6 Takeaways: NKU Team Camp
All day Wednesday Northern Kentucky University played host to several high level summer games featuring several of the top teams in Kentucky. Covington Catholic, Scott County, George Rogers Clark, Lexington Christian, Walton-Verona and Male were among the top teams present. I was able to take in 6 games at BB&T Arena before having to head back to Lexington. Here are some of my observations from the morning and afternoon.
- Scott County is going to take and make a lot of 3s. The state runners-up were missing Lorenzo Williams and Terrin Hamilton but won beat Walton-Verona fairly easily. They shoot a lot of 3s and with Diablo Stewart, Glenn Covington, Cam Fluker and Bryce Long hitting shots and Michael Moreno and Jaylen Barber patrolling the paint, Scott will be a tough out again this season and are the likely favorites to win the 2019 state championship.
- Covington Catholic is long and athletic. They graduated a ton but Cov Cath has a lot of length and were killing Collins on the boards while they were releasing a player to attack the offensive end. As a result they got a lot of run out buckets that allowed them to build a big lead over Collins and hang on at the end after the Titans made a second half run to cut what had been a 22 point lead down to 5.
- Walton-Verona is going to win a lot of games. There aren’t many frontlines the size of Walton-Verona anywhere in Kentucky, especially in the 8th region. With Dieonte Miles and Ethan Brook on the frontline, not many teams will be able to matchup with the Bearcats in the paint. If their guards are able to make shots, they are going to be hard to keep from advancing to Rupp Arena in March.
- For Lexington Christian to win many games, Kyle Rode needs help. LCA played 2 and a half games yesterday (one team was a no show and they filled in for a half) and they are really missing Austin Hall and Carter Hendricksen right now. Kyle Rode was the best player on the floor for LCA by a huge margin and if he doesn’t get some help from the supporting cast, LCA may struggle to get out of the always competitive 43rd district.
- George Rogers Clark is in the middle of a youth movement. Jordan Graham and Brennan Canada are still starting for the Cardinals but most of the rest of the team who played at NKU are inexperienced and predominantly played JV last season. Sophomore Jared Wellman, Junior KJ Rucker and Senior Jehdon Jenkins stepped into starting roles and freshman Jerone Morton really impressed me off the bench. GRC will still be a factor in the 10th region but they’re going to experience some growing pains.
- Collins achilles heel is their lack of size. Collins is quick and capable of scoring in bunches when they play in the open floor but an overall lack of size is what killed them against Covington Catholic and what will cause them problems against bigger teams like Walton-Verona and Gallatin County in the 8th region. Coach Gaither has some of the best guards in the region and possibly the best junior in the state but they are smaller than last season. The best bet for Collins may be to push the pace as much as possible and try to run teams out of the gym.