[averagejoe01]

With some recent shakeups in the 15th, let's see where everyone thinks everyone will be. 

1. JC
2. FC
3. Martin
4. Paintsville
5. LC
6. Pikeville
7. SV
8. Belfry
9. BL
10. PC
11. Magoffin
12. ER
13. Phelps
14. Pburg

Justification: JC and FC are a tossup: JC has 2 of the best players in the region outside of Keathley, and Floyd Central has a group of young talent that should be competitive under coach Perry this year. 
Martin has probably the best player in Keathley and great shooting around him. Biggest questions are Dials and Maynard. 
Paintsville may have too much, Landon will have his hands full with that rotation
Lawrence could easily be right there in the top of the pack and repeat but losing woods as a leader was big.

[Popeye15]

@averagejoe01 Dude, you are crazy. My list goes:

Top Tier (Any of these three teams could be interchangeable)
1-3: 
1. Johnson Central
2. Lawrence County
3. Floyd Central 

Right on the cusp (just need to figure a couple things out)
4. Paintsville
5. Pikeville 
6. Belfry
7. Martin

Potential Sleepers (Might make a run wouldn't be too surprising) 
8. Betsey Layne 
9. Shelby Valley
10. Pike Central 

Going to Struggle (Be a long season)
11. Magoffin County 
12. East Ridge 
13. Phelps 
14. P-Burg

[aboveaveragejoe99]

@averagejoe01 Dude, you are crazy. My list goes:

Top Tier (Any of these three teams could be interchangeable)
1-3: 
1. Johnson Central
2. Lawrence County
3. Floyd Central 

Right on the cusp (just need to figure a couple things out)
4. Paintsville
5. Pikeville 
6. Belfry
7. Martin

Potential Sleepers (Might make a run wouldn't be too surprising) 
8. Betsey Layne 
9. Shelby Valley
10. Pike Central 

Going to Struggle (Be a long season)
11. Magoffin County 
12. East Ridge 
13. Phelps 
14. P-Burg

Pack does help Belfry, but you may need some new eyes if you think Martin is anything other than 1 or 2 with Keathley.

[ReginaPanther08]

Im not sure PC will be better than East Ridge. I watched them play a random AAU team in summer ball and only win by 11. Might be a rebuilding season for the Hawks. Big Al might have a learning curve.

[TrueMarshall0627]

Im not sure PC will be better than East Ridge. I watched them play a random AAU team in summer ball and only win by 11. Might be a rebuilding season for the Hawks. Big Al might have a learning curve.

Who is this “random” AAU team in question?

[ReginaPanther08]

Im not sure PC will be better than East Ridge. I watched them play a random AAU team in summer ball and only win by 11. Might be a rebuilding season for the Hawks. Big Al might have a learning curve.

Who is this “random” AAU team in question?

I dont think that any of your business buddy. You need to worry about Hornets losing coach Smith to the Miners. 
#RollTribe

[TrueMarshall0627]

Im not sure PC will be better than East Ridge. I watched them play a random AAU team in summer ball and only win by 11. Might be a rebuilding season for the Hawks. Big Al might have a learning curve.

Who is this “random” AAU team in question?

I dont think that any of your business buddy. You need to worry about Hornets losing coach Smith to the Miners. 
#RollTribe

But we aren’t going to speak about how you all tried to bribe a player to stay? Sounds like you need to stay in your business before speaking about things you don’t know.

[15thregionwatcher]

I think FC will be much improved as Perry is a wonderful coach, But don’t think they are top five in the region just yet.

Paintsville and JC will be good and who knows what Martin will look like come season. JC needs to find some depth and define some roles, paintsville could be really good with size and can play both grind it out and up and down.

Pikeville should be really good and Justice should get to play up and down and have a fun. Style of basketball.

Lawrence will be there at end also. Thompson seems to always have his kids peaking at the right time . They return everyone but Woods, but found some size from across the river. Probably need to find some depth also to play alittle faster. End of season they really shared the ball and have ability to spread everyone out.

57th will be a battle between top three and 58th between Lawrence and FC. Other two districts I think order is pretty much a given.

[KyGymRat]

@averagejoe01 Dude, you are crazy. My list goes:

Top Tier (Any of these three teams could be interchangeable)
1-3: 
1. Johnson Central
2. Lawrence County
3. Floyd Central 

Right on the cusp (just need to figure a couple things out)
4. Paintsville
5. Pikeville 
6. Belfry
7. Martin

Potential Sleepers (Might make a run wouldn't be too surprising) 
8. Betsey Layne 
9. Shelby Valley
10. Pike Central 

Going to Struggle (Be a long season)
11. Magoffin County 
12. East Ridge 
13. Phelps 
14. P-Burg

This might be the wildest take I have read in long time on here on the 15th region when it comes to rankings

wow

[P. Fanning]

Im not sure PC will be better than East Ridge. I watched them play a random AAU team in summer ball and only win by 11. Might be a rebuilding season for the Hawks. Big Al might have a learning curve.

Who is this “random” AAU team in question?

I dont think that any of your business buddy. You need to worry about Hornets losing coach Smith to the Miners. 
#RollTribe

Miners? I thought Smith and Reynolds were going to Martin County to be assistants.

[SuperTrooper]

In no order… 3 tiers of who could beat who

JC
FC
SV
Paintsville
LC
Martin
Pikeville

PC
Belfry
BL

Phelps
Magoffin
East Ridge
Pburg

[Popeye15]

Im not sure PC will be better than East Ridge. I watched them play a random AAU team in summer ball and only win by 11. Might be a rebuilding season for the Hawks. Big Al might have a learning curve.

Who is this “random” AAU team in question?

I dont think that any of your business buddy. You need to worry about Hornets losing coach Smith to the Miners. 
#RollTribe

Miners? I thought Smith and Reynolds were going to Martin County to be assistants.

No, Darryl had a premature post.

[averagejoe01]

Im not sure PC will be better than East Ridge. I watched them play a random AAU team in summer ball and only win by 11. Might be a rebuilding season for the Hawks. Big Al might have a learning curve.

Who is this “random” AAU team in question?

I dont think that any of your business buddy. You need to worry about Hornets losing coach Smith to the Miners. 
#RollTribe

Miners? I thought Smith and Reynolds were going to Martin County to be assistants.

No, Darryl had a premature post.

Is that the actual reason? I had heard they actually didn't have an offer to join or there was an issue with the school system hiring.

[Popeye15]

Who is this “random” AAU team in question?

I dont think that any of your business buddy. You need to worry about Hornets losing coach Smith to the Miners. 
#RollTribe

Miners? I thought Smith and Reynolds were going to Martin County to be assistants.

No, Darryl had a premature post.

Is that the actual reason? I had heard they actually didn't have an offer to join or there was an issue with the school system hiring.

Don't know anything about the school system, but don't know why they would make a post unless something had been talked about. I feel like someone either didn't have all the facts or someone got their feelings hurt. But as far as rankings which this thread is about, there are about 5 teams that have a legitimate shot at winning region.

[TRex34]

I’ve been on here for a long time. Most delusional posts I’ve ever seen.

---

---

@averagejoe01 Dude, you are crazy. My list goes:

Top Tier (Any of these three teams could be interchangeable)
1-3: 
1. Johnson Central
2. Lawrence County
3. Floyd Central 

Right on the cusp (just need to figure a couple things out)
4. Paintsville
5. Pikeville 
6. Belfry
7. Martin

Potential Sleepers (Might make a run wouldn't be too surprising) 
8. Betsey Layne 
9. Shelby Valley
10. Pike Central 

Going to Struggle (Be a long season)
11. Magoffin County 
12. East Ridge 
13. Phelps 
14. P-Burg

not even close. FC won’t be top 3.

[Ballstothewall]

I'm still thinking it's gonna be between Johnson Central and Shelby Valley. Keathley's addition to Martin really don't make that big of a difference. What he does don't translate to wins. He's just gonna dribble the ball a lot and shoot free throws.

[15thregionwatcher]

I'm still thinking it's gonna be between Johnson Central and Shelby Valley. Keathley's addition to Martin really don't make that big of a difference. What he does don't translate to wins.  He's just gonna dribble the ball a lot and shoot free throws.

I don’t see SV being anywhere near the top their teams of the region.    They will settle in between 5-8 at best.   

they had a good summer playing summer ball rules.  Foul you every trip down floor and keep fouling.  Cant play that style when fouls count.   Plus can Taylor make adjustments when teams either play that same style or don’t get rattled by bully basketball

[Ballstothewall]

I would agree with one thing... foul trouble could be an issue simply because officiating in the 15th is embarrassingly the worst in the state. If it wasn't I'd probably put SV as the favorite. Taylor making adjustments would be the last thing I'd be concerned with.

[Bluegrassbredbobcat]

Speaking from the 14th perspective 
Taylor making adjustments is prolly the last thing you all should worry about 
His teams are all well coached disciplined play hard always have also hard to adjust to refs to fit the bank accounts of a lot of teams in 15th paying these days from what I read when 14th comes over there they always lose no matter who it is could be best team in state and we never have shot with whistle and it’s worse with girls 

He took one of the worst teams in the 14th in a to bring region title contenders almost won it in 2yrs and now in one year has took SV from 4 or 5 or however many the bottom of barrel wins prior to being mentioned in top teams to win it in the 15th with no transfers from reading these threads 

Pretty sure he can make adjustments hard to with no talent if he gets the talent Hazard / us / Perry or places in 14th had in the 15th be long year for a lot of folks on us23 

Question is in all mountain regions 
Who stays healthy wins 

Lawerance to me with what they added should be the 1 pre season even tho they lost woods with JC second

[SouthEast18]

Lawrence is the defending champs didnt lost much and they have the best coach in the region. Ill take them 1

JC is crazy talented to is Paintsville

FC has the talent but who knows with a new coach and system

Martin County would be the best team if they were allowed to play with 3 basketballs. That will be a mess all year

Pikeville is Pikeville they will be right there

[Yetty]

Top Tier (Any of these three teams could be interchangeable)
1-3:
1. Lawerence County
2. Paintsville
3.Johnson Central
Right on the cusp (just need to figure a couple things out)
4. Martin co
5. Pikeville
6. Floyd Central
7.Betsy Layne

Potential Sleepers (Might make a run wouldn't be too surprising)
8. Belfry
9. Shelby Valley
10. Pike Central

Going to Struggle (Be a long season)
11. Magoffin County
12. East Ridge
13. Phelps
14. P-Burg

[Quincy]

Speaking from the 14th perspective 
Taylor making adjustments is prolly the last thing you all should worry about 
His teams are all well coached disciplined play hard always have also hard to adjust to refs to fit the bank accounts of a lot of teams in 15th paying these days from what I read when 14th comes over there they always lose no matter who it is could be best team in state and we never have shot with whistle and it’s worse with girls 

He took one of the worst teams in the 14th in a to bring region title contenders almost won it in 2yrs and now in one year has took SV from 4 or 5 or however many the bottom of barrel wins prior to being mentioned in top teams to win it in the 15th with no transfers from reading these threads 

Pretty sure he can make adjustments hard to with no talent if he gets the talent Hazard / us / Perry or places in 14th had in the 15th be long year for a lot of folks on us23 

Question is in all mountain regions 
Who stays healthy wins 

Lawerance to me with what they added should be the 1 pre season even tho they lost woods with JC second

I don’t think what they added can even cover a half of the ground woods did. It’s hard to replace 20ppg when you have no other scorers besides Harris.

[Sportscritic79]

When Woods transferred, you lost 20 points and team chemistry. Lawrence is a top 5 team. But not top 3.

[Sports72]

Will be the weakest 15th region in 20+ years

[Coach P!]

@averagejoe01 Dude, you are crazy. My list goes:

Top Tier (Any of these three teams could be interchangeable)
1-3: 
1. Johnson Central
2. Lawrence County
3. Floyd Central 

Right on the cusp (just need to figure a couple things out)
4. Paintsville
5. Pikeville 
6. Belfry
7. Martin

Potential Sleepers (Might make a run wouldn't be too surprising) 
8. Betsey Layne 
9. Shelby Valley
10. Pike Central 

Going to Struggle (Be a long season)
11. Magoffin County 
12. East Ridge 
13. Phelps 
14. P-Burg

Am I missing something? Floyd Central is solid but shouldn't be in the category of region contenders, easily would put Paintsville and Pikeville above them as historically winning programs.

[-STAT-]

1. Lawrence Co- giving them the benefit of the doubt bc they are the defending champions, losing what was their best player in Woods was a huge blow for them, they did get some transfers out of WV so will be interesting to see how that pans out.

2. Paintsville- One thing they've lacked in years is depth, well they solved that problem with transfers/foreign exchange program, combine that with a returning core that they already have, championship level team.

3. Johnson Central- didn't fully live up to the high expectations of last season, but just like their rivals across the creek, have a great returning core who should have Central back in the mix this season.

4. Pikeville- they lost a lot with the Oknst/Walters duo, but still return a good core plus brought in a few players who can make a difference for them. Expect the Panthers to be right there in the end as well.

5. Martin Co- honestly wanted to put them lower, but they still have some solid players returning in Dials & Maynard, of course everyone knows about the Keathley addition, but will he learn to trust his teammates? This will definitely be the interesting story to follow this season.

6. Floyd Central- I think alongside the Keathley/Martin Co story, this FC team will be one to keep a close eye on also. Returning everyone and now with a new head coach, I've got them ranked at 6 just bc of what they have coming back but will be interesting to see how they fare under a new regime.

7. Shelby Valley- Just like most of the teams ahead of them, they have a solid core returning and with a hardnosed coach like Taylor, Wildcats could be a team to watch out for come March.

8. Belfry- On paper w/ the additions they made, Pirates would be the favorite, but that's why they play the game. A lot of mouths to feed over on pond creek but still think they run away w/ the 60th.

9. Pike Central- out of all the teams left to rank, I guess the Hawks would be the most qualified at 9? I would assume Big Al wouldn't have taken the job had he known there would be a mass exodus of players that left for Pikeville/Belfry.

10. Betsy Layne- May be a long season up on the hill for the Bobcats, idk if the seat is hot up there for coach Howard, but losing Parsons to Pikeville certainly didn't make things easier with what they lost from last season, if it's not hot its gotta be warm at this point.

11. Magoffin Co- obviously everything will revolve around Russell, kid is a great player, just have to wait and see if the rest of the team has developed and can make an impact, being in the 57th doesn't help their cause any.

12. Phelps- Hornets went from a team who had a great young coach who was doing great things over there, to running him out of town and back to square one. More than likely will be a long season for them.

13. East Ridge- Last year was a tough one for the Warriors, they've always been known for having some tough & gritty teams over the years, only way to go is up from where they were last season.

14. Prestonsburg- The cupboard is officially bare, with Keathley leaving, and Shutts who I thought was one of the great young players who improved as the season went on at Paintsville now, really doesn't seem to be a sense of direction with this program, they'll struggle mightily.

Even tho the season doesn't officially start for another 2 months, for some teams even longer as their respective football programs go into the playoffs, and have basketball players playing as well, these are just my unbiased opinions & thoughts on how each team will be ranked. Agree to disagree, but I think this season will be a fun one to follow. I sure can't wait.

[King Kong]

1. Lawrence Co- giving them the benefit of the doubt bc they are the defending champions, losing what was their best player in Woods was a huge blow for them, they did get some transfers out of WV so will be interesting to see how that pans out.

2. Paintsville- One thing they've lacked in years is depth, well they solved that problem with transfers/foreign exchange program, combine that with a returning core that they already have, championship level team.

3. Johnson Central- didn't fully live up to the high expectations of last season, but just like their rivals across the creek, have a great returning core who should have Central back in the mix this season.

4. Pikeville- they lost a lot with the Oknst/Walters duo, but still return a good core plus brought in a few players who can make a difference for them. Expect the Panthers to be right there in the end as well.

5. Martin Co- honestly wanted to put them lower, but they still have some solid players returning in Dials & Maynard, of course everyone knows about the Keathley addition, but will he learn to trust his teammates? This will definitely be the interesting story to follow this season.

6. Floyd Central- I think alongside the Keathley/Martin Co story, this FC team will be one to keep a close eye on also. Returning everyone and now with a new head coach, I've got them ranked at 6 just bc of what they have coming back but will be interesting to see how they fare under a new regime.

7. Shelby Valley- Just like most of the teams ahead of them, they have a solid core returning and with a hardnosed coach like Taylor, Wildcats could be a team to watch out for come March.

8.  Belfry- On paper w/ the additions they made, Pirates would be the favorite, but that's why they play the game.  A lot of mouths to feed over on pond creek but still think they run away w/ the 60th.

9. Pike Central- out of all the teams left to rank, I guess the Hawks would be the most qualified at 9? I would assume Big Al wouldn't have taken the job had he known there would be a mass exodus of players that left for Pikeville/Belfry.

10. Betsy Layne- May be a long season up on the hill for the Bobcats, idk if the seat is hot up there for coach Howard, but losing Parsons to Pikeville certainly didn't make things easier with what they lost from last season, if it's not hot its gotta be warm at this point.

11. Magoffin Co- obviously everything will revolve around Russell, kid is a great player, just have to wait and see if the rest of the team has developed and can make an impact, being in the 57th doesn't help their cause any.

12. Phelps- Hornets went from a team who had a great young coach who was doing great things over there, to running him out of town and back to square one. More than likely will be a long season for them.

13. East Ridge- Last year was a tough one for the Warriors, they've always been known for having some tough & gritty teams over the years, only way to go is up from where they were last season.

14. Prestonsburg- The cupboard is officially bare, with Keathley leaving, and Shutts who I thought was one of the great young players who improved as the season went on at Paintsville now, really doesn't seem to be a sense of direction with this program, they'll struggle mightily.

Even tho the season doesn't officially start for another 2 months, for some teams even longer as their respective football programs go into the playoffs, and have basketball players playing as well, these are just my unbiased opinions & thoughts on how each team will be ranked. Agree to disagree, but I think this season will be a fun one to follow. I sure can't wait.

Nice job putting this together STAT very well said.  Good point about some basketball players being on football teams.  JC usually has a few each year.