Centerville Elks 2021, 2022, 2023 State Champions

 
I heard a rumor and do not believe it myself but there was a bit of a chirp that Cupps was transferring to a Indiana prep school next year. Hope it is not true and hopefully some Elks fans can put an end to that rumor right now.....

It is tough to repeat when you are a public school that does not recruit..... as I am sure Moe is scouting the tri-state area to beef up the team.
 
I also heard that Cupps is leaving. Will be interesting to see how this affects cville next year. Obviously a huge loss if it is true
 
Centerville should have a really good team with all those players coming back, but it's very difficult to repeat, particularly in D1.......and the Elks are in the Southwest District which is always loaded with good teams, including the GCL.
 
Do you think the Elks were better of without Njie? Did him leaving make them a better team? From what I saw in tournament play they played with pace and shoot the ball super well. will that be their recipe going forward?
 
footballdad72 said:
I also heard that Cupps is leaving. Will be interesting to see how this affects cville next year. Obviously a huge loss if it is true
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He is very good. 1st or 2nd team I am sure. With that being said he commits turnovers and makes mistakes. I am sure that no one is ready to compare him to the last great point guard from SW Ohio,
 
Enjoy the accomplishment you just achieved...You never know what life will throw at you. Maybe you'll have a chance to repeat, maybe not. Next year though you'll be the target & everyone will be gunning for you. That's why it's so tough to do.
I'm always reminded of Coach Bobby Bowden's wisdom..."It's never the team you thought that would win it all...It's always the one just before, or just after that one that rises up & surprises you..."
 
Don't know about the rumors, but I'll bet Njie is secretly wishing he'd stayed right about now. I would be very surprised if Cupps left a team that just won the state championship in Ohio, + has so many teammates coming back + his Dad as coach. What possibly could the upside to that be? Would make no sense. It made no sense to me for Njie, either. If I were him, I'd wanna come back!
 
Knightnight said:
Do you think the Elks were better of without Njie? Did him leaving make them a better team? From what I saw in tournament play they played with pace and shoot the ball super well. will that be their recipe going forward?
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Probably yes to all of the above.
 
vamp2syd said:
I heard a rumor and do not believe it myself but there was a bit of a chirp that Cupps was transferring to a Indiana prep school next year. Hope it is not true and hopefully some Elks fans can put an end to that rumor right now.....

It is tough to repeat when you are a public school that does not recruit..... as I am sure Moe is scouting the tri-state area to beef up the team.
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:rolleyes:
 
I can't see Cupps sending junior off to prep school when he's coaching his son and the team's going to continue to be loaded. The only way that would make any sense would be if Cupps the coach plans on moving on to another opportunity, which I don't see happening until at minimum this current run is finished.

They're probably going to win 45-50 games the next two years and be favored to put another one in the trophy case next year. The coach definitely isn't a "me" person, but that will cement his legacy in the area and across the state, and put him in the state hall of fame some day when added on to what he's already accomplished. For his son, they'll continue to play the best schedule possible and two years from now he'll be the all-time great in terms of Centerville basketball. I don't see any upside to leaving.
 
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Centerville is definitely favored next year. i don’t see either Cupps leaving- the situations are too good
 
It’s really hard to repeat in D1. Especially, when you so many big schools that can reload every year. I get the enthusiasm coming right after a state championship and I know this poster is a new member and most likely a HS student, but I wouldn’t be surprised if things change next year. Especially, with no shot clock and the ability to slow a game down and minimize possessions.
 
eaglepride said:
It’s really hard to repeat in D1. Especially, when you so many big schools that can reload every year. I get the enthusiasm coming right after a state championship and I know this poster is a new member and most likely a HS student, but I wouldn’t be surprised if things change next year. Especially, with no shot clock and the ability to slow a game down and minimize possessions.
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The thing is that they are one of the teams that are capable of excelling in a slowed down low possession game in the event that someone like Moeller re-stacks their team with transfers. They showed that on this run with mostly sophomores and juniors. This group is pretty Moeller like in regards to being able to be methodical like Kremer prefers to do at Moe, but as Moeller showed this year that can be a double edged sword that can bite you as fewer possessions reduces the margin of error for the better team.

I don't think there's much debate that they'll be a proverbial favorite and will probably walk to another district title next year (and probably also the year after). Coming out of the SW region they're in one of the regional brackets where even if you are very good you'll have to win four very tough games in a row to win it all, which is easier said than done.
 
vamp2syd said:
I heard a rumor and do not believe it myself but there was a bit of a chirp that Cupps was transferring to a Indiana prep school next year. Hope it is not true and hopefully some Elks fans can put an end to that rumor right now.....

It is tough to repeat when you are a public school that does not recruit..... as I am sure Moe is scouting the tri-state area to beef up the team.
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Vamps.....zero chance of that happening. Would be the opposite of everything Cupps teaches about team, core values, etc.
 
nwwarrior09 said:
The thing is that they are one of the teams that are capable of excelling in a slowed down low possession game in the event that someone like Moeller re-stacks their team with transfers. They showed that on this run with mostly sophomores and juniors. This group is pretty Moeller like in regards to being able to be methodical like Kremer prefers to do at Moe, but as Moeller showed this year that can be a double edged sword that can bite you as fewer possessions reduces the margin of error for the better team.

I don't think there's much debate that they'll be a proverbial favorite and will probably walk to another district title next year (and probably also the year after). Coming out of the SW region they're in one of the regional brackets where even if you are very good you'll have to win four very tough games in a row to win it all, which is easier said than done.
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I say this because I see these posts a lot every year especially in football. A lot can happen in a year and I understand the enthusiasm shown by posters right after a state championship.
 
Elks would have been better with Kebba Njie as he would have taken Tre Johnson's minutes. Kebba is taller, a scoring threat, and more mobile than Tre. I have also heard the rumor to put Gabe in a prep school to help with college recruiting. With the Elks winning state, it would be the perfect time to make that move and go out on top before his Junior year. I also expect Coach Cupps to go to the college ranks after his son graduates.
 
maravich said:
Vamps.....zero chance of that happening. Would be the opposite of everything Cupps teaches about team, core values, etc.
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I'd have to agree. On the coach's side of things, I'm not sure I could see how he could justify coming back and continuing to teach those things as a major part of his program while moving his kid onward to perceived greener pastures. It would be hypocritical and I don't think he can or would do it.
 
ELK Strong said:
Elks would have been better with Kebba Njie as he would have taken Tre Johnson's minutes. Kebba is taller, a scoring threat, and more mobile than Tre. I have also heard the rumor to put Gabe in a prep school to help with college recruiting. With the Elks winning state, it would be the perfect time to make that move and go out on top before his Junior year. I also expect Coach Cupps to go to the college ranks after his son graduates.
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Their average margin of victory was 18 points for the season. They won 23 of their final 24 games, losing only to D2 state champs SVSM in the 4th quarter. Beat #5 Elder & #3 Moeller, #1 Mentor (by 14 points) & #7 Westerville Central in their last four games to win the state championship....and finished at 26-3 & state champions.

But somehow "Elks would have been better with Njie"??? So you mean 29-0 and a margin of victory of 20+??? Isn't "better" kind of irrelevant at this point ??? Maybe just maybe the "intangibles" wouldn't have been as good. The chemistry. I don't know but as a casual observer I would say in the end it didn't matter.
 
ELK Strong said:
Elks would have been better with Kebba Njie as he would have taken Tre Johnson's minutes. Kebba is taller, a scoring threat, and more mobile than Tre. I have also heard the rumor to put Gabe in a prep school to help with college recruiting. With the Elks winning state, it would be the perfect time to make that move and go out on top before his Junior year. I also expect Coach Cupps to go to the college ranks after his son graduates.
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Team basketball IQ went up with kebba’s departure.
 
Not having that kid probably unclogged the paint and opened up the floor more in their half-court offense. All of their other guys can either play in space with or without the ball, and if they can't, they can screen in space for those guys.

It's hard to know with certainty, but I tend to think not having that kid probably made their offense better by improving their spacing and having one less mouth to feed, so to speak.
 
it was mentioned that everyone in D1 tends to reload, which is true. but, Centerville returns 7/9 that got decent minutes. they just won a state title with a few seniors then a bunch of underclassman. i don’t think Cupps moves to a prep school. Dayton has produced plenty of talent. kid has the intangibles. for next year he should work on eliminating turnovers. only thing really holding him back is his size. but remember, he’s just a sophomore. he has so much time to grow and improve. people are getting ahead of themselves.
 
Lets talk for a moment about why you would purposely transfer from a HS D1 state championship team from a much respected sports state like Ohio, whose team returns virtually everyone and your Dad is the Coach... Hmmmmmmm, lets see???
1) Mom & Dad are getting divorced and Mom is moving ( Havn't heard this)
2) You weren't getting any playing time (uh...No)
3) You were on a Div. 6 invisible team from the middle-of-nowhere and getting "0" exposure and playing nobody (Uh...No again)
4) You have a chance to play & start for the defending Big school 6-time NATIONAL Champion for whom everyone starting goes straight to the NBA
Does such a Prep school exist? Would it be in Indiana, or more likely in Hollywood?
How about the potential downsides for such a transfer...
- You lose your much respected local identity, fan base, teammates & friends
- Your new school underachieves, while your old school goes on to win another state championship
- Your much loved Dad is no longer your Coach and you don't particularly care much for the new one.
- You don't fit in very well with your new teammates, have as many great friends & you fail to live up to expectations
Lets see...What would I do...Hmmm
"I'd stay at Centerville! Are you kidding me?
 
What I like about this win and post partum discussion is that it breaks the spell of a 1 state trip 30 years ago in football.. The we used to out tough everybody fever has been eclipsed by kids w/o pads who show up at 6:30am to make their case as real champs
 
petroglyph,
Football aside, with all due respect, the last time I looked Centerville has about 15 state championships in sports activities, not counting individual titles. I'd say we've had plenty of "real" champs.
 
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