I don’t think it’s a mystery that RH brought in Harris (GlenOak), Cox-Holloway (Euclid), Hearst & Maiden (Benedictine), Wilson (Solon), Steele ( Cle Heights), Crumble ( Lutheran East) and all have been key contributors in winning one or more state titles over the last three years. They are an established program now and are going to continue to get the best players in NE Ohio whether people like it or not. I’m not sure why great players on good D1/D2 teams would want to transfer down and compete in the lowest division at Richmond but that’s what we are seeing, and it will likely continue.
I'll give you a good reason why the best players in Ohio would love to finish out the season vs the least likely to compete against them, NIL.
The greater the appeared difference between them and other good competition the greater the likelihood they land a six figure NIL deal coming out of high school. Where there is reward, there is motivation. We added a new incentive to not only try for a free education via a D1 scholarship, now there is a pretty good income associated with getting yourself recognized in the new NIL era.
Facts we have to face as traditional minded high school fans, 1- this is not 1970, times change. 2- we are well into the era of the ability to relocate. Parents can find housing, jobs and establish themselves in a new community much easier than 50 years ago. 3- just because I'm traditional, does not make it wrong to be progressive. There will always be people pushing the fair or moral limits of perceived fairness as they look for that competitive advantage, 4- enrollment numbers in a fluid society means nothing today in terms of a teams ability to put together a top flight group of kids and build a highly successful program. Adding three more divisions next year changed nothing in any of these reasons.
I have concluded I am getting old, and my fond memories of community oriented basketball teams are just that, memories. My children have zero interest in following high school basketball today. They grew up and played, enjoyed their time, played for quality programs, but never won a state title. They learned personal lessons, as valuable today as when I played. Athletics taught then the same lessons of competing without losing ones emotions, developing skill to ones maximum potential, and reaching above ones capability when facing a formidable foe.
So as grandpa now, I realize my grandchildren will not play under my view of the best and optimal conditions, but they will learn the same lessons, should they choose to play.
As Yappi has pointed out on here many times, and I fully agree with him, enrollment number is no longer a good factor to be used to predict the best fair level of competition.
It. Is abundantly clear from the four state champions, collecting kids from a broad region, and bringing them to your program regardless of size is the formula for reaching the pinnacle . With that in mind I present the following as my perception from this 2024 season:
Best public school team- Richmond Heights
Best private school team- co champs Alter and St Iggy
Best homegrown talent from public school- Russia