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Harrison & McCutcheon out??


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Didn't see it posted anywhere.....Did I hear that Harrison and McCutcheon were voted out of NCC and Jeff is still in?????  Can any Lafayette people verify this?

Or is this rumor mill?  Admins can delete if appropriate.

Edited by US31
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32 minutes ago, US31 said:

Didn't see it posted anywhere.....Did I hear that Harrison and McCutcheon were voted out of NCC and Jeff is still in?????  Can any Lafayette people verify this?

Or is this rumor mill?  Admins can delete if appropriate.

Hadn't heard it around here.  There's been RUMOR stuff on the wind about a couple of the smaller schools possibly looking for a different conference in the last year or so, but nothing definitive other than Arsenal Tech's last season with the NCC being 2022-2023. https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/07/06/arsenal-tech-leave-north-central-conference-citing-travel-concerns-mic-metropolitan-interscholastic/7823871001/

 

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26 minutes ago, US31 said:

Is it odd that only Harr & McC were voted out but not LJ?  

Does it make more sense to look north or south for a new home?

 

I think, though there were a few blips, Jeff has deep ties and long history with the NCC, and most of the NCC schools are clinging to that past glory.

People I've talked to have said for all intents and purposes, this was a move to get Harrison out because they were becoming too dominant in most/all sports. Harrison and McCutcheon are basically joined at the hip so if Harrison got the boot so did McCutcheon.

I think south makes more sense for MHS and HHS, but I think they'll be in a really tough spot finding a conference or a handful of schools willing to join them.

Edited by Bullhorn99
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14 minutes ago, US31 said:

Is it odd that only Harr & McC were voted out but not LJ?  

Does it make more sense to look north or south for a new home?

 

Those reasons of enrollment gap and geography don't make sense if Jeff isn't included.  McCutcheon is the smallest of the Lafayette area schools and Jeff is currently the largest, with Harrison likely to surpass it in the near future.  For competitiveness, maybe as Harrison has won the All Sports titles from 2015 - 2020 per the NCC site ... of course, it hasn't been updated since 2020: https://northcentralconference.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2020/09/all-sports.pdf.  Jeff won basketball in 2019 and 2020 and McCutcheon won it in 2016 and 2018.  Harrison has never won it.  For baseball, Jeff won it in 2016 and 2017, McCutcheon won it in 2015 and 2019.  Harrison has never won it.  Boys soccer ... Harrison won it in 2014, 2016, and 2017.  Jeff last won it in 2002 and McCutcheon has never won it.  For football, Harrison won it in 2016 and, even though not updated on the site, won it back-to-back in 2021 and 2022.  Jeff won it in 2017-2020.  

 

For women's sports, Harrison has won All Sports 2016-2020.  Jeff last won it in 2003 and McCutcheon won it in 2015.  For volleyball,  Harrison has never won it, Jeff last won it in 1992 and McCutcheon won it 2017-2019.  Soccer ... Harrison won it in 2016-2017, Jeff last won it in 2002, and McCutcheon won it 2014-2015 and 2018-2019.  Softball ... Harrison won in 2017-2018, Jeff last won in 2003, and Mccutcheon has never won.  Basketball ... Harrison won in 2020, Jeff last had a streak of 2017-2019, and McCutcheon has never won.   Again, this is all based on NCC site through 2020.

In essence, in looking at the bigger sports, the reasoning isn't really there for Harrison and McCutcheon, but not Jeff.  For all sports, maybe, but not sport by sport other than the most recent for football and, even then it's only been Harrison over Jeff the last two years.

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So goes Kokomo, so goes the NCC.    If an athletic conference can have a hear and soul it would be the city of Kokomo and it's Wildkats.   Both WildKat basketball and football are currently on the upswing so it's no surprise if it's AD used his muscle to out an upcoming threat like Harrison.

 

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Mind-boggling. What an awful decision by the AD’s and principals of these schools. Jeff sits directly in between McCutcheon and Harrison, there’s no way geography could be a legitimate reason for anyone with half a brain. Complete BS. Competition wise, I have no clue why you wouldn’t want your kids competing with the best teams possible. Harrison is no doubt solid throughout most sports, but they’re far from a juggernaut. 
 

Harrison softball, men’s soccer and track all have recent state championships/appearances. McCutcheon girls volleyball has been a top 5 program in the state for many years now and just won a state title 1 or 2 years ago. As to why you wouldn’t want these schools representing your conference (especially considering the very low quality of overall sports programs for the other 5 schools besides Jeff and Kokomo) is beyond me. 
 

Shame on these principals and AD’s. Cowardly and stupid decision. The NCC inches even closer to complete irrelevance

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Bears62 said:

Mind-boggling. What an awful decision by the AD’s and principals of these schools. Jeff sits directly in between McCutcheon and Harrison, there’s no way geography could be a legitimate reason for anyone with half a brain. Complete BS. Competition wise, I have no clue why you wouldn’t want your kids competing with the best teams possible. Harrison is no doubt solid throughout most sports, but they’re far from a juggernaut. 
 

Harrison softball, men’s soccer and track all have recent state championships/appearances. McCutcheon girls volleyball has been a top 5 program in the state for many years now and just won a state title 1 or 2 years ago. As to why you wouldn’t want these schools representing your conference (especially considering the very low quality of overall sports programs for the other 5 schools besides Jeff and Kokomo) is beyond me. 
 

Shame on these principals and AD’s. Cowardly and stupid decision. The NCC inches even closer to complete irrelevance

 

 

And you said it right to their face! 

Edited by Donnie Baker
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2 hours ago, Bullhorn99 said:

I think, though there were a few blips, Jeff has deep ties and long history with the NCC, and most of the NCC schools are clinging to that past glory.

People I've talked to have said for all intents and purposes, this was a move to get Harrison out because they were becoming too dominant in most/all sports. Harrison and McCutcheon are basically joined at the hip so if Harrison got the boot so did McCutcheon.

I think south makes more sense for MHS and HHS, but I think they'll be in a really tough spot finding a conference or a handful of schools willing to join them.

Harrison has played schools in the south more often in pre-season, so it likely makes sense to go in that direction although there are some potential north folks too.  Harrison currently plays Plainfield and has played THS and Westfield in the past.

The issue that Harrison was going to likely have to face anyway, so this may well be a blessing in disguise outside of the painpoint of near-term scheduling, is that Harrison is only 5A this cycle due to Cathedral being 6A via Success Factor.  It will be 6A next cycle.  Harrison was going to have to find a way, at least for football, to play a larger 6A-like schedule to be ready for anything other than 10-game seasons moving forward and that just couldn't happen in the NCC the way it was/is structured.

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The question at this point is also, what happens with Jeff if its enrollment keeps it 6A?  I can't imagine Jeff staying much longer in NCC with Harrison and McCutcheon out.  Yes, Jeff could potentially schedule Harrison and/or McCutcheon, but if any of these schools finds a conference or a semi-stable schedule, they would only be non-conference for Jeff, at best, and might even end up not being available.  That means that Jeff's STRONGEST conference foe, moving forward and based solely on last season, would be 4A/5A Kokomo.  Given that last year, excluding Harrison and McCutcheon, Jeff outscored its remaining NCC opponents 251-47 and Kokomo accounted for 30 of those points alone, there's not much left for Jeff, from a football perspective at least, that would be a strong reason to stay.  It was tenuous before and now even more so.

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1 hour ago, foxbat said:

I can't imagine Jeff staying much longer in NCC with Harrison and McCutcheon out . . . there's not much left for Jeff, from a football perspective at least, that would be a strong reason to stay.  It was tenuous before and now even more so.

The crazy part is that it appears that Jeff voted in favor of the ouster of HHS and MHS

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7 minutes ago, Bullhorn99 said:

The crazy part is that it appears that Jeff voted in favor of the ouster of HHS and MHS

Probably still smarting over the last two football seasons. :classic_laugh:

Lord, I apologize for that right there.

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13 hours ago, Bullhorn99 said:

The crazy part is that it appears that Jeff voted in favor of the ouster of HHS and MHS

Makes absolutely Zero sense to me why Jeff would choose the travel nightmares and lack of overall competition in the NCC over sticking with Harrison and McCutcheon. One could argue it would benefit Kokomo all around to get out of the NCC and follow the Lafayette schools. 

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That will put the NCC at 7 schools after the conclusion of the 2023-2024 seasons. Does the NCC have plans to add a school? Maybe this is something that has provoked it. Also, with talks of Lebanon being pushed out of a conference, does this have something to do with Harrison and Mccutcheon possibly wanting to set something up with them?

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8 minutes ago, Indiana Fan said:

That will put the NCC at 7 schools after the conclusion of the 2023-2024 seasons. Does the NCC have plans to add a school? Maybe this is something that has provoked it. Also, with talks of Lebanon being pushed out of a conference, does this have something to do with Harrison and Mccutcheon possibly wanting to set something up with them?

I’m sure Harrison and McCutcheon would have preferred to not be booted. Lebanon isn’t a bad fit given their options, but it’s going to take a few more schools to make it work. Harrison to Lebanon is a 50 minute drive.
 

The absolute best option for the Lafayette schools would be for Jeff, Harrison, McCutcheon and West Lafayette to form a new conference where they target Kokomo, Logansport and potentially Lebanon if they wanted a 7th member. Kokomo is roughly an hour away from all the Lafayette schools and Logansport about 45-50 minutes from Lafayette. Still not ideal travel, but it beats trips to Anderson, Muncie and Richmond by far.
 

With that being said, it seems pretty unlikely Jeff, and especially Kokomo, have any intentions of leaving the NCC. Though if West Lafayette were to leave the Hoosier Conference (possible but unlikely), it would be a huge domino falling into place for a new conference to be formed. If that doesn’t happen, it’s hard to see Jeff making any moves, and definitely not Kokomo.

 

Harrison and McCutcheon really got put in a tough place with this move.

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16 hours ago, Bears62 said:

Mind-boggling. What an awful decision by the AD’s and principals of these schools. Jeff sits directly in between McCutcheon and Harrison, there’s no way geography could be a legitimate reason for anyone with half a brain. Complete BS. Competition wise, I have no clue why you wouldn’t want your kids competing with the best teams possible. Harrison is no doubt solid throughout most sports, but they’re far from a juggernaut. 
 

Harrison softball, men’s soccer and track all have recent state championships/appearances. McCutcheon girls volleyball has been a top 5 program in the state for many years now and just won a state title 1 or 2 years ago. As to why you wouldn’t want these schools representing your conference (especially considering the very low quality of overall sports programs for the other 5 schools besides Jeff and Kokomo) is beyond me. 
 

Shame on these principals and AD’s. Cowardly and stupid decision. The NCC inches even closer to complete irrelevance

 

 

It's obvious the A.D's from the other non-Tippecanoe county schools don't want the power in the NCC centered in Tippecanoe county, with it's (no longer) three member schools. 

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23 minutes ago, Indiana Fan said:

That will put the NCC at 7 schools after the conclusion of the 2023-2024 seasons. Does the NCC have plans to add a school? Maybe this is something that has provoked it. Also, with talks of Lebanon being pushed out of a conference, does this have something to do with Harrison and Mccutcheon possibly wanting to set something up with them?

Not sure how Lebanon would do playing Harrison.  Harrison just blanked them yesterday in JV baseball like 19-0.

The interesting question that I see is perhaps West Lafayette.  West Lafayette has played all three of Lafayette-area big teams in football in the recent past and has done quite well.  It would certainly up their game playing 2-3 large teams every year plus a slate of, maybe, mid-range 5A/4A.  Wonder if you would see something like Lebanon, West Lafayette, Harrison, McCutcheon, and perhaps grabbing a couple from the Mid-State?

Frankly, putting travel aside for a minute, I'd like to see them link up with Carmel, Center Grove, and possibly toss in Penn.  Could potentially join Mid-State too.  Maybe a pair for the MIC?

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46 minutes ago, Boilernation said:

One could argue it would benefit Kokomo all around to get out of the NCC and follow the Lafayette schools. 

It would be earth shattering if Kokomo would leave the NCC.  The rest of the conference would dissolve. 

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BTW the press has confirmed this:  https://www.kokomotribune.com/sports/sports-briefs-for-friday-april-14/article_1b4445c6-da57-11ed-b402-5f0a2db75166.html

 

Quote

The North Central Conference will be a seven-team league starting the 2024-25 school year, the conference announced Thursday.

“On April 12, the North Central Conference (NCC) member principals and athletic directors conducted their annual spring leadership meeting,” the conference stated in a press release. “At this meeting, a proposal to amend the conference membership structure from nine schools to seven schools was presented and approved by an 8-2 vote. As a result of the approved amendment, the conference memberships for Harrison (West Lafayette) and McCutcheon will expire at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.”

 

That would leave the NCC with Kokomo, Logansport, Marion, Lafayette Jeff, Richmond, Muncie Central, and Anderson after the departures.

 

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23 minutes ago, Bears62 said:

I’m sure Harrison and McCutcheon would have preferred to not be booted. Lebanon isn’t a bad fit given their options, but it’s going to take a few more schools to make it work. Harrison to Lebanon is a 50 minute drive.
 

The absolute best option for the Lafayette schools would be for Jeff, Harrison, McCutcheon and West Lafayette to form a new conference where they target Kokomo, Logansport and potentially Lebanon if they wanted a 7th member. Kokomo is roughly an hour away from all the Lafayette schools and Logansport about 45-50 minutes from Lafayette. Still not ideal travel, but it beats trips to Anderson, Muncie and Richmond by far.
 

With that being said, it seems pretty unlikely Jeff, and especially Kokomo, have any intentions of leaving the NCC. Though if West Lafayette were to leave the Hoosier Conference (possible but unlikely), it would be a huge domino falling into place for a new conference to be formed. If that doesn’t happen, it’s hard to see Jeff making any moves, and definitely not Kokomo.

 

Harrison and McCutcheon really got put in a tough place with this move.

I don't think an hour travel is too much of an issue, especially if it's straight shot. 

So let's say you get West Lafayette to join Harrison and McCutcheon and Lebanon joins in.  What would be:

  • your ideal other teams to join to make it an 8-team conference
  • your realistic other teams to join to make it an 8-team conference

The only other "constraint" is the realization that Harrison likely moves to 6A next cycle, so that certainly has impact on who you want in the conference as Harrison will need, minimally, someone else in that 6A caliber, although not necessarily 6A classification, to sharpen the sword.

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8 minutes ago, foxbat said:

The only other "constraint" is the realization that Harrison likely moves to 6A next cycle, so that certainly has impact on who you want in the conference as Harrison will need, minimally, someone else in that 6A caliber, although not necessarily 6A classification, to sharpen the sword.

Somebody better start the hard sell on the Lafayatte Jeff A.D.

Zionsville is another obvious school to court.

 

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59 minutes ago, foxbat said:

Not sure how Lebanon would do playing Harrison.  Harrison just blanked them yesterday in JV baseball like 19-0.

The interesting question that I see is perhaps West Lafayette.  West Lafayette has played all three of Lafayette-area big teams in football in the recent past and has done quite well.  It would certainly up their game playing 2-3 large teams every year plus a slate of, maybe, mid-range 5A/4A.  Wonder if you would see something like Lebanon, West Lafayette, Harrison, McCutcheon, and perhaps grabbing a couple from the Mid-State?

Frankly, putting travel aside for a minute, I'd like to see them link up with Carmel, Center Grove, and possibly toss in Penn.  Could potentially join Mid-State too.  Maybe a pair for the MIC?

Definitely some options for games in the coming years with schools now being out of conferences.

I can’t see the mid state wanting to bring in Harrison or Mccutcheon.

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