10 Predictions for the 2018-19 Season
With the 2018-19 high school basketball season underway this week, excitement is at an all time high. With a loaded Senior class and several teams with a legitimate shot to win the state title, people all around the state are ready for a historic season. Here are some predictions for the season ahead. Some bold, some not so bold.
- Scoring will be up all across the state. Between a renewed emphasis on referees calling the game tighter and pace going up across the state, I think that scoring will increase significantly all over the Commonwealth.
- The existing state career blocks record will be broken…twice. Isaiah Cozart will break the career record in his next game. Sophomore Trey James will also break the existing record before the season ends (barring injury).
- Dontaie Allen will end his career as the state’s second leading scorer of all time. Only “King” Kelly Coleman will be ahead of Allen when his career ends. The Kentucky signee should draw huge crowds all season. He’s already got 105 points in two games combined this year.
- KyKy Tandy will have the most impressive highlight tape in the history of the KHSAA. Between his dunks, his threes and the ridiculous athletic plays he makes at least once per game, the Xavier signee will have a heck of a mixtape by the end of the season.
- At least one sophomore is going to earn their first college offer this season. It could be Darrius Washington or Trey James or Cearius Warren. But I do think we’ll see a sophomore (other than Zion Harmon) holding a college offer by the end of the season.
- Scott County could set the record for most 3s made in a season. I don’t know if there is such a record but the Cardinals could break it this year. They started Tuesday by hitting 13 but it feels like it was closer to 30. They shoot the ball very well. Especially at home.
- Basketball in Lexington will be on the upswing. After a few years of mediocre overall quality of play in the city, this season will see some quality teams and players. There is good young talent, good coaching and everyone seems to have embraced a quicker style of play this season.
- Several regions will have 1-2 dominant teams all season long. The second, fourth, seventh, eighth, ninth, eleventh, fourteenth and sixteenth regions all have one or two teams that should control their region all year long and will be heavy favorites to get to Rupp Arena in March.
- The Senior class will go down as one of, if not the best graduating classes we’ve seen this decade. 2015 is probably the best group this decade right now but 2019 could surpass it. It’s going to be fun to see where the best unsigned Seniors end up and how some kids develop between now and March.
- Zion Harmon will get eligible thanks to an injunction. I think once his eligibility goes to the courts, some judge in the basketball friendly county will issue an injunction that makes Zion eligible long enough for Marshall County to become a serious contender to win the first region. After the season, Harmon will move on to another school. Consider that a bonus prediction.