Boilernation

Safe to assume you have Crown Point, Valpo and Merrillville in the Top 25? And Avon/Zionsville are the only HCC teams not in the Top 25?

Zionsville will be a big ? at QB. They started a SR last year and when he went down with an injury they brought in a 5'10 Soph who struggled some. I see they have a 6'2 SR on the roster now who appears to have transferred in from Carmel. No idea whether or not he was Carmel's JV QB last year and will compete for a starting job at Zionsville. I do know they need to do everything possible to get he ball into Hilton's hands. He's a threat for a TD everytime he touches the ball.

I think Merrillville was the only chance and they just don't have the enrollment. Like you said, they were stacked with talent in 2020 and 2021 and still couldn't get past Westfield (and Chatard). Could possibly have had 2 NFL players. Grant is seemingly a lock to go 1st round. MAYBE Jo Jo Johnson can work his way into the NFL if he can get healthy in college. I'm not even sure if he will crack IU's 2 deeps this year. But, he was an electric WR / DB in HS. I'm skepitcal of Crown Point as well. They will always have talent and elite coaching. Counting the '25 class, last years Crown Point team had at least 5 MAC recruits. But, one thing Cody was always right about is that Crown Point hasn't had any elite speed athletes like a Jo Jo Johnson or Justin Marshall (Merrillville --> Colorado State) and it showed against Ben Davis. The Giant WR's and RB's looked like men against boys when playing Crown Point.

My brother's office in The Loop has a lot of Lake Central area transplants. They were sick of paying Illinois taxes and realized the commute from the far South Side 'burbs isn't that bad. I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of development down there is done to better link south Lake County with the Calumet Expressway heading north into 94 and Chicago. I believe there were discussions of some by pass going from 65 into Illinois in south Lake County.

From what I've read elsewhere there is a desire for football, which is interesting considering Andrean (Diocese of Gary?) decided not to build a new campus in Crown Point and will remain at 5959 Broadway on the Merrillville / Gary border. Hammond Bishop Noll was never able to step up as a threat to Andrean in football. Perhaps Illiana Christian can. I would also think Illiana Christian developing a football program would make things worse for Lake Central.

Nevermind. I forgot Dwenger is dropping to 4A.

Yeah, I too thought Brownsburg was the best team last year. Feels like they are Georgia pre-Kirby Smart. interesting early season test for Brownsburg and Bishop Dwnger. Same for Carmel vs. Homestead. We'll see if Carmel is officially no longer a top dog in Hamilton County. Wasn't Homestead really young last year? IIRC, they had a Sophomore at QB and a lot of younger starters when I saw them play Noblesville. With Snider in Sectional 2 we could see a few Duneland vs. SAC playoff games. Any DAC team that loses should ask themselves if the SAC team was better prepared by scheduling an Indy team. Unless that team from Arizona that Crown Point is playing is really good. I have no clue about them.

1992 to be exact. Back when the population of Plainfield, Avon and Brownsburg were still cornfields away from the Wayne Township boundary of Raceway Road.

LOL...beat me to it. Oh, the irony....

My apologies.

And my guess would be the demographics of Ben Davis were drastically different when your wife was a student. I didn't say it's all about enrollment. I also mentioned the buy in from the community for a given sport and coaching. A large enrollment is just icing on the cake when you already have the talent and coaching. You've named quite a few schools where baseball is more important than football. And the results show (Lake Central / Noblesville). Besides, speaking as someone who is typically at a Hoosier Crossroads football game on Friday nights, we all know Noblesville football is more a victim of the Conference and Sectional they reside in. Crown Point is finally taking football serioiusly and brought in a great coach. It faired well for them last year until they met a team with FAR more superior talent and depth. I have a feeling Lake Central football will continue to struggle as they're in the middle of a baseball hotbed (Lake Central, Illiana Christian, Hanover Central, Andrean) and trying to compete at 6A in football. I have no clue about Franklin Central. I'm not very familiar with the South Side. I have been to the Center Grove area a lot since the mid '90's. I would say a majority of their school district is white collar families. That helps tremendously. They also have community buy in at the feeder systems and one of the best HS football coaches the state has ever produced. Center Grove is an outlier. They are not the norm for any school of their size.

Based on 10th-12th grade statistics, roughly 75% of Ben Davis students quality for free or reduced lunches. I can't think of a single HS in Indiana that has ever been good at Golf, Tennis or Swimming with those statistics. Baseball, Softball, and Scoccer are a stretch as well. Community buy in for basketball and football is there. I've seen it myself at the grassroots level when Wayne Township teams come up to Hamilton County. The coaching and facilities for basketball/football at Ben Davis are also very good. It's OK to admit having that level of committment AND over 4,000 student is a huge advantage.

Is the committment to winning and player development in golf, baseball, softball, tennis, or soccer the same as basketball and football (state titles and multiple D1 recruits over the years) at Ben Davis? From a community and coaching aspect?

It was announced yesterday that the Vikings will be stepping up their schedule by joining the NCC for the 2025-2026 school year. The school has had immediate success in baseball by playing for 3 straight State Titles (winning 2) since becoming IHSAA members after moving across the state line from Lansing to Dyer. They are located in the rapidly growing area south of Lake Central HS that feeds into Lake Central and Hanover Central. Anyone in the Region know if the Vikings plan on following Hanover Central's path and starting a football program? I believe they would currently fall in the bottom of 3A or top of 2A in enrollment.

LOL. Ignorance is bliss.