is gone all around in the sport.

[rockbiter]

Too much AAU. Not teaching fundamentals.

Completely agree!!! Also shoot outs. Money makers! No fundamentals. Kids foul because they don't keep track!

Because playing in shootouts and coming together as a team with your teammates is not beneficial. I get so tired of this! Like I said before. I am sure there are AAU teams that are coached by guys who are not good teachers of the game. Kids putting in extra time and being in a gym is always beneficial. It is like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it. Could kids develop some bad habits? possibly. Do the benefits of going against bigger, faster, stronger and a kid improving his game outweigh the negatives? Absolutely. A kid can develop bad habits in open gym. It is the coaches job to take the athletes he is given and build a team and get them playing his or hers desired style. Not all shootouts don't keep track of fouls, and normally in AAU they do keep track of fouls.






................................and that my friends is the UGLY TRUTH!!!!!

In your opinion.