HoopsCoach

Honestly, I don’t think Jeff would. I think they would want Harrison and McCutcheon to go with them. Jeff (and their Catholic cousins down Teal Road at Central Catholic) loves to fill the trophy cases. I think they are fine with being the top dog of the NCC in football, and their talent pool will be down a little after the 2021 season. If there was another conference option for Jeff that was attractive, they might consider it but not strictly for football purposes. If they could just reduce the number of required conference games they would be happy to have some additional openings to play better opponents in football.

Jeff is part of the Lafayette School Corporation, which primarily consisted of a district within the city limits of Lafayette when TSC was established. The same is true for West Lafayette. TSC was made up of the rural areas outside the city limits when it was established in the 60’s. As Lafayette has grown beyond those city limits (and the LSC district boundary), the population in the formerly rural areas has grown and the TSC schools have increased in size. Jeff and West Lafayette are landlocked, which is why their enrollments haven’t changed as much as the 2 TSC high schools. Any growth at Jeff or West Side would occur mostly through open enrollment.

All 6 of the TSC middle schools were high schools (although not all were in the current buildings) prior to consolidation in the 60’s and 70’s. There are certainly facilities within the eastern part of the district that could be added onto for a “new” high school. Wyandotte Elementary is a newer building that would be a perfect location about midway between East Tipp and Wainwright. If the school district was going to add another high school they needed to do it 5-10 years ago. The housing growth in the northern and eastern part of the county is pretty substantial, which is why they are building onto Harrison now. They could be around 2400 students within the next 5-10 years. McCutcheon’s growth on the south side of the county hasn’t been as rapid in recent years.

The long rumored East Tipp High School. Currently, there are three middle schools that feed into each of the two TSC high schools. Battle Ground, East Tipp, and Klondike go to Harrison (northern half of Tippecanoe County) and Southwestern, Wainwright, and Wea Ridge go to McCutcheon (southern half of the county). They could easily be split to have Klondike and Battle Ground stay at Harrison, Southwestern and Wea Ridge stay at McCutcheon, and East Tipp and Wainwright would go to the new East Tipp High School. Enrollments would be roughly 1550-1600 at Harrison, 1500-1550 at McCutcheon, and the East Tipp HS a little over 1000. Each of those would be bigger than any of the current members of the Hoosier Conference, which ranges from 300-800 students. It is easier and cheaper to build onto an existing school than it is to build a new additional school. TSC will just continue to expand Harrison and McCutcheon rather than build another high school.

If Tech contributed anything positive to the conference, they might be worth consideration. They really don’t though. Boys basketball is the only sport they are even competitive in, which is why they fit with the schools in the eastern half of the NCC. They struggle to field JV and freshman teams in several sports and they have a ton of turnover in their student athletes and coaching staff. There was some discussion in the last few years of pushing for Tech to leave the NCC, but it hasn’t happened. They could get better in football with Chambers coaching (still don’t know how the kid from Howe ended up at Covenant Christian instead of Tech). Their drop in enrollment, which will continue, makes a move back to a conference of Indianapolis public schools a better fit for them (Attucks, Shortridge, Tech, Washington). The Terre Haute schools might be competitive in that conference as a 6 team league, and they have some history with an Indy area conference from their time in the MIC.

True, there will be a point when logistics ($) and reality (declining enrollment and loss of athletes) supersede tradition and history.

Richmond, Muncie Central, and Anderson are some pretty lengthy bus rides from Tippecanoe County. Marion and Tech aren’t terrible, but not trips that are easy to make on a weeknight. The tradition and history of the NCC will keep schools like Kokomo and Logansport from leaving. Football has never been the focus of the NCC, but the current alignment and schedule format really doesn’t benefit very many of the teams. The non-revenue sports are not very competitive either. I don’t think the 10 or 12 team conferences have worked out very well. This past season showed what schedule flexibility (mostly out of necessity rather than choice) could look like and there were several interesting matchups that wouldn’t normally happen. AD’s hate the prospect of 6 or 7 team conferences because they see it as more work to schedule non-conference games. Personally, I think 6, 7, or 8 teams in a conference is good for high school sports. I thought for a while that a conference of Kokomo, Logansport, Jeff, Harrison, McCutcheon, and West Lafayette would be a nice combination with relatively limited travel. It would also leave some openings in the schedule for Kokomo and Logan to keep the traditional rivalries with schools like Marion. The eastern schools of the NCC could combine with a few of the larger schools in east central Indiana and two from the Hoosier Heritage. That conference could include Marion, Mississinewa, Anderson, Yorktown, Delta, Muncie Central, Jay County, and Richmond. The Hoosier Heritage would then have 6 teams with Pendleton, New Castle, Mount Vernon, Greenfield, New Pal, and Shelbyville. They wanted 8 teams when they went after New Castle. Maybe they look at a school like Beech Grove to fill one of those spots. Note: absolutely none of this will ever happen.

Is there a reason McCutcheon was not included? They are a package deal with Harrison. Maybe you left them out to leave room for Southport and the parochial schools. Jeff, Harrison, McCutcheon, TH North, TH South, Bloomington North, Bloomington South, and Columbus North have quite a bit in common. If they were closer together they would be a pretty competitive league.

North Decatur recently announced they are leaving the Mid-Indiana Football Conference for the Mid-Eastern Conference in football only starting in 2021. Not sure about Milan, but there seems to be some uncertainty about the future of the MIFC.

If they do end up in 6A, I expect them to replace Merrillville and join Lafayette Jeff in Sectional 1. Harrison and Jeff are both better than Lake Central and Crown Point. Whoever wins between Jeff and Harrison should be able to compete with Penn, Elkhart, or Chesterton from Sectional 2. I don’t think Harrison has had much interest in getting athletes from Jeff. The bigger concern is probably keeping Jeff from getting some of the best from Harrison. Jeff’s best player this past season was a Harrison kid.

Harrison will continue to grow and surpass Jeff in enrollment. Their senior class from this past spring had about 470 students. Their incoming freshman class this fall has 575. That trend will continue. If you drive around their half of the district (northern half of Tippecanoe County, split with McCutcheon in the southern half) you’ll see a lot of new housing going up. If they can keep students from being lured away to other county schools, they should have a nice run of talent coming. I believe they have won the NCC all sport trophy all but 1 year they’ve been in the conference, and McCutcheon won it that year.

The schools closer to Indy continue to grow and I would imagine that is where some of those families from Vigo County with school aged children have gone. Family sizes continue to get smaller but that alone wouldn’t explain the decrease in enrollments. That is a factor everywhere. Many schools saw an enrollment dip this year due to students transitioning to online schools. I wouldn’t expect that trend to be higher in Terre Haute than anywhere else. Even though the Terre Haute schools have lost a significant number of students, they are still quite a bit larger than the other schools in their area with the exception of Northview. They would still have a hard time convincing any conference to allow them to join because they are too big or too far away. The nearest Illinois schools with over 1,000 students are Mattoon, Danville, and a few in Champaign. I don’t think any of them are open to bringing THN and THS into their conferences.

Phalen is not an IHSAA member school. If you go to the IHSAA directory, they are not listed.

Cathedral would still be in the south semi-state if they are in that sectional with McCutcheon, Kokomo, and Anderson.

Based on the number of schools with football, I don’t think 5A will have any 5 team sectionals. They should have 32 schools in 5A with 8 sectionals of 4.

My mistake - I took out Gavit and forgot to take out Clark. That would shift West Vigo to 3A and Adams Central to 2A. 63 in all classes from 1A to 4A.

The DOE’s compass site shows last year’s (19-20) enrollments. Harrison is up 100 students over last year. The 2020 senior class had around 470. Their freshman class this year has 574.

The alignment committees tend to prefer to modify the current alignment as little as possible. I think 6A is pretty easy. Sectional 1 Lake Central Crown Point Lafayette Jefferson Harrison (West Lafayette) Sectional 2 Penn Elkhart Portage Chesterton Sectional 3 Noblesville Homestead Carroll (F.W.) Warsaw Sectional 4 Carmel Fishers Hamilton Southeastern Westfield Sectional 5 Pike Avon Brownsburg Zionsville Sectional 6 Ben Davis Perry Meridian Southport Indianapolis Arsenal Tech Sectional 7 North Central (Indpls.) Warren Central Lawrence North Lawrence Central Sectional 8 Franklin Central Center Grove Jeffersonville Columbus North

I mistakenly included Barr-Reeve in 1A. No football for the Vikings. Adams Central would go to 1A and Madison-Grant would be 2A since they have a larger freshman class.

With the consolidation of the Hammond high schools, and the addition of Dugger Union in 22-23 (needs to be included in the upcoming cycle), I think there will be 318 schools with football. That puts 32 in 5A and 6A, 2 of the lower classes with 63 and 2 with 64. I am not sure if there is an IHSAA policy on which class should have fewer schools, but in basketball they usually align 1A with the most and 4A with the least. The plan I read for the Hammond schools was to realign the district to split their enrollment somewhat evenly, which would put them around 1700 or so students in each high school. Here are the numbers I have (slightly different from crimsonace). 6A Enrollment Carmel 5414 Ben Davis 4617 North Central (Indpls.) 3754 Warren Central 3690 Fishers 3689 Penn 3430 Hamilton Southeastern 3399 Pike 3392 Lake Central 3271 Elkhart 3235 Avon 3194 Noblesville 3091 Franklin Central 3049 Crown Point 2925 Brownsburg 2876 Lawrence North 2737 Center Grove 2624 Westfield 2513 Homestead 2503 Carroll (F.W.) 2475 Perry Meridian 2358 Southport 2313 Portage 2301 Lawrence Central 2268 Zionsville 2151 Jeffersonville 2134 Columbus North 2090 Indianapolis Arsenal Tech 2089 Chesterton 2081 Lafayette Jefferson 2066 Warsaw 2059 Harrison (West Lafayette) 2050 5A Enrollment Fort Wayne Northrop 2046 Valparaiso 2035 Merrillville 2022 Whiteland 2007 Goshen 1973 South Bend Adams 1949 Castle 1884 Floyd Central 1867 New Albany 1859 Fort Wayne Snider 1830 Decatur Central 1818 McCutcheon 1805 Anderson 1786 Plainfield 1744 LaPorte 1737 Concord 1676 Bloomington South 1666 Bloomington North 1582 Franklin 1582 Munster 1572 Columbus East 1565 Michigan City 1554 Kokomo 1552 Fort Wayne North Side 1547 Seymour 1538 Mishawaka 1499 Huntington North 1478 Hammond Morton (est.) 1700 Hammond Central (est.) 1700 New Palestine 1160 Indianapolis Cathedral 1042 Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 985 4A Enrollment Bedford-North Lawrence 1463 Terre Haute South 1463 Evansville North 1455 Greenfield-Central 1445 Terre Haute North 1431 Fort Wayne South Side 1415 Northridge 1407 Fort Wayne Wayne 1395 Pendleton Heights 1394 Mt Vernon (Fortville) 1372 Mooresville 1341 Muncie Central 1330 Logansport 1289 Martinsville 1288 East Central 1280 Hobart 1264 Richmond 1260 Hammond Morton 1231 Greenwood 1213 Gary West Side 1189 Jennings County 1163 Indianapolis Crispus Attucks 1142 Shelbyville 1137 South Bend Riley 1133 East Chicago Central 1104 Evansville Reitz 1101 East Noble 1097 Plymouth 1094 Lowell 1092 DeKalb 1080 Columbia City 1072 Jasper 1068 Indianapolis Shortridge 1064 Indianapolis Roncalli 1062 Highland 1061 Marion 1036 Connersville 1034 Lebanon 1017 Kankakee Valley 1015 Beech Grove 1005 Northview 995 New Haven 978 New Prairie 977 Leo 963 Wawasee 947 Boonville 927 Evansville Harrison 923 Evansville Central 919 New Castle 907 Jay County 904 Frankfort 899 Northwood 884 Silver Creek 868 South Bend Clay 858 Culver Academies 831* South Bend Saint Joseph 831 Norwell 829 Western 824 Brebeuf 816 Angola 814 Delta 806 Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 673 Evansville Memorial 559 3A Enrollment South Bend Washington 805 Indianapolis Washington 789 Yorktown 782 Madison 776 Scottsburg 767 Hamilton Heights 763 Edgewood 763 Mississinewa 761 Hanover Central 748 West Lafayette 743 Charlestown 743 Danville 739 Franklin County 732 Gibson Southern 728 Corydon Central 728 Washington 727 South Dearborn 723 Guerin Catholic 719 Hammond Clark 716 Twin Lakes 700 Batesville 697 Lawrenceburg 696 Greensburg 696 North Harrison 689 Crawfordsville 675 Rushville 673 West Noble 669 Owen Valley 664 Mishawaka Marian 661 Griffith 660 Calumet 660 Peru 657 Maconaquah 656 Bellmont 647 John Glenn 637 Mt Vernon (Posey) 633 Evansvill Bosse 631 Vincennes Lincoln 623 Heritage 622 Fort Wayne Concordia 621 Princeton 616 Northwestern 597 Garrett 586 Indian Creek 585 Knox 583 Jimtown 582 Tri-West 578 Tippecanoe Valley 571 Heritage Hills 570 Lakeland 568 Brown County 548 Benton Central 548 Salem 541 Western Boone 538 South Vermillion 535 Pike Central 528 Speedway 527 Fairfield 523 North Montgomery 521 Alexandria 520 Woodlan 519 Monrovia 519 Southridge 513 2A Enrollment West Vigo 518 Centerville 515 Sullivan 514 Rochester 513 Brownstown Central 512 Oak Hill 509 Bremen 507 Evansville Mater Dei 505 River Forest 500 Cascade 496 Frankton 496 Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter 496 Boone Grove 495 Rensselaer Central 494 Southmont 488 Whiting 486 Wheeler 485 Blackford 484 Greencastle 484 Tipton 481 Bluffton 477 Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 477 Eastbrook 471 Eastern (Greentown) 468 Lapel 468 Hammond Bishop Noll 466 Wabash 465 Heritage Christian 463 Triton Central 463 Manchester 460 Delphi 451 Mitchell 450 Central Noble 436 Union County 434 Crawford County 427 Lewis Cass 426 Linton-Stockton 423 North Putnam 422 North Posey 421 Tell City 420 Shenandoah 418 Prairie Heights 416 Indianapolis Scecina 415 Eastern (Pekin) 414 Indianapolis Manual 414 Whitko 413 Northeastern 409 Switzerland County 405 Eastside 400 Elwood 399 Eastern Hancock 395 North Knox 391 Lake Station Edison 389 Churubusco 388 Winchester 387 South Spencer 386 LaVille 385 Paoli 385 Andrean 384 Perry Central 372 Adams Central 368 Madison-Grant 368 Pioneer 297 Lafayette Central Catholic 288 1A Enrollment Forest Park 367 Seeger 367 Clinton Prairie 365 South Putnam 360 North Newton 355 Knightstown 354 Clarksville 353 Parke Heritage 350 Winamac 349 Taylor 347 South Adams 346 Covenant Christian (Indpls.) 344 Providence 344 Park Tudor 343* Sheridan 338 Hagerstown 336 Carroll (Flora) 331 North Decatur 330 North Judson 326 Monroe Central 322 South Central (Union Mills) 320 Milan 317 Cloverdale 309 Eastern Greene 308 Fountain Central 305 South Decatur 304 Tecumseh 300 Riverton Parke 298 North Daviess 297 West Washington 295 Bowman Academy 290 North Central (Farmersburg) 289 North Miami 284 Cambridge City Lincoln 284 Fremont 284 Covington 276 Clinton Central 273 Southern Wells 272 Northfield 269 Wes-Del 261 Southwood 259 Springs Valley 259 Anderson Prep Academy 258 Triton 253 North White 247 Tri 246 Union City 243 North Vermillion 240 Tri Central 240 Barr Reeve 239 South Newton 238 Culver 233 Edinburgh 228 West Central 222 Caston 218 Tri-County 211 Indianapolis Tindley 207 Indianapolis Lutheran 203 Oldenburg Academy 203 Frontier 199 Dugger Union 189 Attica 183 Traders Point Christian 121 Indiana Deaf 113 *school does not report enrollment to DOE.

North semi-state representatives enter the west gates for the first and last games each day. South semi-state representatives enter the east gates for the same games. The middle game each day will use the north and south gates. I think anyone going to the game field has to have a temp check. Not sure about each fan entering the spectator levels. Cleanup between games could be about an hour. That is why the upper level is not open. It would add more time for cleaning.

That is pretty much how it went. ACAC was pretty solid at the time and that sectional was really strong as well (as someone mentioned, the 1A state champ for 3 consecutive years came from that sectional, with 3 different schools). Heartbreak for SW in 00 but they would not be denied in 01.

Semi-states would be relatively easy to do this year, especially the northern semi-states. South is a little tougher but there are some decent options. I like the 2 games at 1 site format that is used for basketball. Play on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 and 5:30. Here’s what I would like to see if this was possible: @Warsaw Hobart/Marion Pioneer/Luers @Kokomo Chatard/Marian Central Catholic/South Adams @Lafayette Jeff Merrillville/Westfield Valparaiso/Zionsville @Franklin Central Center Grove/Ben Davis Roncalli/Mooresville @Martinsville Danville/Southridge Covenant Christian/West Washington @Bloomington South Cathedral/Castle Western Boone/Mater Dei Southport or Decatur Central could be options to host the 4A and 6A south semi-state. CG and BD have the best facilities to host those two games, but I went with a site that would be neutral with plenty of seating on both sides of the field.

I don’t think Clinton Prairie would challenge the health officer’s order, but I would be interested in seeing it since this varies from county to county. Test everyone like Southwood did. If they come back negative, play. Traders Point may not agree to that though and it would put them in a difficult position. A school not far away changed their close contact policy to differ from their county health officer’s criteria (health officer said 3-6 feet is a close contact, school said only within 3 feet). The school board notified the health officer of their plan (basically to get the officer’s blessing) to have a different criteria and approved the policy.

Not a prediction, but some potential upsets: Avon/Brownsburg Pendleton Heights/Mount Vernon FW South/Marion Ritter/Danville Monroe Central/South Adams