[More Cowbell]

OK, here's my take on Jason Booher. I think that a lot of people didn't give him enough credit for Shelby Valley's successes, but some may give him too much credit.

For the naysayers: Jason Booher is a darn good coach. His record at SV speaks for itself, 160-37 during his six years at the helm, and excluding the 05/06 season (his only off-year at SV) his record was a robust 142-24. His record within the 15th region was 93-13, but again excluding the 05/06 season it was an amazing 80-3 (!). In six years, he won a total of five district titles, four regional crowns, two All-A state titles, and of course the 2010 KHSAA state championship.

For those that say the coach had nothing to do with it, I disagree. Yes, SV had some very talented teams, and the 09/10 squad will go down as one of the best mountain teams ever. But was it the most talented team in KY last year? I don't think so. I think other teams like Scott Co., Ballard, and maybe a couple others had more raw talent, but they didn't play as a team the way Valley did. Watching SV last year was like watching a clinic in playing "team" ball, and I think the coach has to get a lot of credit for that. Not just anybody could roll the ball out and the team would've won state, they needed good coaching and with Booher, they got it.

Now for the other camp: Booher isn't a miracle worker. His first year at SV, he had good talent, but still couldn't get them over the hump at Rupp as his 04/05 team got blasted in the first round of the Sweet Sixteen. He also stumbled quite a bit during the 05/06 season, which was a transition year between the Tackett/Friend/Kiser class to the Justice/Hatfield/Newsome group. When the talent level dropped a bit, Booher had his worst season at SV, going 18-13.

In addition, I would guess that if Booher had stayed at SV, he would be struggling through a rebuilding year just as Greg Newsome is doing. It's to be expected when you lose that much talent in one year, and Booher wouldn't have been able to do much better than Newsome is doing, if at all.

Bottom line is this: Booher is a very good coach, but even the best coaches need talented players to win.