Eastern Cincinnati Conference
- Thread starter HoopsFan1
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Will some guys from the JV team contribute right away? Who might be any of those who can add to the returning starters?
Bballer fan
New member
Turpin returns their seniors Shae O’Toole, Isaac Hooper and Joe Lafkas along with 2-3 other seniors. They have a few players to watch in their junior and sophomore class, but they aren’t deep. Watch for 2 freshman, Drew Rardin and Gavin Hoffman who will play some varsity minutes and will be big contributors 25/26.
Winton Woods has the number one ranked freshman, Kam Mercer, coming so should be interesting
Winton Woods has the number one ranked freshman, Kam Mercer, coming so should be interesting
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Thanks for the update. Seems both teams have some athletes. Mercer should contribute right away. And regarding athletes, Junior Chase Spencer at Turpin (track athlete) could contribute in basketball but is he coming back at Turpin next season? Heard he was possibly moving.
Ohiobasketball513
Member
The big question with WW and Mercer in my opinion will be the coaching again. WW was able to squeeze a lot of their wins last year because of McKinley. Even with Mercer’s high ranking (I don’t think he’ll be #1 when the ESPN rankings come out. I’m thinking top 10, which is still PHENOMENAL) can he hold that huge responsibility next season as only a freshman and with the potential lack of coaching shown by the HC
And early sleeper alert, WC looks GOOD. I’ve seen them play a couple times this month & was very impressed. Grammar has them playing really hard and they run some really good stuff
Bballer fan
New member
Chase has been playing some minutes on varsity and JV this summer, have not heard he’s going anywhere.
#1 in the entire country???
Bballer fan
New member
Yes, however these aren’t ESPN rankings as noted above. Has a D1 offer from university of Cincinnati already for perspective
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oxat622
Well-known member
Anyone know who the tall kid on the left is for Lebanon? Seems to have appeared out of nowhere and he's definitely not an alum as I saw him in pictures participating in team camps.
Interesting year for Lebanon coming up. They lose eight seniors including their top guards plus Anthony Thompson to Warren Reserve Academy. Freshman Jayshawn Coffey will be a highly sought after prospect. I heard they held their own relatively well at Princeton's event earlier this month. We'll just see.
that appears to be tyler eifert
He is an exchange student. Coaches talked him into playing. Big kid with zero basketball skills. Coaching staff has one year to try and make something of him lol. Lebanon will have zero size this year and that will hurt them. I will be curious to see if Chivington changes anything that he does with the X and O's.... The Superintendents kid is a freshman now so Chivington will have to deal with that lol. I like Chivington as a coach I just don't think he's a good fit at Lebanon.
Bballer fan
New member
Add Ohio State, Xavier, and UC to the offers to Kam Mercer.
Bballer fan
New member
Kam Mercer going to Huntington Prep…
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oxat622
Well-known member
Lebanon accepted an invitation to Flyin to the Hoop, but I think that was well before Thompson transferred. He had to have been the reason they were invited in the first place. Don't think FTTH is going to re-neg the invite, so they're probably getting a far less than primetime slot.
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Orca
Well-known member
Per their Facebook, we'll get the full schedule for that tournament on the 15th.
What's everyone's opinion on the league pecking order this year? From my outside perspective, I think it's pretty hard to project. Some combination of Kings, Anderson, Little Miami, and Winton Woods at the top, right? Kings will certainly light up the scoreboard with Tommy Clark and others, but will they play enough defense? Anderson will certainly be well-coached, but are all of their football stars going to play? Will Little Miami have others step up to go with Sellers? Does Winton Woods have new talented players we don't know about, or are Stewart and Weah enough? I think there is a clear divide to the next tier of teams, but the next tier should all be on a similar level as well with nobody truly at the bottom of the league. What do you think?
Will also be curious to see potential tournament runs in the new format. Walnut Hills, Lebanon, Little Miami, West Clermont, and Milford will all be D1. Anderson, Winton Woods, Kings, and Loveland drop to D2. Turpin goes to D3! Obviously, with the new tournament format, it will only take 2 games to win district championships in D1 and D2, but D1 will continue to be tough with still only 6 district winners in SWO and having to get through Moeller, St. X, Elder, and the top of the GMC and GWOC. There are only 3 districts in SWO in D2, but the ECC probably has the best teams with Miamisburg, Northmont, Troy, Harrison, Fairborn, and Sidney the only other D2 teams. Turpin will have to win 3 games for a district title in D3, and will have to contend with the likes of LaSalle, Goshen, and several CPS schools.
A 10 team bracket to get to the final 4?!?!?! Wow this 7 division thing will get interesting lol
Looks like those 10 teams only go into 2 out of 4 regional spots, but theoretically two of them could meet in the regional final.
Orca
Well-known member
I'm very much not sold on WW this year. They really coasted on high-end talent last year that they don't have access to this year, and their megaprospect is gone. I think all of last year's bottom 3 (Turpin, WC, Walnut) are poised to make big leaps while 5-7 (Lebanon, Loveland, Milford) all lost a lot. Little Miami loses their top 2 scorers but if Kerr is really that guy then it won't be a problem.
Timelineman
Well-known member
Ok, I obviously havent checked in in a while but, Nooooooooooo!!!!! Watching Anthony the last two years was one of the great pleasures of ECC basketball. I was dreading hearing he’s leaving, kind of knowing it was inevitable, because watching a guy like that grow over four years would have been really special. Oh well, I wish him well and hope to see him make a mark in college.
cincinnatieng82
Well-known member
Favorite time of the year, from what I’m hearing everyone will be a lot better top to bottom making for a lot of upsets and fun basketball for the conference.
Winton Woods bringing in a few new faces should keep them close to the top of the conference, one being Christian Wilkins who has spent his last 3 years out of town originally was slated to be Moeller class of 25, Cash Ingram comes back after spending the previous two in Fairfield transferring from WW his freshman year
Anderson returning their bigs possibly (may lose one to early enrollment) but guard play may hurt them Kings will go as far as Tommy Clark can take them.
Loveland will be down
Milford will be down
Look for West Clermont to make a leap bring back pretty much everyone and Jyaire Harper returns back who was their starting point guard as a freshman two years ago
Walnut Hills I expect to be close to the top this year, they return their now core juniors that were all varsity guys last year with some new faces coming in should be poised to turn that corner they are long they are athletic and if done right can cause a problem
Little Miami I expect to be at the top of the conference as well great coaching with some tough kids they will find a way to get it done
I expect Turpin to push for top of the conference with them returning their core from last year and some rising underclassmen coming to contribute
Lebanon I expect to be closer to mid level or bottom losing Anthony but maybe they have pieces that can compete enough?
Winton Woods bringing in a few new faces should keep them close to the top of the conference, one being Christian Wilkins who has spent his last 3 years out of town originally was slated to be Moeller class of 25, Cash Ingram comes back after spending the previous two in Fairfield transferring from WW his freshman year
Anderson returning their bigs possibly (may lose one to early enrollment) but guard play may hurt them Kings will go as far as Tommy Clark can take them.
Loveland will be down
Milford will be down
Look for West Clermont to make a leap bring back pretty much everyone and Jyaire Harper returns back who was their starting point guard as a freshman two years ago
Walnut Hills I expect to be close to the top this year, they return their now core juniors that were all varsity guys last year with some new faces coming in should be poised to turn that corner they are long they are athletic and if done right can cause a problem
Little Miami I expect to be at the top of the conference as well great coaching with some tough kids they will find a way to get it done
I expect Turpin to push for top of the conference with them returning their core from last year and some rising underclassmen coming to contribute
Lebanon I expect to be closer to mid level or bottom losing Anthony but maybe they have pieces that can compete enough?
Orca
Well-known member
Oh, well there goes what I said about WW not being able to coast on high-end talent.
oxat622
Well-known member
Not only that, losing their best guards in Hicks and Davidson plus several size depth guys like Wagers, Edmonds, etc. Klein and Bonny from the football team are very good athletes who were hurt last year. They should be some help. Lebanon may have the highest ceiling player in the conference in Jayshawn Coffey, but it's a lot to put a team on the shoulders of a freshman point guard. It will be a growing pains season, though I heard they did alright at Purdue team camp and Princeton's big event this summer.
Some near the program think the door is open for Thompson to return for senior year. His brother will be a ninth grader then and he should already have the college commitment wrapped up by then. I'll believe it when I see it. But a Coffey/Thompson duo would be priority viewing.
Orca
Well-known member
Lebanon will be playing Dunbar at Flyin' to the Hoop on January 18th. Thompson's new school will also be playing at the event.
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Wishboneliveson
Well-known member
Does Lebanon still run the flex offense? Would be such a waste of talent if they ran that with the dude that they have. Plus maybe that’s the reason the other guy left town to go to a prep school.
Orca
Well-known member
Walnut is playing 11 games in the month of January. Also like last year, 2 of their 6 non-conference games come after the seeding cutoff (they don't go to any events this year, and instead add McNick, Mt. Healthy, and Springboro to the three Ohio non-con teams they played last year).