This is a great email and a great topic for discussion. I have no problem with Coach Cox winning the award. He did a wonderful job with Adena this year. My final decision came down to Coach Cox and Coach Driggs, and in the end, I gave a slight advantage to Coach Driggs based on her winning the outright league and posting an 18-1 overall regular season record. I realize many will say Unioto was loaded with a lot of talent, but really you could say this about the top three teams in the league. I did think Unioto had three of the top five players in the league; however, I thought Adena had six (when healthy) of the top 22 players this season, and Zane Trace had more athletes than anyone. Again, no problems with Coach Cox winning the award – and I congratulate him for doing so, but I just give a slight advantage to Coach Driggs.
I do not agree with Unioto getting three on your first-team? How do you justify this?
I know one team getting three players in the top-five is not the norm, but justifying this is quite simple. Driggs and Arledge are the top two players in the league, and Cottrell’s overall ability is as good as anyone else. When you play with the top two players in the league, your statistics are going to be down a little, but look beyond the stat sheet. She can guard all five positions on the floor; she can rebound, pass, and hit big shots when needed. She is a proven winner in the last three years and I feel she is easily a top-five player.
I have felt for years that they need to look at going with possibly a two team, All-League such as nine on first team and eight on second team. Reasoning is that there are several times you will have more than five that deserve being on first team and more than five deserve second team. So now there is too much politics coming in to play.
I agree that some years you have six or seven kids fighting for five spots, but at the same time, you can also have years where the difference between your four or fifth best player and your sixth or seventh best player is a big difference. Politics do become a part of voting day, but in the end, I think team success and how you and the program you play for are perceived by the other coaches probably plays the biggest role.
I think you were wrong leaving Catherine Dresbach of Southeastern off your first team!
Catherine Dresbach is a good player and she had a solid senior season. I just felt the girls ahead of her were a little more deserving. In Dresbach’s defense, she did play with a young supporting cast, but with Southeastern losing late to Huntington and dropping a little more in the standings, I think this hurt her in the eyes of the coaches. Even as my seventh best player, I still thought Dresbach was a great player. In fact, I mentioned in my article last week that at times she was too unselfish.
Piketon’s Alex Southworth is way too low on your list.
This is a fair comment in terms of moving her up two or three spots, but I feel the top 10 are pretty solid selections. Piketon was fourth-place, but at 6-8, the top three teams really separated themselves in this year’s league. Please understand that I think Southworth is an incredible talent. Who doesn’t love 6’0” athletes who can play all five positions? I think with the talent Piketon has coming out of their junior high groups, Southworth is going to be a name that climbs way up the all-league list the next two years.