sixcat

Auburn shouldn't be bothered by that. Their home gym has 50 plus feet of space between the wall and baseline. They also grow up playing at Blacksburg, which has 20 or so rows of bleachers behind the basket.

These two teams are likely as evenly matched player for player as GW and Auburn. I was surprised at how Honaker was able to take it to GW the way they did. The difference in this game is coaching. Auburn has one of the best coaching staffs in Virginia regardless of classification. They wear you down early and pull away late. They don't miss free throws and shoot a ton of them. The coaching staff puts the opposing players in a position to have to make decisions. Over time, they adjust so that the opponent almost always makes the wrong decision. It leaves a lot of opposing players and coaches confused. Auburn always seems to play their game regardless of the opponent. I have never seen an opponent take Millirons out of what he wants to do. Nothing against the coaching staff at Honaker but Millirons and Company are elite. For Honaker to win, they will have to take Auburn out of what's comfortable for them.

Auburn broke GW. They haven’t been the same the past couple of weeks. Not to take anything away from Honaker. Great win.

LCA blowing it open now. Lead 63-35 after 3 quarters.

LCA leads 39-28 at the half.

LCA has jumped all over Carroll 27-16 after a quarter.

Class 1 Boys - GW and Auburn will roll Honaker and Chilhowie. Class 2 Boys - VA - Martinsville is a toss-up. Gretna by a dozen over Graham. Class 1 Girls - Eastside and Honaker in close games. Class 2 Girls - Central will roll Liberty. Floyd - Ridgeview will be a battle but I'll take RV. Class 3 Girls - Carroll beat LCA twice by 30+ last season but Carroll doesn't have the pieces they had last season. I still think Carroll wins in a much closer game. Abingdon will roll TA.

Despite winning 6 state championships in the past 10 seasons, Galax is on its 4th head coach in 4 seasons!!! The talent is there, as always. Galax could legitimately field two state level teams and have some talent to spare. We'll see how the new coach shakes out.

It's not big but it's not small. Similar to Fort Chiswell.

Just briefly glancing through LCA’s roster, Gideon Davidson (Clemson) is from Ghana. Easton Ware (Clemson) is from Norfolk. Jayden Cowert is from Wirtz in Franklin County. Just south of Cave Spring. I’m sure I’m missing a bunch. That’s just a quick glance. Current NFL players from LCA. Michael Strachan was from the Bahamas. Rashad Jennings transferred from Jefferson Forrest.

It sounds somewhat facetious but in reality, whats stopping anyone from doing that? Seriously, go read articles and watch YouTube videos of what schools in inner-city Philadelphia were doing that forced Pennsylvania to make drastic changes. It makes what JM is doing seem tame.

Pretty much, yes. And more will take advantage going forward. It’s essentially a free pass to cheat and VHSL is powerless to stop it under the current rules

Correct. By the letter of the law, jurisdictional boundaries still apply to public high schools. However, VHSL fears another lawsuit and will likely not pursue any action against the likes of JM. How can VHSL enforce jurisdictional boundaries against JM while being court ordered to allow LCA to to do whatever it wants? The court ruling set precedent. JM would simply take VHSL to court and would have a strong argument.

I will add to the above, Virginia is hardly alone in this regard. Go look at what Pennsylvania started doing in 2018 based on private schools moving into public school competition with unfair advantages.

LCA has no jurisdictional governance. They are a private school open to anyone they decide to admit. Those students are guaranteed VHSL eligibility through the court ruling in 2015 so long as they meet all academic requirements. The only real difference between a private school participating in VHSL and a private school participating in the VISAA is the 5th year of eligibility in varsity competition. Any public high school in Virginia is free and clear to do with their athletics department, exactly what JM is currently doing within its basketball program. VHSL is powerless to stop it based on the court ruling.

I don’t think they “like” it. I think they are somewhat handcuffed based on the court ruling. VHSL can no longer reprimand schools for recruiting while being forced to guarantee schools like LCA and JM participation. VHSL wasn’t proactive during the rise of recruiting with Salem, Hampton, Martinsville, etc. As a result, painted themselves into a corner. LCA’s attorneys took that opportunity to galvanize their ruling in court. Which all but guaranteed JM couldn’t be punished for their actions. What JM and LCA are doing may not be ethical. But it’s certainly not illegal and well within the current guidelines of VHSL. To summarize, VHSL most likely doesn’t like what’s happening but they are complicit in letting the situation get to where it’s at now.

If you’re speaking in terms of academics or full athletic department support, JM and LCA aren’t in the same stratosphere. But we’re not are we? The context of this discussion within this thread is solely about the classification they play in. Nothing else! You even bolster my argument with your last sentence quoted above. JM is allowed to do what they do because VHSL allows it following the LCA court ruling. JM is playing by the rules set forth by the governing body. Based on enrollment, which is the sole criteria VHSL uses for classification, JM and LCA are doing nothing wrong. Furthermore, based on the court ruling in 2015, it’s clear VHSL can’t discriminate based on recruiting profile or footprint. If they could, LCA would still be playing in the private school ranks. Don’t hate the players, hate the game. VHSL is the game. Their lack of oversight is why we’re in this situation.

If you believe any of the athletes from all over the country LCA is stacking teams with are paying tuition for the privilege, I’ve got some ocean front property in Fries I’d love to sell you!!!

Auburn defeats George Wythe for the 4th time this season 54-52 in 4 OT’s.

Each region is responsible for their own tournament. This is two different regions playing in the same venue. Most likely a lack of coordination coupled with the desires of the teams playing telling their respective region their preference.

Steve Smith hasn’t coached since Covid. He’s available if Marion wants to shoot their shot and try to draw him out of retirement!!!

Region C at Fries!!!

I disagree. JM is playing within the parameters of the VH$L rules. There is no real difference between what JM is doing and what Liberty Christian Academy is doing. The problem lies solely with VH$L!!! The lawsuit LCA won against VHSL in 2015 opened the door for what essentially amounts to legalized recruiting. I'm not a lawyer but I would imaging VHSL would have a difficult time from a legal perspective trying to reprimand one school for recruiting while being forced to allow it through the LCA court ruling.

Cormany was the head basketball coach at Grayson County when I was in high school. The Cormany I remember is far too competitive in nature to quit. He's also perceptive enough to understand how important the experience of playing in a state tournament can be for the future of the kids he coaches and the community in general. Those kids learned a valuable lesson. Life isn't always fair. That doesn't mean you roll over and play dead. I'm not sure how teaching kids to quit when things get hard is worth an attempt to send a message to VH$L they aren't going to understand anyway.

Alyssa didn’t hold back in her post game interviews. She told them all the refs were “absolutely awful!!!”