[RunItUpTheGut]

No, I'm just talking about Kentucky and so was the guy being quoted in the story.
I was disagreeing with him more than you in this case.
My point is future star players don't become stars overnight and would not have been forgotten due to consolidation of schools.

Think about some of the stars in the 13th Region the past two decades.

Richie Farmer, for example, was playing on Clay County's state tournament team in 1984, the first year I covered the Sweet 16, as an 8th grader.

Tony Pietrowski was a big-time player already as a freshman. I'm not from Corbin, but I'm sure he was one of the best in middle school.

Charles Thomas was being talked about in the first grade and was a star by the time he was a 6th grader at Cumberland. He started as an 8th grader at Harlan.

I'm the same age as Phil Cox and everyone knew he was going to be a great player in middle school.

These are all Division I players. There haven't been that many.

The story was about the decline of Division I players in Kentucky. The idea that some future Division I players are lost because of consolidation just makes no sense. It doesn't happen. Nobody is so good, at least in Kentucky, that they are going to fall by the wayside as freshmen because the team has too much talent already.

Agreed, Agreed. You win this one.