Team to beat in SEO

[boy of summer]

Although I am sure that the vast majority of foreign exchange students and athletes who come to the US do so for the right reasons and in the right way, check the Dayton Christian foreign exchange mess in the late 1990's/early 2000's for an example of why some people question the foreign exchange students who play basketball. I believe that the Dayton Daily News did a number of articles on this program and others, including OSU, who participated in the foreign exchange student/athlete process. Although these programs won games and in some cases championships (including the state title I believe by Dayton Christian), the long term effects of their activities were felt by these programs for quite a while.

Let's Go PSU I agree with you. High school sports were the purest form of competition. Sadly, those days are now gone forever as transfers and foreign exchange students are the norm now not the exception.

[JIMMY THE GREEK]

I'm not sure how all of the recruiting stuff goes....Piketon's previous foreign exchange student's were soccer and track athletes and some didn't play anything...so I'm guessing they got lucky...we will see.

[TrojanXplosion]

Consider this. Since 2000, 13 Southeast District teams have made it to the state final 4. If my info is correct, only 5 of those teams (Whiteoak, Wheelersburg (twice), Piketon, and Chesapeake) have made it without the aid of a transfer or foreign exchange student. The following list is only the transfers that I can remember. There may have been more. I think this shows that if a team wants to reach the highest level, it is imperative that they try to get a transfer to help them get there. It's unfortunate, but it's a reality in today's high school athletics.

2001
Belpre-Kyle Holbert-Transfered from Marietta
Eastern Meigs-Matt Simpson-Attended 3 different high schools in 4 years (Belpre, Alexander, Eastern)

2002
Eastern Brown-Foreign exchange student
Whiteoak-

2005
Ironton-Zornes-coaches son came with dad

2006
Wheelersburg
South Webster-Wanniger (arguably their best player came from Ironton)

2007
Wheelersburg

2008
Ray Chambers (transfered from somewhere in Cincinnati)

2009
Logan Elm (Logan Hauserman 6'8" from Adena, and Amman, 1000 pt scorer came from Teays Valley)
Oak Hill (Bordon and Onderra came from Jackson)
Piketon

Also, Hitchens moved to Chilli from Zane Trace.

Wheelersburg had two transfers. Camden Miller and Seth Cowgill, both from Minford.

[svbt1112]

South Webster -2004 (0 transfers)
2005 (beat in regional finals by eventual state champion Africentric who was later stripped of the state champion title due to transfer paperwork)

[LetsGoPSU]

Just watching OJ Mayo bounce around like an NBA free agent was enough for me

[bballin]

Ironton will be the team to beat this year and at least 2 more years.. They have several ballers in the sophmore class .. I look for this team to go deep in the Tourny many of the coming years.

[TIGERS90]

I would be shocked if they didn't go all the way those kids junior and senior years...and very likely could this year

[trojandave]

Although I have said that the Ironton sophomore class was the BEST freshmen class that I have seen in 40 years, I also have to say dominance at the lower levels doesn't necessarily mean that these kids will run roughshod over the competition at the varsity level.......as we all know who watch high school sports closely, things tend to even out somewhat at the varsity level.......below varsity, kids mature physically at different times, and we see some complete mismatches at that level.......

I can speak from Portsmouth's experience........about 15 years ago, we had a freshman class that went undefeated.......but they never were exceptional at the varsity level for whatever reason.......we all had high hopes for those kids, but it just didn't work out.

I do think without any doubt whatsoever that Ironton will be very tough for the next 3 years.......but there will be some good competition to challenge the Tigers in the regular season and the tournament.........these kids may end up WINNING A STATE TITLE before they graduate.......but it certainly won't be easy along the way no matter how talented they are.

[LoganElm_grad09]

Logan Elm is always a sleeper in DII; they have decent size and is always well coached. Teams overlooking them will be in for a rude awakening.

[iFootball27]

Like i said, ironton should be great
Malcom, Travis eliiot, Zac Carter, Trey Fletcher didnt play football to work on basketball
They have improved ALOT
Josh Glover has improved his game
And theyl have josh murphy, nick culbertson, trevor white, and tommy waginger playing football
They will be very athletic, big, and deep

[Philos_Finest]

Zanesville.

They return the best player in the region. Tanner Gibson.

[chef_piketon]

When the smoke clears, The Chef looks for my beloved Redstreaks to have had a say in things.

[pembrook burrows III]

iFootball - Hopefully you can add Dion Brown and Michael Lawless to the list of footballers who can help this Ironton basketball team as well. Having 10-12 guys with this ability and athleticism practicing against each other every day is a luxury that should pay dividends by the end of the year. You get better in practice, especially if the first team just can't walk over the backups. I think Ironton may have as many as 7 guys on this roster who have started at least one varsity game.

That being said, I still believe that Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Piketon, Peebles, and Wheelersburg will all be very tough to beat in the D-3 Southeast District. Chillicothe, Logan Elm, Warren, and Sheridan will be powerful forces in the D-2 Southeast District. Not sure who will emerge as a state contender from this group, but 2010-2011 promises to be one of the most competitive years ever in SE Ohio.

[iFootball27]

burrows, yes i forgot about dion but mike didnt play last year and im doubtin this year because he spends all of his time in the eight room for football

[pembrook burrows III]

Not sure either, iFootball, but word I'm hearing is that Michael logged some time in the summer shootouts, and that grandma says he's playing. He was the only 9th grader on varsity two years ago, and in fact started a game at PG at Marietta when the team had the flu bug. Michael has gotten so much stronger without losing any speed due to his weightroom work that he could be a real shut-down defender for this team if he plays (just like on the gridiron). That's always a nice asset to have in Lafon's toolbox.

[javon white]

Whichever team has the key transfer or transfers and/or foreign exchange student or students is unfortunately the best team usually now.

[Bear42]

Bronc21---didn't your kids go to Unioto? Why not Chilli?

[bvmv4life]

Zanesville is no longer considered South East....just East..

[Bronc21]

Bronc21---didn't your kids go to Unioto? Why not Chilli?

my oldest son lived with his mom in the unioto district, thus played with unioto.....my youngest son lives with me and goes to chs, and isnt into sports....

[Peake]

svbt, you had a transfer. Your PG came from Ironton, good try though.

Ironton, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth will all be very very strong.