My son attends Oceanside. It is a public charter school for Charleston County. It's enrollment is determined by a public lottery. I attended the lottery in the school gym when my son was first enrolling. They literally randomly pull one name at a time out of a bucket until every name is called. I have a neighbor who is on the Oceanside board. I think they said last year they had over 500 students sign up for only 150-200 spots. If you are not one of names for the available spots, you go on a waiting list, where they will call you only if a spot is available. There is no "recruiting" and in fact that is against the schools charter, which requires enrollment by lottery. My son is a junior in the dual enrollment program and will graduate high school as a rising junior in college. As this is a public school, there is no extra tuition, so he is literally getting his first two years of college for free. It is not an easy school, as all classes (even if not on the dual enrollment path) are honors or AP classes. You have to be very self motivated to succeed.
SCHSL playoff observation
- Thread starter Judson1
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Great programs can "recruit" great players, it's nothing new. Back in the day, Summerville was a recruiting machine. It's amazing looking back on what they did to get players.
Are you sure those 150-200 spots aren't for the kids not playing football? My son plays rec sports at the place they practice, so I see them practice a fair amount. It's highly unlikely they can field a team of that size with a random lottery.
I wondered the same myself, how a random lottery would consistently spit out really good football teams (and other sports teams as well). I'm absolutely not calling Silver a liar and I appreciate his information. Just wonder (like you) if there isn't a lottery for what's left over after the sports spots are filled. Hopefully Silver can give more information.
And they redshirted a lot of 8th graders. Smart move, if you have the power. Then, when they are seniors, it’s like playing college freshmen against younger players. And they did a great job of developing players.
Meanwhile in Lancaster today, we have to bring up our JV team to even have a decent complement of players on Friday nights.
I’m not from here, but I live in Abbeville (Antreville, actually), but you are 100% right. Abbeville has been good in football since forever. I remember playing against them when I was in little league, and my Daddy had to put extra padding in my helmet to keep it from sliding down and covering my eyes 😂. They are passionate about football here, and it shows. It just means more here. They can play with anyone in my opinion.
At Abbeville HS, there is a little less than 500 student population. Between the V and JV programs, there is approximately 90 football players. Let that sink in. Run into kids in the hallway, 1 out of 5 students (including the female population) play football. Kids want to play football, and they do from rec program all the way until they graduate. And they run the same offense and defense all the way through, although it's simplified at the younger ages. And people think we recruit? People that say that don't know a single thing about Abbeville, with the exception that they know they win.
What's up neighbor, I'm between Abbeville and Calhoun Falls right across the woods from you.
Grandkids go to Diamond Hill, and I lived on Secession for a few years back in the mid 90's. Brother and his wife live on Secession.https://www.oceansidecollegiateacademy.org/lottery-information
Pursuant to SC Law §59-40-50:
(7) admit all children eligible to attend public school to a charter school, subject to space limitations, except in the case of an application to create a single gender charter school
(8) not limit or deny admission or show preference in admission decisions to any individual or group of individuals, except in the case of an application to create a single gender charter school,
My experience is that a significant portion of the kids applying are athletes. In the past, Wando was the only area high school and had over 3,500 students. So, even if you were really good, but not "elite", it was near impossible to play varsity high school sports in Mount Pleasant (another reason Mt. P has a lot of club teams). So, those borderline kids would try to get into Oceanside where they could practice/play for the next 4 years. I kind of view it as Oceanside gets a lot of 3 star athletes (who wouldn't get a chance at Wando) and some turn into 4-5 star athletes by getting a chance to practice/play over 4 years.
I very much admire Abbeville's football culture. It is becoming increasingly a rarity. Lancaster has a large school and a big stadium, two feeder schools, and only a remnant of kids who want to play football. It's a shame and the adults are the ones who have dropped the ball along the way.
Basically the wishbone, which they call the A-bone. As you said, very efficient (kids have been running it since rec ball), lots of movement, lots of speed, everyone knows their assignment. And very few turnovers on offense, they just don't hurt themselves that often. Very good at grinding it out and draining the clock when it needs to be done.
Coach Botts was one of my dad's closest friends. Good coach, and an even better man. He laid the foundation for the recent success. Larry Campbell over at Lincolnton deserves credit as well. Botts was good friends with him, and took alot of things from him on how to run a football program.
Coach Nick is a trip. He's a heckuva coach (and man) as well. He's Lou Holtz Jr. He could be playing the worst team in the smallest classification of the state and to hear him talk, he's getting ready to play Alabama, we'll be lucky to win.
Ask Gilbert about that lottery system and how their guys were much bigger than them.
One of my daughters attended Pinewood Prep for a couple of years.
Admission for smart students was tough, great athletes didn't go through the same scrutiny. Scholarship money was scarce for smart students, but great athletes received full rides.
I don't know how Oceanside handles athlete admittance, but if it's anything like Pinewood spots are set aside for impact players.
Admission for smart students was tough, great athletes didn't go through the same scrutiny. Scholarship money was scarce for smart students, but great athletes received full rides.
I don't know how Oceanside handles athlete admittance, but if it's anything like Pinewood spots are set aside for impact players.
We live near Jets Landing, the diamond mine and the monastery. I tell my buddies that whether they want a diamond for their wife or if they want to shave their head, castrate themselves and become a monk, I can point them in either direction 😊. I’ve seen and talked to Coach Nickles several times in town. Heck of a nice guy, and very humble about his football program. Always talks about how great the kids in the program are.What's up neighbor, I'm between Abbeville and Calhoun Falls right across the woods from you.
as usual....you are all over it. Yeah the Legion stuff....smdh. If you want to do that -great. Go travel and play IMG in FL and the other type schools in AL, TN, NC, DC area who are set up the same way.
For someone in the know: I notice that Daniel has now dropped down to 3-A and is taking full advantage. Did some other school open nearby or did Clemson shrink?
I see Gray Collegiate has finally recruited well enough that Abbeville couldn't compete with them.
As it should be, it's completely unfair private schools that can recruit can ruin the fun for public school kids.
The problem, though, is blurring lines. The top traditional public schools are also recruiting now, listing the home of some kid's relative as his legal address to make it stick.
They're both tipping the scales. They both need to be addressed. They would have to be addressed differently.
You expecting the SCHSL to address it? It’ll never happen. The league is too scared of some legislature member jumping their arse.
I think the game of the week will be Spartanburg vs Gaffney....
Would love to see Spartanburg, Greenville, and Daniel win the Championships in their respective divisions....
Greenville High has some studs.....I'm hoping we somehow get the QB from Greenville. He really wants to be a Gamecock...
Would love to see Spartanburg, Greenville, and Daniel win the Championships in their respective divisions....
Greenville High has some studs.....I'm hoping we somehow get the QB from Greenville. He really wants to be a Gamecock...
I didn't say I expect anything. But the need seems to be there.
Hats off to Gray Collegiate. They were the better team Friday night. That game was likely the state championship game. I did not attend the game (listened on the radio, but that's an entirely different conversation), but have been told by several people that were there that KZ Adams is the truth, one of the best RB's that they've seen on a HS field. IMO, that's an offer that Beamer needs to make. The kid is going to be Mr Football. Is he an every down SEC back, probably not because of his size, but he could play a role somewhere, and the goodwill would likely pay dividends. Hope he makes the offer, would love to see Adams in the garnet and black.
As has been discussed above by others, the SCHSL needs to make changes. Probably won't happen, but they need to be bombarded. Blaming Gray (and the other privates/charters) isn't the answer. They are playing by the rules, the rules is the problem. It's hurting small community schools. No problem with playing non-region games against these type of schools during the regular season, but when it comes to playoffs, they should play in a separate playoff with other similar schools. It most likely comes down to money, that's where the root of alot of problems lie.
As has been discussed above by others, the SCHSL needs to make changes. Probably won't happen, but they need to be bombarded. Blaming Gray (and the other privates/charters) isn't the answer. They are playing by the rules, the rules is the problem. It's hurting small community schools. No problem with playing non-region games against these type of schools during the regular season, but when it comes to playoffs, they should play in a separate playoff with other similar schools. It most likely comes down to money, that's where the root of alot of problems lie.
Bombard the league? Similar to beating your head against a wall. Many on the Executive Committee are appointed by the commish or are in his back pocket. Maybe bombard the apellate panel?
Where did KZ Adams come from?
Was the radio cast bad? I’ve heard some bad ones flipping through the dial in a Friday night trying to find a game. Years ago, maybe it was a couple of decades ago, there were some good and interesting people calling the games. Like Fabian Fuentes out of Gaffney on the channel you could pick up from Salisbury, NC down to Greenwood.
Where did KZ Adams come from?
Was the radio cast bad? I’ve heard some bad ones flipping through the dial in a Friday night trying to find a game. Years ago, maybe it was a couple of decades ago, there were some good and interesting people calling the games. Like Fabian Fuentes out of Gaffney on the channel you could pick up from Salisbury, NC down to Greenwood.
Either create a separate classification for the private schools or insist they "play up" a conference or two, i.e., if the enrollment of a specific school is that of a AA school, then either create a AA private conference for such institutions, or put then in AAA or perhaps AAAA.
A private conference is the only answer, moving them up really isn't a good answer IMHO. When you can pull from anywhere, you can assemble a team that is better than most 3 or 4A schools.
I encourage people to look at the SCHSL 1A and 2A playoff brackets (pick a sport, boys or girls) the past few years. Something should jump out at you, it'll be glaringly obvious.
I guess AAAAA isn't the answer either, eh?
This also inspires a bigger question: why would a private school want to compete in a public school, rather than a private school league? Better publicity.
The Georgia High School Association (Georgia's equivalent of the SCHSL) does have a separate "private school" division in their Class A classification.
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