Dan Weber’s Just Sayin’: Football’s numbers game here, NKU a candidate for moving on and up

With the KHSAA’s publishing of the state’s high school football rosters this week, it’s something of a signal of the health of individual programs. Because we can’t say it enough, football is a numbers game.

As you’d expect, Class 6A schools Simon Kenton, with 84 players, and Ryle, with 80, lead the way here. The other 6A school, Campbell County, has a way to go with just 45, although different programs classify their JV and freshmen differently so it’s not always an exact apples-to-apples comparison.

In 5A, it’s no surprise that Highlands, with 77 players, is right there with the 6A schools while state finalist Cooper is right there with Highlands with a 75-man varsity. Conner’s 60-man group is next in line while Scott has 59 and Boone County and Dixie Heights each have 51.

In 4A, as you’d expect, CovCath’s 62 leads the way. Holmes is struggling with just 27.

In 3A, Lloyd Memorial’s lone Juggernauts have maybe the most overperforming local roster with 65 as the only Northern Kentucky school in Class 3A.

In 2A, Beechwood, of course, is on top with 51. Those Tiger paws signs in front yards all over Ft. Mitchell are telling us something. Walton-Verona shows a strong 45.

The seven Class A schools in two districts here are where the numbers really matter. The four in the all-Campbell County district are led by Newport Central Catholic’s 36 followed by a strong showing at bounce-back Bellevue with 29. Dayton has 24 and Newport might be in the danger zone with just 18.

Ludlow, with 39, and another Campbell County school, Bishop Brossart with 38, show up strong in the other Class A district while Holy Cross trails with 23.

For a point of comparison, looking around the state, the two powerful Louisville programs in 6A – Trinity and St. Xavier – each list rosters of 113 players.

Change is the name of the game in college sports, here and everywhere

There are 18 teams this year in the Big Ten, which now goes coast-to-coast with the addition of the four West Coast schools. And the Pac-12 is now the Pac-2. No surprise around here. Thomas More is on its third conference and third national affiliation from the NCAA’s Division III Presidents Athletic Conference to the NAIA’s Mid-South to the NCAA Division II’s Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

NKU meanwhile, has progressed from the NCAA’s Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference to the NCAA’s Division I Atlantic Sun to now the Horizon League. How fast do things change in college athletic conferences? When NKU joined the A-Sun in 2012, not a single member of the founding eight schools was left.

And with the basketball success of the Norse, NKU has moved to the head of the class when it comes to possible moves according to the Horizone Roundtable , where they discuss all things Horizon League.

Here’s how they describe NKU’s future and the likelihood of being the next team after Loyola-Chicago, Valparaiso and University of Illinois-Chicago out the Horizon door: “Whenever there’s news of a team leaving another league, specifically the Missouri Valley, NKU’s generally on the list of possible replacements,” the Horizone says. “And the consideration is certainly warranted given Northern Kentucky’s upward mobility since transitioning from Division II and its subsequent men’s basketball titles which is the key to any realignment for non-football schools these days. The Valley though may not be NKU’s ultimate target,” they say, “the A-10 could be more of what NKU is aspiring to. Regardless, there’s plenty of reason to think that NKU may be the next school that departs the Horizon League sooner or later.”

If true, that sort of ambition – to align with the likes of Dayton, Richmond, UMass, Rhode Island, Virginia Commonwealth, Saint Louis, George Washington and Philadelphia schools Saint Joseph’s and LaSalle in the DC-headquartered Atlantic-10 — would be a serious step up for the Norse. And maybe something of an explanation for the rationale behind the sudden and serious step up in the cost of preferred basketball season ticket plans this offseason.

Stay tuned.

Did someone say NKU basketball?

While the women’s hiring of Jeff Hans , the national championship-winning coach from Thomas More earned all the offseason headlines, there’s a hint of what’s happening for the men this summer from Learfield Sports NKU radio analyst Rick Broering, who says that while Sam Vinson is participating, the team leader – along with Trey Robinson — is not yet doing full-contact work after his in-season knee surgery. But he’s looking good thus far. As is returning starter LJ Wells and sixth man part-time starter Randall Pettus . That’s three-plus returning starters with the transfer of leading scorer Marques Warrick to Missouri and the graduation of Keeyan Itejere .

So where does NKU get that scoring punch? Broering says that new point guard transfer Dan Gherezgher from Michigan Tech could be the answer as the best of the three-straight Division II point guard transfer to the Norse. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound second-year player out of Michigan Tech averaged 15.0 points a game with 4.6 assists for Tech last season, shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 33.8 percent from three-point range.

Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com . Follow him on X (formerly twitter) @dweber3440.

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