Nebraska High School Basketball (18-19)

[Handy Johnson]

This is just the reality of a “dieing” rural America. Superior has went from B all the way to C2, Geneva & Hebron have become Fillmore & Thayer Central respectively.

[AuroranHusker]

19 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

I don't do lectures so that wasn't my point. For some Panhandle schools, they don't have any away games as close as 60-70 miles so I was discussing the situation from the overall Class B perspective and the playing high school sports in Nebraska perspective. At least football is played on Friday night. Scottsbluff will have a basketball game in Chadron on a Thursday and the students will need to be to school the next day.  For them that's not crap, that's just a fact of life. So basically we were having a conversation from two different perspectives. Maybe we were even having two separate conversations at the same time. 

 

And like most things in life, I'm pretty sure there was more than one factor in the decision from Aurora to stay in Class C. I would think travel, winning a title, and long-term cost and competitiveness all came up in the board's conversation. 

 

Thanks for the response, Dean Smith. That was completely reasoned in response to my impromptu bullet points on Aurora the other day. We obviously had completely different perspectives, which I acknowledged at great length. I am sure you knew that the "total crap" I initially used was solely meant for that 5 a.m. return home. As you're well aware, that topic of the western realms having to do lengthy trips is a whole 'nother discussion; many are closer to state capitols of WYO & CO. No one asked, but if I had any say, I would try to make Nebraska H.S. consolidate better into quadrants & eliminate a lot of tiny schools' athletic ventures. Then make most schools' competition only have a 100-mi. radius to travel, but that could develop inequitable results in other ways, I suppose. And eliminate certain rivalry/traditions as well. It's an interesting topic, though. I'd have to consider more pitfalls & ramifications.

 

And, no, I don't believe Aurora "stayed" in C-1 for this past year's football to win that ring, at least initially. I am fairly confident Aurora could have done very well in B (winning it all is tough, no matter which Class in NE), as the Huskies have performed rather well for a very, very long time in B. So, that continual notion of championship chasing isn't even close to a big part of any of this. It likely came into play when it was rather obvious the answer was to 'stay' in C-1 as the NSAA had already placed them. As I mentioned, it seems likely Aurora could be back on the cusp of being B again when their varied boy enrollment figures trend higher in the future.

 

[AuroranHusker]

4 hours ago, Handy Johnson said:

This is just the reality of a “dieing” rural America. Superior has went from B all the way to C2, Geneva & Hebron have become Fillmore & Thayer Central respectively.

 

Yeah, Aurora and Superior used to be common opponents, up to 1990 or so.

 

 

[AuroranHusker]

20 hours ago, Bugeaters1 said:

Class A still has some problems with travel, North Platte went to Omaha this year. You think that maybe they could meet half way to consevre fuel and school time.

 

Meet in G.I. next year, Grand Island Senior High is building a sweet new grandstand, for heaven's sake!

 

 

[AuroranHusker]

19 hours ago, Dean Smith said:

I don't think I would have a problem going back to four classes. To get to 28 Class A schools you have to put schools together that go from 1069 boys at GI to 487at Gretna. That's a difference of 582. At the other end from the top of D1 to the bottom of  D2, the difference between the largest and smallest school is only 34 boys. It is way easier with only 28 Class A schools for a Class A School to make the State Tournament. But it is much easier for the individual to get to the tournament from a small school. You easily could have starters on a Class D2 championship team that would be cut from every Class A team. So its easy for schools to get to the tourney from large schools but not so for individuals at large schools because they can't even make the team. You could quite likely find 12 players from Omaha Central that couldn't make the team there that would win a state championship in a lower class. I guess it all goes back to perspective again.

 

Excellent point, perspective is the key.

[AuroranHusker]

On 11/29/2018 at 8:27 PM, Bugeaters1 said:

I don't think that is right, if you are C-1 for football you should be in C-1 for all sports. I work with a guy who drives the bus for Football and Basketball. He told me that Aurora was tired of getting beat by the bigger class B schools in football. what crook, suck it up and play ball like the rest of the teams.

Here is the enrollment figures for 2018-2019.

https://nsaa-static.s3.amazonaws.com/textfile/about/1819enroll.pdf

 

I'm not taking the "word" of a random bus driver who heard discussions of a few; and, yes, I do know that Elkhorn South beat Aurora for a title a few years when ES had a football roster of 94 while Aurora had 42. That's not a "crock" Bug. That's the reality. ES should be Class A, which they are now; but ES won't be for long because Elkhorn is building another H.S. to make certain *all* of their H.S. will remain in Class B. There's your "crock" by the way !! Suck it up and play in A !!

[AuroranHusker]

18 hours ago, No Place Like the Vault said:

Back to Arop, I like what I see, good around the hoop.  He could be a solid 3 or 4 for us.

 

 

 

 

I'm really looking forward to Arop this year, Donovan Williams the next, then hopefully Chucky Hepburn the following...

[wordyginters]

On 1/4/2019 at 1:26 PM, Handy Johnson said:

Larry Klause was the guard from Fairbury that played with Zabel. My old Fraternity brother Tom Vlach led Cedar Catholic over Mt. Michael the following year... speaking of players from that era do you remember All-Staters Randy Edwards or Jim Placke from Superior? Both of them went on to play at Hastings College. 

 

Superior was a little too far south from my stomping grounds for me to be very familiar with, tho I recognize those names.  Edwards a FB player/discus thrower/shot put guy?  Placke more the the basketball guy? I think we upset you guys in FB back in 82 or 83 playoffs.  Then went on to finals and got murdered by Mt Michael.  I played against Vlach, he was All-State caliber guy.  Double OT at their little bandbox gym, they got us, like they got most teams back in the day.   Prob the most intense game I ever experienced, fans right on top of you, tense game, loud as hell.  A lot of fun.  Contrast that to getting run out of the gym by Fairbury at State.  But what the hell, it was an experience playing at Devaney back in those days.  That was literally a hundred years ago.  Assuming you are from Superior?  

[Bugeaters1]

 
I'm not taking the "word" of a random bus driver who heard discussions of a few; and, yes, I do know that Elkhorn South beat Aurora for a title a few years when ES had a football roster of 94 while Aurora had 42. That's not a "crock" Bug. That's the reality. ES should be Class A, which they are now; but ES won't be for long because Elkhorn is building another H.S. to make certain *all* of their H.S. will remain in Class B. There's your "crock" by the way !! Suck it up and play in A !!

The bus driver is well connected at the school. So I guess u have ur opinion and I'll believe him.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Handy Johnson]

19 hours ago, wordyginters said:

 

Superior was a little too far south from my stomping grounds for me to be very familiar with, tho I recognize those names.  Edwards a FB player/discus thrower/shot put guy?  Placke more the the basketball guy? I think we upset you guys in FB back in 82 or 83 playoffs.  Then went on to finals and got murdered by Mt Michael.  I played against Vlach, he was All-State caliber guy.  Double OT at their little bandbox gym, they got us, like they got most teams back in the day.   Prob the most intense game I ever experienced, fans right on top of you, tense game, loud as hell.  A lot of fun.  Contrast that to getting run out of the gym by Fairbury at State.  But what the hell, it was an experience playing at Devaney back in those days.  That was literally a hundred years ago.  Assuming you are from Superior?  

Yep Superior alum, Randy Edwards was 1st team All-state class B, Jim Placke led the state in scoring his senior year. This was pre-3 point line he would have averaged 40 now.

[royalfan]

On 1/11/2019 at 8:22 AM, Bugeaters1 said:

The bus driver is well connected at the school. So I guess u have ur opinion and I'll believe him.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 

I will take the coaches words in discussions on the topic over second hand information from a bus driver.  

[royalfan]

On 1/5/2019 at 10:42 AM, Bugeaters1 said:

Here are some highlights of Arop.

 

I didn’t realize he was operating inside quite so much.  I thought he was becoming more of an outside player.  Obviously prep better by doing this, but i wish I had been right.  

[khoock]

1 hour ago, royalfan said:

I didn’t realize he was operating inside quite so much.  I thought he was becoming more of an outside player.  Obviously prep better by doing this, but i wish I had been right.  

We need him inside rn more than we do outside. He would be buried on the depth out on the wing. Depending on how quickly he can gain strength and weight he might be Robys back up at the 4 next year (yes im hoping Roby plays the 4 next year)

[Art Vandalay]

3 hours ago, royalfan said:

I didn’t realize he was operating inside quite so much.  I thought he was becoming more of an outside player.  Obviously prep better by doing this, but i wish I had been right.  

 

I herad the Prep coach on the radio before the season. Said they would play him more on the wing in the past but Akol, Miles, and Lewis all agreed he should play where he helps The team the most this year. I am excited to have him but think it will take some time to make that move in the B10

[royalfan]

3 hours ago, khoock said:

We need him inside rn more than we do outside. He would be buried on the depth out on the wing. Depending on how quickly he can gain strength and weight he might be Robys back up at the 4 next year (yes im hoping Roby plays the 4 next year)

 

We need him to possess outside skills to go with it though, as he isn’t bulky enough and never will be to just bang with big ten bigs inside.  If he has great outside skills that force their bigs away from the hoop then we have something here, with this new era of positionless basketball. 

[B-town hoopsfan]

48 minutes ago, royalfan said:

 

We need him to possess outside skills to go with it though, as he isn’t bulky enough and never will be to just bang with big ten bigs inside.  If he has great outside skills that force their bigs away from the hoop then we have something here, with this new era of positionless basketball. 

The only outside skill he needs his first year on campus is the willingness to shoot the wide open threes and hopefully hit them at a 30 some percent clip 

[No Place Like the Vault]

Creighton Prep @ North Star @ 515 Saturday.

[Huskerpapa]

2 hours ago, No Place Like the Vault said:

Creighton Prep @ North Star @ 515 Saturday.

If time allows, my plan is to attend this game after the Husker game on Saturday.  I will be interested to see if our recruits spend any time going head to head.  

[HB]

1 hour ago, Huskerpapa said:

If time allows, my plan is to attend this game after the Husker game on Saturday.  I will be interested to see if our recruits spend any time going head to head.  

 

See you there! 

[Huskerpapa]

1 hour ago, HB said:

 

See you there! 

Lol...I have to get my wife's permission first...

 

[HB]

18 minutes ago, Huskerpapa said:

Lol...I have to get my wife's permission first...

 

 

And just a warning, mine may be with me!   Of course, after a day in the Railyard, I may need a driver.  

[Bugeaters1]

I'm looking at the LJS and I see that Hampton forfited thier game against Giltner. Does anyone know why? sickness maybe? Cip do you know what happened?

[jimmykc]

Everybody was at Conlees.

[Bugeaters1]

9 minutes ago, jimmykc said:

Everybody was at Conlees.

That could have been the case Jimmy.

[Huskerpapa]

34 minutes ago, Bugeaters1 said:

I'm looking at the LJS and I see that Hampton forfited thier game against Giltner. Does anyone know why? sickness maybe? Cip do you know what happened?

The horse and buggy used to transport their players was involved in a little fender bender.