[BlueGold1]

I don't see where it is any worse for a kid to move to a southeast Ky school from Texas than it would be for them to move from one southeast Ky school to another southeast Ky school. A move is a move. It's happened in the mountains since basketball became a sanctioned state high school sport in the 1920's. In the modern era I suppose the boundaries have expanded outside the Commonwealth's borders. Where they move from is irrelevant. A recruit is a recruit (if that indeed is what the move was for, it's not always for that reason, of course) whether they move from Bell County to Hazard or from Texas to Hazard. If a kid is talked into moving, or a parent giving a job to get the kid, it's all the same.
Heck, I'm still trying to figure out how Stephen Sizemore scored 12 points for Breathitt against Wolfe County on one Friday night back in the late '90's, and then played and scored for the Hazard Bulldogs in a game the next Friday night, and never moved from Breathitt County. If that was legal then the KHSAA needs to revise some transfer rules asap.

And what is the difference in what is going on in the mountains than what has happened in Jefferson County for a long time: Open Enrollment. Jefferson County has over 600,000 population. And they have school districts just like all counties. But in Jefferson a kid can enroll at any public school he wished to attend (if he/she is accepted, and most talented athletes would be) if they enroll straight out of middle school. In many cases some of the best middle school talent accumulate at the same Jefferson County schools when they get to high school. That's why you see the same group of schools always dominating in basketball. And 600,000 people living in a county makes for a lot of middle schoolers getting ready to move on to the next level. I was told that they were thinking about changing their rules to require a decision where they attend high school by the end of their 7th grade, that once they enter 8th grade they are locked into that particular middle school's feeder system. That would help a little. But Open Enrollment really gives some schools a big advantage in Jefferson, and makes an unbalanced situation imo.

Transfers is not getting out of hand, it has been out of hand since the beginning. I suppose it is easier now though, in the age of twitter and facebook, than it was in the 1930's. In that regard it is now more widespread and has crossed state borders.

Stephen Sizemore was in the 8th grade when he came to Hazard. You establish eligibility starting your 9th grade or freshman year.