Storylines to Watch in Week 1
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The season kicks off tonight and there are a few things I’m keeping my eye on in week 1. Battle of Top 5 2024 Bigs Western plays Elizabethtown on Saturday at the Domino’s Tip Off Classic in Campbellsville. Not only…
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Continue ReadingThe season kicks off tonight and there are a few things I’m keeping my eye on in week 1.
Battle of Top 5 2024 Bigs
Western plays Elizabethtown on Saturday at the Domino’s Tip Off Classic in Campbellsville. Not only is it a good matchup on paper but has a significant impact on the 2024 rankings as E-town’s Ayden Evans Ayden Evans 6'9" | C Elizabethtown | 2024 State KY will go head to head against the Warriors’ Jayden Miles. Two of the best young bigs in the state, Evans has an offer from West Virginia already and Miles is on the radar of several mid and high major D1s despite missing his freshman season after knee surgery.
Travis Perry Travis Perry 6'2" | PG Lyon County | 2024 State #115 Nation KY ’s Scoring Barrage
2024 Lyon County guard Travis Perry Travis Perry 6'2" | PG Lyon County | 2024 State #115 Nation KY is quietly on track to break the all time scoring record in KHSAA history. He had a Zip Zone Classic record 49 points on Saturday so he shows no signs of slowing down in his Sophomore campaign. It’s not unreasonable to expect Travis to average 30 points per game this season and he could easily put up another 1,000+ points as a Sophomore. If he does that, it’s not a matter of if he’ll break the scoring record but when. The Lyons take on Hopkins County Central and Goodpasture Christian (Tennessee) this week.
Best Team in Louisville?
The 6th and 7th regions are always among the best in the state but this season they seem to be especially loaded. Gabe Sisk Gabe Sisk 6'5" | SG Ballard | 2023 #232 Nation CA-N and Ballard are the preseason top team in Kentucky with Kaleb Glenn Kaleb Glenn 6'7" | SF La Lumiere | 2023 #64 Nation IN and Male right behind them in most polls. But the depth in the city is tremendous as DeSales, Manual, PRP, Trinity, Butler, Fern Creek, Evangel Christian, Jeffersontown, St. X, CAL, Eastern and Southern all have multiple players with scholarship level talent. The Derby City is bursting with talent and every night will be a battle. Should be fun to watch.
Impact Transfers
This offseason seemed to be busier than usual in terms of high school athletes changing addresses. Here’s just a partial list of impact players who transferred this summer: John Mccrear John Mccrear 6'8" | PF Woodfard | 2023 State #219 Nation KY and Jackson Twombly Jackson Twombly 6'7" | PF Woodford County | 2022 State KY (Woodford County), Sam Parrish Sam Parrish 6'0" | PG George Rogers Clark | 2023 State KY , Tanner Walton Tanner Walton 6'3" | CG Lexington Christian | 2022 State KY and Tyleik Maxwell Tyleik Maxwell 6'3" | SG George Rogers Clark | 2023 State KY (GRC), Bless Kamuena Bless Kamuena 6'5" | SF Bryan Station | 2022 State KY , Ethan Dunn Ethan Dunn 5'11" | PG Montgomery County | 2025 State KY and Felix De Los Santos Felix De Los Santos 6'5" | C Bryan Station | 2025 State KY (Bryan Station), Christian Spalding Christian Spalding 6'4" | PG Evangel Christian | 2022 State KY and Kyran Tilley Kyran Tilley 6'1" | PG Evangel Christian | 2024 State KY (Evangel), Jack Edelen Jack Edelen 5'9" | PG Male | 2023 State KY (Male) and Tim Fuller II Tim Fuller II 6'6" | SF Ballard | 2023 State KY , Miles Franklin Miles Franklin 6'2" | PG Ballard | 2023 State KY and Kaden Stanton Kaden Stanton 6'0" | PG Ballard | 2022 State KY (Ballard). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Lots of old faces in new places. It will be interesting to see which teams have great chemistry early this season.
How does SB 128 Affect things?
While there was no shortage of transfers this season, other schools benefited from players choosing to use the extra year afforded by Senate Bill 128 and returning for a second Senior season. Players like Jevonte Turner Jevonte Turner 6'2" | CG Knox Central | 2022 State KY , Dez Lindsay Dez Lindsay 6'6" | PF Male | 2022 State KY , Evan Frederick Evan Frederick 6'9" | C Southern | 2022 State KY , Tony Moss Tony Moss 6'6" | PF Doss | 2022 State KY , Andrew Mason Andrew Mason 6'4" | SF Bardstown | 2022 State KY and several others have chosen to repeat their senior season and join the class of 2022. It will be interesting to see which players benefit with new scholarships or increased recruitment in their repeat season.