Inspired by friend Blitz as part of his preseason work before the high school football players took to the gridiron this fall, I am here to predict the future.
If you want to know what Blitz predicted for football in 2028, just click here.
But basketball has its own crystal ball, even if some of Blitz’s predictions would be things that would float over into the basketball realm as well if they come true.
Some of this could actually happen, while some is merely wishful thinking on my end as well, but hey a lot can be altered in five full years, right?
1. THE NECC ADOPTS BASKETBALL DIVISIONS
It works in football and with the wide spread nature of he NECC, with teams ranging from 3A like Angola and Garret down to barely can field a team in 1A like Hamilton, why wouldn’t divisions work on the basketball court?
You would have 12 teams, unlike football’s 10 teams with Westview and Hamilton not fielding football teams in the fall so an even 6-6 split works here.
Give me Angola, Garrett, Lakeland, West Noble and Fairfield. Then in the small division, give me Hamilton and a Fremont team that really should be 1A always. That leaves six teams to break up from 2A with only one going big division. To me, it makes sense to make that Westview to a big division while Churubusco, Prairie Heights, Eastside and Central Noble go small.
2. A SAC STATE CHAMPION
And I’m not talking “new SAC,” I’m talking an honest to goodness old school FWCS, Luers, Dwenger or Concordia title.
Lets face it, it has been a long time since we’ve had this with North Side boys being the most recent team to even reach the state finals before falling short to Ben Davis in 2016. Though that same season, the Homestead girls won the 4A state crown, that still isn’t one of the SAC OGs.
With one of the best conferences in Northeast Indiana, things have to come around again soon, right? There are teams that have made waves and teams that have potential to make waves this season; talking to you Snider girls and Wayne boys, but who will actually make it back to the promised land first, let alone win one?
The survey is still out on that but Bounce is confident it happens in the next 5 years.
3. ANOTHER 1A POSTSEASON CONTENDER EMERGES
Blackhawk Christian boys were long a dominant area force in 1A, now they dominate 2A. Canterbury girls, not all that long ago, did the same thing.
With 1A being a consistent strength area in football in the area, the next five years could see another emergence and it could come soon if say the Canterbury boys could make a splash this season with a pretty loaded roster.
Yet, there are other options to when you look at things like Blackhawk Christian girls’ recent success; could they ramp it up to the next level? Will Smith Academy be a team that in time can attract athletic success in the heart of downtown Fort Wayne as the school and program continue to build? Is Lakewood Park due more basketball upturns? Could Fremont be a force in a clearly eventual drop back down to Class 1A? Mentioning Hamilton is super premature but their boys basketball coaching change has led to more interest in the program than they’ve had in 20 years.
Class 1A holds a lot of area potential.
4. FIRST FEMALE HEAD COACH FOR BOYS TEAM
If you are in the know, then you know that something like this could have happened as early as this past offseason.
There are a solid amount of successful female coaches in the area who have shown that their knowledge, skill level and coaching acumen could transcend the gender of the team. Sure, this kind of move takes a severe right place, right time, right coach, right players set up but it can’t be completely out of the realm of possibility.
We’ve seen a decent amount of boys coaches move to the girls side. We’ve seen some coaches moves from the girls side to the boys side. There are going to be local candidates to be the first to make this kind of move and also others from outside Northeast Indiana. It just feels like we are getting closer to seeing a female coach take the reigns of a boys program in the area; let’s see what school takes that first leap.
5. LOCAL GREAT COACHES RETIRE
I’m not going to name any names here and proclaim that I know for sure they are retiring in the next five seasons.
But, despite all of the new faces we have this season, there are still a lot of coaches in the area that are well tenured and may be looking to ride off into the sunset soon.
These opinions represent those of Bounce and Outside the Huddle. No opinions expressed on Outside the Huddle represent those of any of our advertisers. Follow Bounce on Twitter at Bounce_OTH
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