How many more games does Millard South play this regular season?

[realbp]

And just so everyone knows, the NSAA tried this year to do the bottom half play "like teams" and the top half play "like teams" in Class A. That's why Lincoln Southwest is sitting at 2-4 but beat 4- 2 Lincoln Northeast 35-13. Lincoln Southeast is in a similar boat, sitting 3-3 but Lincoln High is 4-2 due to playing lesser competition, the Knights rolled Lincoln High 57-0.

As @alt f4 stated, the problem is really open districts. We had a media member go on a radio show claiming that Millard South really didn't have that many transfers, all those kids played in the Jr Patriots program. While they had kids from Kansas City and Grand Island on their team, he's mostly correct. All these kids played with each other from grade school up living everywhere in the city and in some instances in Lincoln or Kansas City.

I just feel like closing the borders gets rid of a lot of problems. You can build schools where they are needed based on population. If a kid thinks he's getting a better education at another school, isn't it up to OPS/MPS/Gretna etc. to get all schools on par? I think the larger issue at play will be even if OPS and Millard decide to close their borders, it all of a sudden makes Bellevue West the popular choice to make a superteam because kids can transfer there. It would basically have to be the NSAA saying you can't play where you don't live, and they'll never do that. As long as the public schools have open enrollment, there's really nothing that can be done IMO.

Option enrollment is a state legislated item. It was done to give parents more of a "voice" in their child's "education". In reality it was done as a reaction to Covid response being different in school districts. Not to be political, but this was a Republican sponsored and supported state bill.

 

[realbp]

I will just say that winning 70-0 each week does not prepare you for college football. And in the current set up it is not the great accomplishment that you think it is. Winning games and a state title are valueless when the teams are this lopsided. Nothing is being proven from an athletic standpoint.

Their improvement comes in practice where they get to play against the best kids in the state. The MS offense is certainly getting more out of going against the MS defense and vice versa, than they are by playing games. As, I believe, @ShortSideOption said, it's the sport you practice the most and play the least. I think the kids at MS are being better prepared for college football by where they are, then being concerned with competitive games.

 

[realbp]

Depends on school district, but most have wide open enrollment as long as you live in Nebraska. There are a couple closed districts which only take kids from within the schools boundaries. Gretna High and Gretna East for example.

Millard is open to anyone from any state, why they had kids from KC on their roster.
Malcolm is open, but you must apply and be approved - generally in elementary school.

You have to be accepted in option enrollment. You aren't just allowed to attend because you want to change schools. The Millard School District has to accept you in and then you have to be accepted into your high school of choice. There are no guarantess. However, I'm sure one's athletic prowess gives you a substantial advantage.

 

[realbp]

THIS.

This was what my original post a few weeks ago was about. My son is navigating potental playing time issues, not from ability (and it's not just me "dad" saying this, it's other parents on varsity and other coaches I've spoken too) due to "influence". I'm being told what's best for him is to transfer so he can get the varsity time he deserves/"needs" for college recruiting purposes. He's not being illegally recruited by HS coaches in town per-se, but we all know how this works; if a different HC wants you, they will find a way to make sure you know about it, and let you reach out if you are interested.

He has options. However he doesn't want to transfer because he has friends, and he loves the school. So he's going to stick it out for that reason, and deal with the cards as they play out. I respect him for sticking it out. I think most parents and most coaches do too, especially in today's climate. I would prefer he stay as well, for those same reasons; but damnit...if he gets fucked out of playing time because of circumstances completely out of his control, that is a legit reason parents look to transfer. If this costs him college opportunies because he hardly has any varsity film to show, I'm always going to wonder if I should have done something about it or not. But I"m not making him transfer to a school if he doesn't want to. But I'm told by so many others this is a mistake.

It's the culture that exists right now.

I'm not trying to downplay the HS basketball playing time issues, but if your kid is relying on his high school playing time to receive college attention you're not doing the right things with spring/summer ball. The reality is that spring/summer is more important for college recruiting purposes than high school.

 

[Husker03]

There is another side of this altogether though. Much like football at UNL gets all the publicity even though there are other sports that have to abide by the same rulesets. I have a kid that loved basketball and poured her heart and soul into becoming the best basketball player she could become. She's 5'5" and not overly athletic at all. We knew from the jump she wasn't going anywhere with it, but her goal was to be able to make a class A high school varsity team. That is it. That was her ENTIRE goal. And she did by the time she was a sophomore. Now, heading into her senior season we have come to the realization that her head coach is both verbally and mentally abusive. He's unhinged and unprofessional. But, nobody cares to make any changes with that because its just girls basketball which doesn't matter. And, I would agree with that. I mean, at the end of the day, none of it "matters" at a high school level. But, why should my kid be forced to either quit the game she invested so much into as she heads into her senior year instead of just transferring to a different school where she would likely be a benchwarmer but at least be able to not be run down mentally by this idiot all season long? In the end she's going to just finish out at her HS because she loves her HS and her friends, etc are all there, but I am much more understanding of kids that want to transfer for whatever reason. At the end of the day, they should be allowed to do what is best for them within reason, just nobody knows exactly how to define, "within reason."

 

[ShortSideOption]

Option enrollment is a state legislated item. It was done to give parents more of a "voice" in their child's "education". In reality it was done as a reaction to Covid response being different in school districts. Not to be political, but this was a Republican sponsored and supported state bill.

Well, the kids that are seniors on this Millard South team were with the Jr Patriots roughly a decade ago, so that legislative bill isn't why all this is happening. Millard South just is taking it to another level. Shoot, Larry Martin won state titles at Omaha North in 2013/2014 while he had a board in his office of the best 7th/8th graders to recruit. Huffman at Bell West won state titles in 2016 and 2019 recruiting kids way outside Bellevue to come play for him. What's happening isn't really that legislative bill related, or Covid related.

Now, I do agree that some politicians were trying to help kids when places like OPS just shut down sports and went remote, and nothing has been changed since then. But Millard South being this dominant doesn't have much to do with a Republican or Democrat being in favor of a bill and passing it.

 

[alt f4]

Their improvement comes in practice where they get to play against the best kids in the state. The MS offense is certainly getting more out of going against the MS defense and vice versa, than they are by playing games. As, I believe, @ShortSideOption said, it's the sport you practice the most and play the least. I think the kids at MS are being better prepared for college football by where they are, then being concerned with competitive games.

Not entirely true. Games are entirely different than practice.

You very rarely, if ever go live, to the ground in practice. You're not open field tackling, not hitting the QB, not taking ball carriers to the ground. You can't replicate game tackling in a practice setting.

You'll get better in practice against D1 talent, but there is a lot you can't practice that a game brings, even vs sup par competition. Especially freshman, soph, and juniors who typically don't play varsity.

 

[Cavalot]

I think Lakeview will be a great matchup for Wahoo this year.

Possibly but comparing scores. Lakeview 21-MM 7. Wahoo 62- MM 21. And those 21 came against 2nd and 3rd teamers. Will be interesting to see unfold.

 

[TheXHerb]

- What do you mean..."influence."
- Most recruiting now occurs when kids go to camps at colleges.
- Most coaches want to win and play the kids that will give the team the best chance at winning.

I'm not trying to downplay the HS basketball playing time issues, but if your kid is relying on his high school playing time to receive college attention you're not doing the right things with spring/summer ball. The reality is that spring/summer is more important for college recruiting purposes than high school.

I agree, and that's inevitably the route we are taking now. We will have to take the recruiting process into our own hands. However, in this case, same HS coaches coach the summer league, so basically same players, and the politics impact the summer league more than the HS one, because that's where financial influence plays a part more. But I'm fooling myself if I think what happens on the HS team isn't affected by the summer team when it's the same kids/coaches. I'ts not the end of the world, I know.

It's just not how we wanted this to play out, so it's about changing our expectations at this point. I just know had we made a different decison on where to attend HS from the get go, we would have had a completely different experience, knowing what we know now. But hindsight as they say...

Enough of me shitting up this MS thread. If you want to know more, feel free to DM me.

 

[gtlacey]

Is it worth it to play on a super team like MS? Might it not hurt your potential long term?

Who are the best NFL players from Nebraska right now?
Cam Jurgerns - Beatrice (good teams, never made the finals)
Xavier Watts - Burke (beat Grand Isalnd 24-20 in the finals)
Harrison Phillips - Millard West (good teams but maybe made the finals freshman year)
Noah Fant - Omaha South (don't think ever made the finals)

Not a hard and fast rule by any means - Millard South might produce an NFL guy off this roster, but I think struggling early is

I also think this holds true for NFL qbs by college. You're better off going to a place where you're not stacked (ie not Ohio St or Alabama; Oklahoma probably being an exception).

Short List of Best QBS in the nfl:
Mahomes - Tech
Allen - Wyoming
Jackson - Louisville
Dak - Miss St

 

[That SOB Van Owen]

Is it worth it to play on a super team like MS? Might it not hurt your potential long term?

Who are the best NFL players from Nebraska right now?
Cam Jurgerns - Beatrice (good teams, never made the finals)
Xavier Watts - Burke (beat Grand Isalnd 24-20 in the finals)
Harrison Phillips - Millard West (good teams but maybe made the finals freshman year)
Noah Fant - Omaha South (don't think ever made the finals)

Not a hard and fast rule by any means - Millard South might produce an NFL guy off this roster, but I think struggling early is

I also think this holds true for NFL qbs by college. You're better off going to a place where you're not stacked (ie not Ohio St or Alabama; Oklahoma probably being an exception).

Short List of Best QBS in the nfl:
Mahomes - Tech
Allen - Wyoming
Jackson - Louisville
Dak - Miss St

I was following you until you had Dak as a Top 4 QB in the NFL and I completely disregarded everything you said.

 

[herbsinator]

Is it worth it to play on a super team like MS? Might it not hurt your potential long term?

Who are the best NFL players from Nebraska right now?
Cam Jurgerns - Beatrice (good teams, never made the finals)
Xavier Watts - Burke (beat Grand Isalnd 24-20 in the finals)
Harrison Phillips - Millard West (good teams but maybe made the finals freshman year)
Noah Fant - Omaha South (don't think ever made the finals)

Not a hard and fast rule by any means - Millard South might produce an NFL guy off this roster, but I think struggling early is

I also think this holds true for NFL qbs by college. You're better off going to a place where you're not stacked (ie not Ohio St or Alabama; Oklahoma probably being an exception).

Short List of Best QBS in the nfl:
Mahomes - Tech
Allen - Wyoming
Jackson - Louisville
Dak - Miss St

NFL guys are going to find a way regardless of where they’re at generally.

 

[nja13]

Option enrollment is a state legislated item. It was done to give parents more of a "voice" in their child's "education". In reality it was done as a reaction to Covid response being different in school districts. Not to be political, but this was a Republican sponsored and supported state bill.

There were some modifictions made after COVID, but option enrollment has been around since 1989.

 

[gtlacey]

I was following you until you had Dak as a Top 4 QB in the NFL and I completely disregarded everything you said.

Haha I laughed as I typed Dak. The rest of the post was serious though. Dak is the highest paid QB in the NFL so there's a decent signal that he's probably top 10 at least.

 

[Huskersballz]

NFL guys are going to find a way regardless of where they’re at generally.

100%. And as someone who played with someone listed above who’s now in the league I can confidently say no amount of “politics” will ever keep a player with that trajectory off the field at the high school level. Even high schoolers with a D2 level trajectory won’t not be kept off the field by “politics”, they just are that much better than everyone else.

 

[gtlacey]

NFL guys are going to find a way regardless of where they’re at generally.

I totally see where you're coming from. Some of them will for sure. Especially the Myles Garretts and Micah Parsons.

But those 4 guys from Nebraska playing in the NFL weren't sure fire coming out of hs. Watts played WR his freshman year at ND. I don't think he makes it to the league if he stayed on the offensive side of the ball.

 

[herbsinator]

I totally see where you're coming from. Some of them will for sure. Especially the Myles Garretts and Micah Parsons.

But those 4 guys from Nebraska playing in the NFL weren't sure fire coming out of hs. Watts played WR his freshman year at ND. I don't think he makes it to the league if he stayed on the offensive side of the ball.

True, but I don’t think where he played at HS had that much to do with it TBH. There are obviously all sorts of diamond in the rough stories, but those are a small minority.

 

[Carm]

Why should taxes go to districts based on where you live if your kids can go anywhere?

Because people who live in wealthier districts want their taxes going to local schools so their kids get a great education close to home and their property values stay high. The drivers for the system have nothing to do with school sports.

 

[Carm]

Just to be clear, you can't necessarily go to whatever school you want.

 

[ZJSARENOTFREE]

The other piece that is so dumb especially in small schools is you have kids full on specializing in one sport now and skipping the others. Know a couple of coaches at C-1 schools and their best athletes are not playing football because they are working towards scholarships in basketball, wrestling or baseball. None of the kids are going D1 either. So dumb. Best part of school was playing every sport you could with your buddies.