Timberlynn Yeast of Mercer County is one of the state's best junior players. (John Herndon Photo)
This week the state’s small schools will descend on Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond for the annual midseason All A State Tournament. To those kids, this is their Super Bowl.
A handful of these teams will have a shot at making the Sweet 16 in March but most will find their seasons end against a much larger school in district, or at best, region play. Which leads to this. It is time for the KHSAA to make the right choice and go to classes for all sports not currently in classes. Leave football, track and cross country as is, but go to four classes for basketball, baseball, softball, etc.
Now that I have the traditionalists in an uproar, let’s look at it. The era of Cuba or Carr Creek passed long ago. Occasionally, a Paintsville or a Hazard might catch lightning in a bottle. UHA might make a run but everyone excludes them because they are a private school. Even the last “small” school to win the Sweet 16, Shelby Valley, isn’t really a small school with over 550 students. Heck, Covington Catholic has fewer students than Shelby Valley.
Imagine the excitement that would consume some areas if there were multiple teams competing for a state title. Eastern Kentucky was abuzz a couple of years ago when four teams vied for a state football title. What would it be like if Buckhorn, Hazard, and Perry Central were all playing for a title AND the right to possibly play each other for the Sweet 16 title. Or what if Pineville, Middlesboro, and Bell County were all in the state tournament.
Attendance is dwindling for the Sweet 16. That’s no secret. The generation that planned their vacation around the Sweet 16 has gone away. Fans have grown tired of the predictability of the event. In the past 10 seasons, in boys’ play, only Bowling Green or Warren Central have won the 4th region. In that same time frame, Scott County has gone 60 percent of the time; McCracken County has gone 40 percent of the time; Trinity has gone 50 percent of the time, and Knott County Central has gone 50 percent of the time.
On the girls’ side, Marshall County, Owensboro Catholic, Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, and George Rogers Clark have gone to the Sweet 16 50 percent of the time since 2012. Henderson County has gone an amazing 80 percent of the time over that span.
Coupled with an inordinate amount of blowout games in district tournament and regional tournament action and it is a perfect storm for fan apathy. Over the last 10 years, approximately one-third of all girls’ regional tournament games have been decided by margins of 20 points or greater. Last season, 76 percent of all girls’ district tournament games were decided by 20 or more points. In 2020-21, nearly 20 percent of all boys’ regional tournament games were decided by 20 or more points. That’s up five percentage points from just 2012. It is time for a change.
The time is right to go to four classes. Class A would be up to 299 students. Class AA would be 300 to 650 students. Class AAA would be 651 to 1060. Class AAAA would be 1061 and up. Each class would have either 69 or 70 teams.
With several new Christian schools petitioning to join the KHSAA, the Class A numbers could fluctuate. But as we have seen, many of the small schools may not have the numbers to have a team every year, so the numbers in that class would balance themselves out. Use a seven-year enrollment average because numbers truly don’t change that drastically on a regular basis.
Each class would have four sections. Sections would have 16,17 or 18 teams based on geography. These divisions can be called sections, regions or even conferences. For example, Class A schools in Western Kentucky could compete for the Jackson Purchase Conference title. Class AA schools in the same area could compete for the Kentucky Lake Conference title. The Class AAA schools in that area could compete for the Mammoth Cave Conference title and the Class AAAA schools could go for the Pennyrile Conference title.
The winners of each section in each class would then go to Rupp Arena. The four-section winners per class would play for the Class state title. Then the four class state champions would play for the Sweet 16 title.
The numbers of new teams getting an opportunity would spit renewed interest in the Sweet 16. This is the best way to cultivate new fans for the Sweet 16. More teams going means a whole new group of fans that can catch the excitement of competing for a state title, while still providing an avenue for the next Carlisle County to work their way to the Sweet 16 title game.
The KHSAA could even take a page from the All A Classic and have the boys and girls tournaments at the same time to save on facility rental, manpower, etc.
It is time for a change.
— Mac Yocum, Contributing Writer
Vaught’s Note: Mac Yocum is the assistant girls’ basketball coach at Frankfort High School and a long-time high school basketball enthusiast.
5 Responses
When I first read the headline my immediate thought was no but after reading your article it makes a lot of sense. As a former head coach at a very small Christian school we continually competed against schools smaller and much larger than ours. It can be frustrating for the players and the fans. As you said the same teams compete for the title every year. Now that I think about it it sounds a lot like college football. Maybe we need a class system for college football also. Hmmm🤔
Mac made some really valid points whether you agree or not
I forgot to mention Great article.
As a Henderson Co. fan i see your perspective and agree. True fact over the 80 percent that time we have made it to the sweet sixteen we have never made it to the championship game, been in the semi-finals 4 times knocking on the door just can’t get over the hump. Back in 2016 or17 if we hadn’t loss our 2 big girls due to injuries and we still made it to the semi-finals i still think that would have been the year would have won it all.
An interesting case that Mac made