[AES Athletics]

I really don't know much about the Lawrence County and Pike Central's hires but here is my thoughts on the others:

Johnson Central - Darrin Rice - Grade B - A quality coach who had done an excellent job at Sheldon Clark previously. Johnson Central has a lot of young talent and a veteran coach is exactly what they needed. With the young talent the grade could change as the year goes on.

Sheldon Clark - Tim Rice - Grade B+ - IMO shows the commitment of the Sheldon Clark program recruiting a quality coach. Could be a tough year since they lost two of their top players last year. Again a lot of young players on this team so the grade could change by the end of the year.

Betsy Layne - Randy Coleman - Grade B - A good hire. Coach Coleman coached one of the feeder schools for BL high school last year so he has already coached a lot of girls on this team. Betsy Layne will return to power in the 58th distrcit after this year. With Allen Central High School returning all but one starter from a top 4 Regional team last year, Betsy Layne should finish 2 in the 58th district this year.

Prestonsburg - Brandon Gearheart - Grade C - For the second year in a row, PHS has hired a rookie coach making this a questionable hire. Along with the fact he hired 3 assistants with little or no coaching experience also makes me worry. A YOUNG team last year started 3 freshman, 8th grader, a 7th grader and your top two reserves were another 7th and 6th grader could have benefited from a veteran head coach. With the majority of middle school talent for the 58th district located at his feeder school (Allen), if Coach Gearheart can convince these girls he is the right hire then he could be successful in a few years. Coach Gearheart will bring a great work ethic and potentially an exciting style of basketball to PHS with the right players.