[EKUAlum05]

Huntington and Raceland have tried to work things out several times. But t didnt work out. I think WV is an option as well. You could also put West Portsmouth, Portsmouth East, and Wheelersburg on the list as well. There are alot of options if you look at Southern Ohio that wouldnt be that far of a drive. Idk if it will ever happen, but if Raceland wants to take the next step, they will get away from Carter Co and Greenup Co. They need to utilize the speed and size of BETTER schools. Not just bigger, bc GC and the Carter Co schools are much bigger schools than Raceland.

I went on a soap box the other day in the Belfry thread about the topic of talent pool flow. Some of that pertains here.

My theory is that in this modern day/age... District Lines dont have nearly the restraint as in year's past and what governs the strength of smaller programs is how the finite talent pool of a given area flows. In other words... parents and kids want o be part of a program that offers the best opportunities to win, get exposure, and improve the success of the kids. Typically where this comes into play isnt at the HS level, but at the Middle School Level.

In an area like NE KY where you have several programs stacked on top of each other, as well as Southern Ohio and the Huntington, WV Metro area you have a talent pool that collectively exists that will often move around based off momentum and opportunity.

For decades that talent pool flowed to Russell, Ashland, and Ironton. In the past decade there has been a dynamic shift thanks to momentum and Raceland and Fairview (by means of forcing the flow) have seemingly seen some of that talent flow. Meanwhile Ashland, Russell, and Ironton all three have seemingly felt the effects negatively.

The Maynard move to Russell along with McGlone's retirement creates an interesting dynamic.. as does Ashland having a player the caliber of Quentin Baker attracting D-1 attention, as well as the Fairview recruiting debacle. It will be very important for Raceland to toe the line and continue momentum by winning games, making playoff pushes, and keeping the community heavily involved. I predict Russell will definitely see some positive flow... and the attention Baker draws will boost Ashland a bit... my prediction is Fairview falls off hard, Raceland maintains, Russell improves drastically, Ashland improves slightly... and the "Have Not's" of the area (ie Boyd County, Greenup, ) stay down if not get even weaker.

Speaking strictly as an outsider reading the tea leaves. It is very important that Raceland does everything in their power to keep their program fresh, exciting, and buzzworthy. My gut feeling is Russell is about to emerge as a hot product and with their tradition and name it could affect Raceland especially at the Middle School level.