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Your new No. 1-ranked HS hoops team...

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Rusty Shackleford, Aug 30, 2006.

  1. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    http://proxy.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2188552
     
  2. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Not just that: 1st grade for noncontact sports, 7th grade for wrestling and 9th grade for football and soccer (as per KHSAA bylaw 4(1)(d)). And there's a state law that bars the KHSAA from ending 7th- and 8th-grade eligibility (KRS 156.070 (2)(c)).
     
  3. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    When did the 9th-grade eligibility for football come in?
     
  4. Space Monkey

    Space Monkey Member

    Double D,

    Thanks for posting the link.
     
  5. Chef

    Chef Active Member

    Had heard that Mayo was following Huggins to K-St........
     
  6. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    I thought you could play football in Kentucky younger than 9th grade.
    Seems like UK had a lineman a few years back that was an all-state player at 5th grade or 6th grade. Can't remember his name, but it seems like he had a brother that played as well.
    And, I think, it is Tennessee is another state that lets them play young. Something about one roof, the first grade in the building that houses the high school is eligible. So if it is 6th through 12th, then 6th grade is eligible. Goes back to the old days of one-room schoolhouses.
    I think Mississippi is the same way.
     
  7. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    I looked it up before I posted it.
     
  8. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    http://www.nfl.com/draft/2002/profiles/johnson_dennis.htm

    the relevant passage ...
    Had an amazing and unusual career … Played his first high school game when he was in the second grade … Also played some in third grade, then a rule was passed banning elementary students from playing on the high school level … Returned to the high school field in seventh grade … Became the first eighth-grader in Kentucky history to be named first-team all-state, an honor he earned five consecutive years … All totaled, he played in eight high school seasons …
     
  9. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    God, I had HUGE arguments with our desk about this. I covered DJ's signing with Kentucky, and heard the stories of his early play. No one here believed a second-grader was on a varsity football team, even if his dad was the coach.
     
  10. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    OK, let me edit myself.

    But only slightly.

    Kids below 9th grade cannot play football on the varsity level in Kentucky now.
     
  11. imjustagirl2

    imjustagirl2 New Member

    I knew that was what you meant. I'm sure Jay just meant it had happened before.
     
  12. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    Yeah, my memory was a little sketchy, and couldn't remember all the details.
    Seems like he was the reason why they changed the rules as well.
    But back in the day I was once in desperate need of a note for an SEC package and I was scanning the media guides for something interesting and came across the Johnson kid.

    I also seem to remember a story about high school players that had been all-state four or more times in their sport. Johnson was featured in it and Tennessee also had a basketball player who had been all-state six or seven times. And WV had a baseball player who had been all-state since kindergarten or something similarly crazy like that.
     
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