Prep sports notebook: Basketball coaches offering recruiting combine for local players


By Terry Boehmker
NKy Tribune sports reporter

Northern Kentucky boys’ high school basketball coaches are organizing a recruiting combine for local players to attract the attention of college recruiters.

Brad Carr
Scott boys basketball coach Brad Carr

The combine will be held Saturday, March 26 at the Griffin Elite Sports and Wellness facility in Erlanger. The all-day schedule of activities will include fitness and strength tests, basketball skills stations and scrimmage games.

College coaches who attend the combine will receive an information packet on each player and have an opportunity to talk with them after the awards ceremony at the end of the day.

“It’s a great opportunity for kids if they want to play at the next level to get them on the radar for college coaches,” said Scott coach Brad Carr. “That’s what our job is as high school coaches, to try and promote kids to that next level.”

Carr is asking local coaches to nominate players in all grades who have the potential to play college basketball and a committee will select up to 60 for the first combine. Each player selected will be asked to pay $30 to cover costs.

Carr said there’s a combine for high school players in Louisville, but he’s not aware of anything like it anywhere else in the state.

“We want this to be a Northern Kentucky combine and involve all of our kids,” he said. “If there’s a freshman out there who wants to come, he could invite him. Then there’s a freshman on the list of 230 college coaches that we’re sending this out to and they can start tracking him now.”

There will also be guest speakers at the combine to explain what it takes to be a student-athlete in college. Many of the recruiters will be from small colleges that do not offer athletic scholarships.

“We want them to understand how difficult it is to play at the next level because it is a huge commitment,” Carr said. “So we’re going to talk to them about a number of things and not just put them through basketball skills.”

Simon Kenton player surpasses 2000-point mark with incredible shot

Ally-Niece-SK-21
Ally Niece

Simon Kenton sophomore guard Ally Niece lifted her career scoring total to 2,003 points in the final game of the regular season and was voted 8th Region Player of the Year by girls’ basketball coaches in that region.

Niece made a 3-point shot from well beyond half-court in her team’s 60-57 win over Highlands last week to surpass the 2,000-point mark. While a video of her shot was making the rounds on the Internet, she scored 21 points to lead the Pioneers to their first post-season playoff victory.

She’s averaging 21.2 points per game and shooting 48.7 percent (170 of 349) from the field going into the 32nd District final against Walton-Verona on Thursday.

The other Northern Kentucky players named to the all-region team by 8th Region coaches are Hailey Ison and Morgan Simpson of Walton-Verona and Madi Meier of Simon Kenton.

The Northern Kentucky Girls Basketball Coaches Association has not released its all-conference players for this season. Niece was named Division I Player of the Year by the local coaches last year.

Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches names top senior players

The Kentucky Association of Basketball Coaches has named the top seniors in each of the 16 regions around the state and four players from Northern Kentucky made the lists.

Ansley Davenport of Newport Central Catholic and Mallory Schwartz of Ryle share the honor for 9th Region girls’ basketball. The boys’ selections included Ben Weyer of NewCath for the 9th Region and Matt Wilson of Campbell County for the 10th Region.

The players will be invited to tryouts for the Kentucky Senior All-Stars that plan a two-game series with the best senior players in Indiana during the summer. They’ll also be introduced during the Kentucky boys’ and girls’ state tournaments.

The KABC also named the top coaches in each region. The boys’ list included Ryan Schrand of Holy Cross for the 9th Region and Mike Code of Brossart for the 10th Region.

George Stoll of NewCath was named the top girls’ coach in the 9th Region and Beau Menifee of Campbell County was the 10th Region nominee.

Local teams win KCAC post-season basketball tournament titles

Calvary Christian and Covington Latin won the boys’ and girls’ championship trophies in the Kentucky Christian Athletic Conference post-season tournaments last weekend.

Calvary Christian defeated Evangel Christian, 75-61, in the title game of the six-team boys’ tournament. The leading scorers for the Cougars were Akeem Riley with 25 points and Justin Wade with 23.

Five teams competed in the girls’ tournament and Covington Latin defeated Christian Fellowship, 33-18, in the championship final. This is Covington Latin’s first year as a conference member.


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