Welcome back to The Deep Post, a weekly column breaking down the rumblings of the week past and ahead. This week’s helping dissects the wedge between Independence and its area foes.
The Fallout
In case you missed it, Shady Spring became the latest school to drop Independence in football. If you’re keeping count that makes three with Liberty and Wyoming East being the other two. Independence put a rule in stating schools that dropped it in football would be subject to being barred from schedules across other sports.
That rule will fully go into effect at the end of this school year but the loss of Shady Spring deals a blow to Independence football because it eliminates an easy travel game against an in-class opponent. That leaves Independence tasked with replacing at least three games that it’s played every year since 1998. Losing Liberty and Wyoming East hurts a little because of travel but with the new classifications (more on that later) both are in double-A in football.
A source reached out to me before the season and told me those schools were unlikely to renew their contracts with Independence with Liberty unsuccessfully trying to get out of their season-opener against the Patriots.
I reached out to Shady Spring head coach Vince Culicerto to get his reasoning for dropping Independence. He was vague, but did offer some elaboration, believing Independence broke some unwritten rules and insinuated he wouldn’t be putting the Patriots back on the schedule until there are staff changes in Coal City.
There’s a lot of speculation that the harsh feelings towards Independence stem from the transfers that showed up this year.
Shady, Liberty and Beckley all lost key players to Independence, as did Wyoming East last year. Wyoming East also had a talented group of middle schoolers who are now playing multiple sports at Independence Middle.
My opinion on transferring remains unchanged – it’s a free state. If you pay taxes you can send your kid where you want and it’s strange to me that people think they know what’s best for other people’s kids.
All of what I’m about to say is my opinion.
I believe dropping Independence has the potential to backfire on all three schools.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you see more talent from local schools filter to Coal City to play football.
When the Jacksonville Jaguars hosted the Ravens on Sunday Night Football last week it was the first time in 13 years the Jags had a home SNF game. Do you know why? It’s the same reason the SEC has a major network deal, the same reason the Chiefs, Eagles, Cowboys, 49ers, Lakers and Nuggets get all the primetime slots. People tend to care about the most successful teams and franchises.
You may think it’s different at a local level but as somebody that has access to metrics I can assure you it’s not. Stories involving James Monroe, Greenbrier West, Princeton and Independence were our most viewed throughout the fall. It’s always been that way. It’s early on in basketball season but Wyoming East, James Monroe, Bluefield, Summers County and Shady Spring are keeping that trend alive.
But step outside of our metrics. Independence football is always on Video Productions. That spotlight matters to 14-18 year old kids and one way or another it will continue to shine on the winners. And Independence isn’t the only beneficiary. I would argue Shady Spring basketball pioneered the streaming era locally. The Tigers’ outstanding teams over the last four years opened the gates for everybody.
And while other streamers such as JR1, Greenbrier Valley and New River have successfully entered the game as regional or school specific streamers, Video Productions has cast a wide net that provides exposure up through the Kanawha Valley and into parts of North Central West Virginia.
I’m an all-state voter and the only area representative that was in the meeting this year. Tough decisions are made when you’re trying to determine the 30 best players. The level of competition matters. Who did you play? How did you play? It made a difference this year with Independence walking away with five all-staters and Bluefield picking up three despite a 4-6 season. If you think those accolades don’t matter to kids or parents I’d be more than happy to share an inbox full of emails and messages from parents and players alike asking if they’ve won our Player of the Week award.
This isn’t to say the schools dropping Independence are going to be directly penalized in the awards process, but it hurts your kids’ cases when you wipe one of the better programs in the state from your slate.
The recruiting accusations come with the transfers as well but there hasn’t been enough to surface and give legitimacy to them, otherwise the WVSSAC would be involved.
But success often sells itself.
Shady Spring is still a title contender in boys basketball despite the graduation of four all-staters. Independence graduated consecutive Kennedy Award winners and still made a semifinal run. Wyoming East girls basketball has cycled through two different foundational classes and appears poised for its fourth title run in eight years.
The success all three of those programs have had has helped attract meaningful transfers.
It’s all cyclical but the transfer portal has provided an opportunity to circumvent that. Ever since LeBron signed with the Miami Heat in 2010 we’ve seen the trend trickle down with athletes teaming up for success. This is a different generation. What can you do for me? Are you getting new uniforms this season? Will I win? Those are all questions they ask. That’s not necessarily a bad thing just because you’re not used to it.
That isn’t to say there’s not room for building and rebuilding programs by keeping kids in your district as evidenced by Princeton’s recent run of success in football or James Monroe’s across football and basketball.
Tying all of this up, I would be surprised of Independence didn’t take a breather and reevaluate its ‘all or none rule.’ It impacts too many programs within the school over the long haul and muddies sectional and regional seeding. Football would get the short end of the stick but Bluefield, Martinsburg, etc. have had to accept that fate for years.
The new worldÂ
I thought the new classifications would be the lede but alas that’s not the case.
In case you live under a rock the WVSSAC released its newest classifications that run from fall 2024 to spring of 2028. The change this year is the four-class system that basketball has been using is now being applied football, baseball, softball, etc.
There weren’t a ton of surprises but a few fringe schools ended up in different classes. Here’s your scoop – the Board of Directors threw out almost all of the recommendations the competition committee recommended which ended up being a curveball. It resulted in schools such as Buckhannon Upshur and Preston finding themselves in Class AAAA, something most parties wanted to avoid. They just don’t belong in the state’s biggest classification.
The formula the BOD went with also bumped Independence from double-A to triple-A with the proximity to Beckley serving as the deciding factor.
The real shocker is Bluefield.
The Beavers find themselves in Class AA and stick out like a sore thumb. A reminder this is a program that’s dominated at the highest levels of the old Class AA. I don’t think much changes for them in basketball because a lot of the teams are still really good but it vaults them to the top of the football world in that class.
Princeton and Greenbrier East ended up in the new Class AAA, which I think benefits both schools. Oak Hill in Class AAAA was a surprise though. That school was double-A four years ago and now finds itself in the biggest classification once again.
There’s speculation that several schools plan to appeal their placements. I wouldn’t get my hopes up if you’re banking on that. The same BOD that passed this round of classifications is the same one that hears appeals (sorry PikeView).
There are some details that need ironed out. How many teams in your class do you need to play to be playoff eligible? How many points are wins against each class worth? How do the playoffs change for each sport? The answers will be worth keeping an eye on over the coming months.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94