[Leisure Larry]

Catering to only the young players will only cause future problems. Ashland had a solid starting 5. In the games I saw, Bradley had about a 10-man rotation and each of these players played at least a quarter. That's a pretty good player rotation in a 32-minute game. Additionally, are you automatically going to throw experienced (and good) older players under the bus just because younger players with talent come along? A good coach will try to include them all as much as possible.

Of course you always have a selfish player (or parent) that demands more playing time. IMO, if that player wants to leave (especially as an 8th or 9th grader before they have "paid their dues") then let them go. That player will only be a bigger problem for the program down the road.

Of course, in this day and age, players regularly transfer when not happy. With the current sports environment, no coach can be sure of what his next year's team will look like. But all indications lead me to believe that the Kitten's future is extremely bright. You say Ashland has a problem that needs to be fixed. A 26-5 record and beating Boyd County 4 times out of 5 with no seniors (and only 2 juniors) is an unbelievable season. Ashland had 2 horrible shooting games of the season. Unfortunately, one just happened during the regional final.

However, I do wish Boyd luck at State - represent the 16th region well!! :Thumbs:

Whoa! You must be one of the daddies from the Kitten Nation.