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OT- HS Boys State Finals wrapped up

My high school, with a graduating class of 63 from a town of less than 2,000 at the time, had to play Cedar Rapids Regis in the Sub State Basketball finals. Ya that was fair.
 
My high school, with a graduating class of 63 from a town of less than 2,000 at the time, had to play Cedar Rapids Regis in the Sub State Basketball finals. Ya that was fair.
Our class of 86 had to do the same. In football we missed the 1A playoffs because we lost to the 2A state champions and the #1 ranked 3A team…. That was fair….. what didn’t we do? Piss and moan and cry about it. We needed to be better.
 
Surrounded by private school students, Reynolds, a Republican, inked her signature on a law that will allow any Iowa family to use taxpayer funds to pay for private school tuition — at a cost of $345 million annually to the state once fully phased in.

The law will phase in over three years and eventually allow all Iowa families to use up to $7,598 a year in an "education savings account" for private school tuition.

If any money is left over after tuition and fees, families can use the funds for specific educational expenses, including textbooks, tutoring, standardized testing fees, online education programs and vocational and life skills training.

When the law is fully phased in by the 2025-2026 school year, every Iowa family will be eligible for the program.

 
Our class of 86 had to do the same. In football we missed the 1A playoffs because we lost to the 2A state champions and the #1 ranked 3A team…. That was fair….. what didn’t we do? Piss and moan and cry about it. We needed to be better.
Well if you think it was fair and equal for a small town school to go against essentially the entire city of Cedar Rapids and Marion then I'm not sure what to say.
 
Well if you think it was fair and equal for a small town school to go against essentially the entire city of Cedar Rapids and Marion then I'm not sure what to say.
Life's not fair. Surprisingly we held our own and then some. Did we think it was unfair that Linn Mar had two guys going to Ohio State on basketball scholarships in addition to Mr. Basketball? Nope, we came up with a triangle and two and lost by four.....boo hoo for us. Our only two conference losses were to Linn Mar. We decided to compete rather than to piss and moan about it. To each their own.
 
Life's not fair. Surprisingly we held our own and then some. Did we think it was unfair that Linn Mar had two guys going to Ohio State on basketball scholarships in addition to Mr. Basketball? Nope, we came up with a triangle and two and lost by four.....boo hoo for us. Our only two conference losses were to Linn Mar. We decided to compete rather than to piss and moan about it. To each their own.
We you a small public school with defined boundaries, or were you a catholic school with unlimited boundaries? If you were the latter, then you were on equal terms - you just weren't good enough. If you were both public, then again, you were on equal terms with the other team. The fact that they had better athletes than your team is irrelevant to my comments. But you're right, the fact that you could not beat them was all on you. If you were the former, then you were competing with a school with vastly different rules for the intake of their students/athletes. I'm amazed, but not surprised, that people who support private schools have your take on this.
 
Life's not fair. Surprisingly we held our own and then some. Did we think it was unfair that Linn Mar had two guys going to Ohio State on basketball scholarships in addition to Mr. Basketball? Nope, we came up with a triangle and two and lost by four.....boo hoo for us. Our only two conference losses were to Linn Mar. We decided to compete rather than to piss and moan about it. To each their own.
I presume you're referring to the Anderson's (not related as I recall). I think one of them sadly has passed away - maybe in a traffic accident???

Edit: It was John Anderson that passed away in 1994 in Australia (played overseas after OSU) after being stricken with meningitis. Scott Anderson was the other Linn Mar --> OSU player.
 
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And your thinking that is because of superior coaching? Parochial schools (Catholic in particular) have huge “recruiting” advantages over most public schools...”poaching” does take place in public schools to a point, but it is mostly limited to larger Metro areas where “school choice options” are more plentiful...
The best player from Xavier transferred to CR Kennedy this year. While not common, it can go both ways.
 
Surrounded by private school students, Reynolds, a Republican, inked her signature on a law that will allow any Iowa family to use taxpayer funds to pay for private school tuition — at a cost of $345 million annually to the state once fully phased in.

The law will phase in over three years and eventually allow all Iowa families to use up to $7,598 a year in an "education savings account" for private school tuition.

If any money is left over after tuition and fees, families can use the funds for specific educational expenses, including textbooks, tutoring, standardized testing fees, online education programs and vocational and life skills training.

When the law is fully phased in by the 2025-2026 school year, every Iowa family will be eligible for the program.

Beautiful. Long overdue. Time to reimagine our relationship with captured teachers unions and subservient political ties.
 
The best player from Xavier transferred to CR Kennedy this year. While not common, it can go both ways.
You expect the public schools in larger cities to sit back and allow the poaching to go on without a fight?
Xavier should not be a “smaller” high school...they should be competing in the largest competition classes HS have.
Xavier has a pool of 200,00 to pull from...and their competition is mostly school districts that pull from population bases of 20-30000 folks...that isn’t “fair”....it’s bullshit. The same with DSM Christian and Grandview schools..minimally these two schools should be the second largest classes...
 
You expect the public schools in larger cities to sit back and allow the poaching to go on without a fight?
Xavier should not be a “smaller” high school...they should be competing in the largest competition classes HS have.
Xavier has a pool of 200,00 to pull from...and their competition is mostly school districts that pull from population bases of 20-30000 folks...that isn’t “fair”....it’s bullshit. The same with DSM Christian and Grandview schools..minimally these two schools should be the second largest classes...
Sniff… sniff….. ‘pull from’
Instead the top player leaves and goes to a public school.
don’t underestimate the draw of a bigger school and for free…..
 
You expect the public schools in larger cities to sit back and allow the poaching to go on without a fight?
Xavier should not be a “smaller” high school...they should be competing in the largest competition classes HS have.
Xavier has a pool of 200,00 to pull from...and their competition is mostly school districts that pull from population bases of 20-30000 folks...that isn’t “fair”....it’s bullshit. The same with DSM Christian and Grandview schools..minimally these two schools should be the second largest classes...
I didn't even say he was poached or recruited. He may have just wanted to play for the Kennedy coach. Regardless, he did what he thought was best.

I can tell you from the time I've been paying attention to Xavier, they have had their kids here K-12. I'm sure there are exceptions, but many here are making it seem common.

My son's youth teams play against mostly club teams in basketball and baseball and lose often. Should club teams have their own division starting at age 7?

The answer is less simple than making private schools move up.
 
I didn't even say he was poached or recruited. He may have just wanted to play for the Kennedy coach. Regardless, he did what he thought was best.

I can tell you from the time I've been paying attention to Xavier, they have had their kids here K-12. I'm sure there are exceptions, but many here are making it seem common.

My son's youth teams play against mostly club teams in basketball and baseball and loses a lot. Will that make them better? Should club teams have their own division starting at age 7?

The answer is less simple than making private schools move up.
So it’s “fair” thT a private school from an area of say, 200k population plays schools who pull from populations of maybe 20000? THAT is what Im saying...private schools pick and choose their clientele and do so from a much larger pool in this (and other) cases...plus this population also has the option of attending neighboring school districts...advantages that smaller districts don’t have.
 
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Well Iowa could go back to what Indiana was all the way up to 1997 & have a one class basketball tournament. Remember the movie don't you, Hoosiers?

True story, tiny town of Milan, IN beat a big city HS in state tournament. I think it was Indianapolis Attucks, which was led by one of the greatest players of all time, Oscar Robertson aka the Big O.

Corrections: Big O played at Crispus Attucks, an all black school.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_High_School_Boys_Basketball_Tournament

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091217/

 
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So it’s “fair” thT a private school from an area of say, 200k population plays schools who pull from populations of maybe 20000? THAT is what Im saying...private schools pick and choose their clientele and do so from a much larger pool in this (and other) cases...plus this population also has the option of attending neighboring school districts...advantages that smaller districts don’t have.
I understand your point, but don't agree with the population base. Not everyone is a potential student as you suggest.
 
I understand your point, but don't agree with the population base. Not everyone is a potential student as you suggest.
Hell, can’t Xavier even pull students from other districts because aren’t they “limited” by their diocese boundaries? Seems to me, that Wahlert had a lot of players from the Illinois side of the river back in their heyday...but then it wasn’t such a factor because there was only one or two “classes” in HS sports..
 
Hell, can’t Xavier even pull students from other districts because aren’t they “limited” by their diocese boundaries? Seems to me, that Wahlert had a lot of players from the Illinois side of the river back in their heyday...but then it wasn’t such a factor because there was only one or two “classes” in HS sports..
And Clinton St. Mary...
Carroll Keumper...
Council Bluffs, St. Alberts..
Sioux City Heelan...
 
Well Iowa could go back to what Indiana was all the way up to 1997 & have a one class basketball tournament. Remember the movie don't you, Hoosiers?

True story, tiny town of Milan, IN beat a big city HS in state tournament. I think it was Indianapolis Attucks, which was led by one of the greatest players of all time, Oscar Robertson aka the Big O.

Corrections: Big O played at Crispus Attucks, an all black school.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_High_School_Boys_Basketball_Tournament

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091217/

Not even sure how Iowa could feasibly make that work in this day and age.

Would they keep some semblance of classes for the early rounds of the tournament, and then combine all classes for either the sub-state, or larger State Tournament rounds............or would they just split everyone up and pair them based on geography and then overall record, so you could have matchups like Saydel vs Ankeny Centennial in the 1st Rd????
 
So it’s “fair” thT a private school from an area of say, 200k population plays schools who pull from populations of maybe 20000? THAT is what Im saying...private schools pick and choose their clientele and do so from a much larger pool in this (and other) cases...plus this population also has the option of attending neighboring school districts...advantages that smaller districts don’t have.
Couple of comments here that just aren’t accurate.

Private schools don’t “pick and choose” their students. While they are able to restrict enrollment, they are not able to pick students and force them to attend their school. Your choice of that phrase is misleading and educationally dishonest.

Public schools also have “no boundaries” in today’s open enrollment world. In the small district (1A) that I teach and coach in, there are students from at least 7 different neighboring districts attending our school. Some of those kids play sports, some are in the play or band, and others are just students. If I added up the numbers, our district would go from a population of about 1300 to somewhere around 15,000.
 
Couple of comments here that just aren’t accurate.

Private schools don’t “pick and choose” their students. While they are able to restrict enrollment, they are not able to pick students and force them to attend their school. Your choice of that phrase is misleading and educationally dishonest.

Public schools also have “no boundaries” in today’s open enrollment world. In the small district (1A) that I teach and coach in, there are students from at least 7 different neighboring districts attending our school. Some of those kids play sports, some are in the play or band, and others are just students. If I added up the numbers, our district would go from a population of about 1300 to somewhere around 15,000.
Bullshit. I’m sorry...I have seen it first hand. Identification and isolation and recruitment is how many of these school procure their students/talent. There are successes and there are failures.
Not saying all this is “illegal” by any means...just saying it happens, sometimes very selectively. Don’t try an out-bullshit a bullshitter.
I honestly believe Iowa HS competition would be better served by using a formula combining total school district population and school size than the current formula being used.
Again...a Sioux City Of Cedar Rapids school competing against a Sioux Center or Carroll school, or Cedar Rapids school competing against a Washington or oskaloosa is fair?
 
Not even sure how Iowa could feasibly make that work in this day and age.

Would they keep some semblance of classes for the early rounds of the tournament, and then combine all classes for either the sub-state, or larger State Tournament rounds............or would they just split everyone up and pair them based on geography and then overall record, so you could have matchups like Saydel vs Ankeny Centennial in the 1st Rd????
I just want to see the champions play each other some years. Most years it would be ugly, but there are some interesting matchups that could happen. It’s been a few years, but I remember the following scenario (might be a little off…old age and all)

4A- Barnes and McDermott’s Ames high team won it
3A - Heelan - Zach McCabe and the Malloy brothers
2A - Western Christian - tall as hell like always and fundamentally awesome
1A - Rock Rapids - They had 3 guys I think that were around 6’7” or so

Would have been fun to watch these teams duke it out
 
I just want to see the champions play each other some years. Most years it would be ugly, but there are some interesting matchups that could happen. It’s been a few years, but I remember the following scenario (might be a little off…old age and all)

4A- Barnes and McDermott’s Ames high team won it
3A - Heelan - Zach McCabe and the Malloy brothers
2A - Western Christian - tall as hell like always and fundamentally awesome
1A - Rock Rapids - They had 3 guys I think that were around 6’7” or so

Would have been fun to watch these teams duke it out
I remember the argument back in the late 90s when Nick Collison's Iowa Falls teams were the talk of the state, and people were wanting to see how they'd compete with the bigger classes.

This was back in the day where people assumed that the gap between 2A and 3A teams was like FBS vs FCS, and a 2A team beating a 4A team was like a JUCO team vs the '72 Dolphins, and the mere suggestion of it earned you a snobbish guffaw by anyone associating themselves with the higher class, more prestigious 4A level.

Nowadays because of better technology and access for kids, that gap has closed significantly.
 
Bullshit. I’m sorry...I have seen it first hand. Identification and isolation and recruitment is how many of these school procure their students/talent. There are successes and there are failures.
Not saying all this is “illegal” by any means...just saying it happens, sometimes very selectively. Don’t try an out-bullshit a bullshitter.
I honestly believe Iowa HS competition would be better served by using a formula combining total school district population and school size than the current formula being used.
Again...a Sioux City Of Cedar Rapids school competing against a Sioux Center or Carroll school, or Cedar Rapids school competing against a Washington or oskaloosa is fair?
I never stated that privates don’t recruit…it’s how they keep the doors open. You’re so dug into your hatred that you didn’t bother to read what you replied to. And recruitment absolutely happens at public schools as well, especially in a metro area. Kids and families will choose their schools based on a number of things, and athletics is certainly one of those things.

I’ll give you credit for bringing a new idea though. The idea of “district population” + “school enrollment” somehow combined and manipulated into a number would be interesting. Wouldn’t really affect rural areas like Harlan or St. Ansgar, but would certainly change things in larger metro areas.
 
I remember the argument back in the late 90s when Nick Collison's Iowa Falls teams were the talk of the state, and people were wanting to see how they'd compete with the bigger classes.

This was back in the day where people assumed that the gap between 2A and 3A teams was like FBS vs FCS, and a 2A team beating a 4A team was like a JUCO team vs the '72 Dolphins, and the mere suggestion of it earned you a snobbish guffaw by anyone associating themselves with the higher class, more prestigious 4A level.

Nowadays because of better technology and access for kids, that gap has closed significantly.
But that arrogance hasn’t
 
I just want to see the champions play each other some years. Most years it would be ugly, but there are some interesting matchups that could happen. It’s been a few years, but I remember the following scenario (might be a little off…old age and all)

4A- Barnes and McDermott’s Ames high team won it
3A - Heelan - Zach McCabe and the Malloy brothers
2A - Western Christian - tall as hell like always and fundamentally awesome
1A - Rock Rapids - They had 3 guys I think that were around 6’7” or so

Would have been fun to watch these teams duke it out
2 NBA players on that Ames team. That’s an all time team in Iowa, possibly the best ever.
 
Sniff… sniff….. ‘pull from’
Instead the top player leaves and goes to a public school.
don’t underestimate the draw of a bigger school and for free…..
So what I hear you saying is that you don’t have a real good response and don’t really know what you are talking about.
 
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I remember the argument back in the late 90s when Nick Collison's Iowa Falls teams were the talk of the state, and people were wanting to see how they'd compete with the bigger classes.

This was back in the day where people assumed that the gap between 2A and 3A teams was like FBS vs FCS, and a 2A team beating a 4A team was like a JUCO team vs the '72 Dolphins, and the mere suggestion of it earned you a snobbish guffaw by anyone associating themselves with the higher class, more prestigious 4A level.

Nowadays because of better technology and access for kids, that gap has closed significantly.
Collison & Kirk Hinrich are from same graduating class. Both won state their senior years. Kirk's dad coached him at Sioux City West. A poor school district on the wrong side of the tracks. Probably the best athlete's in the city, if you could keep them eligible. But their athletic teams (basketball & Football) usually finished last in the city. Heelan poached some of their better athletes. Kirk's senior year, SC West brought in a big foreign exchange kid from Poland (I believe) & Kirk & his dad won state that year.

Public schools recruit too.
 
Hell, can’t Xavier even pull students from other districts because aren’t they “limited” by their diocese boundaries? Seems to me, that Wahlert had a lot of players from the Illinois side of the river back in their heyday...but then it wasn’t such a factor because there was only one or two “classes” in HS sports..

Didn’t Bettendorf have a number of Illinois kids on their roster in their football heyday?
 
Collison & Kirk Hinrich are from same graduating class. Both won state their senior years. Kirk's dad coached him at Sioux City West. A poor school district on the wrong side of the tracks. Probably the best athlete's in the city, if you could keep them eligible. But their athletic teams (basketball & Football) usually finished last in the city. Heelan poached some of their better athletes. Kirk's senior year, SC West brought in a big foreign exchange kid from Poland (I believe) & Kirk & his dad won state that year.

Public schools recruit too.
So fire those schools and replace them with schools that don't recruit.....
 
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Hell, can’t Xavier even pull students from other districts because aren’t they “limited” by their diocese boundaries? Seems to me, that Wahlert had a lot of players from the Illinois side of the river back in their heyday...but then it wasn’t such a factor because there was only one or two “classes” in HS sports..

Name me one school in Iowa that is currently limited by district boundaries
 
I can guarantee you that Sioux City East is the recruiting king of Sioux City.
I lived in Sioux City for a number of years. I seen Heelan recruit BB players from East back in the day. not sure how it is now. Heelan dropped down a class & East is the largest school in the area. Sargeant Bluff has gained a lot of ground on the SC schools. I know Heelan recruits up north to Hinton and south to Sloan. Can't comment so much on East recruiting.
 
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I lived in Sioux City for a number of years. I seen Heelan recruit BB players from East back in the day. not sure how it is now. Heelan dropped down a class & East is the largest school in the area. Sargeant Bluff has gained a lot of ground on the SC schools. I know Heelan recruits up north to Hinton and south to Sloan. Can't comment so much on East recruiting.

Vanderloo has brought in more recently. You are correct it used to be Heelan. More recently Heelan kids have all gone to Catholic grade schools.

Additionally, as Dakota Valley has thrived they get very few kids from there like they used too.

Two top girls on the East team are Rock Valley kids right now.
 
Imagine having a school with no iep students, a rare poor child, all in a town of 500,000 people thinking they should compete with a rural school with 10-20% iep, 40-60% free and reduced lunch, all in a county (not the town,,the county) of 10,000.

I get it. I must really not understand that a kid in Des Moines can open enroll to albia just as easily as Des Moines Christian. Or that the 1200 9-12 grade students within a 20 mile radius of my school is the same as the #of 9-12 grade students within 20 miles of the Des Moines metro area.
I’ll give a tip if the cap to algona and Carroll, they are at least private schools in smaller settings. Their public schools and private are generally successful. But they also illustrate the point of the advantage of the private school. Neither Carroll hs or algona hs have anywhere near the success that their private school counterpart has. Gee I wonder if having no iep and frl kids keeping their enrollments down has an impact.
 
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