[Hoot Gibson]

My opinion probably isn't popular & that's fine, but I think if the KHSAA just fixed the classification system there would be more parity & therefore the playoffs would be fine as is.

I think that the population of the county that the school is located needs to be factored into their classification rather than just the enrollment of the school.  I say the enrollment should still be the main classification criteria but the population of the county that the school is located in should be factored in as well as how many schools are in that county.

Its kind of just common sense, if your school is located right in the middle of a city of 100,000+ people you are going to have access to more talent than a small, rural county school in which there isn't even 10,000 people within a 30+ minute drive.  But that's just my opinion and what do I know?!

Schools like Raceland, Pikeville, Hazard, and Johnson Central are no where near being urban and they seem so do just fine.

I don't know about Raceland but Hazard, JC and Pikeville all have a Walmart and at least 1 McDonalds that makes them urban in my books.

Those 3 programs and I'm assuming Raceland as well pour significant amounts of money into their programs which attracts others from neighboring areas. A schools could be from a town with 1000 people but if they have a good coach, nice facilities and uniforms and put fans in the stands on Friday night they are going to be just fine because the good players will find them. Look no further than Alabama in college they aren't from an urban area in fact Tuscaloosa outside the university is small as is Athens, Ga, etc. But they are competing on this highest levels because they are attracting the top athletes.

There is some truth to what you are saying but Johnson Central has probably lost far more good athletes over the years than it has picked up through transfers because the program did not always have a good coaching staff and a competent administration. Coaches like Jim Matney build programs. He certainly did not build Sheldon Clark's program by drawing talent away from Lawrence County or Belfry. Sure, once a program is established, they will draw some talent from schools that do not have the elements for success that you listed, but establishing a good program is hard work and there are great potential athletes in every school just waiting to be developed by the right coaching staff.