Top 50 MIssouri Boys Basketball rankings 1/20/2020
It's Martin Luther King's birthday and a day to reflect on a number of important social justice issues. You would like to think that we have made progress in the last 50 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1968. I am not so sure much has changed. In fact, racial and ethnic biases seem to be rising rather than abating.
I took a lot of heat last week when I posted Vashon #7 in the state. Vashon fans are passionate and I mean that in a positive sense. I worked on North Jefferson near Vashon High School for four years and the school is a shiny pillar of hope in an area of St. Louis where there are more empty lots and derelict buildings than there are homes and apartments. Many blocks look like a bombed out war zone. This area was once the pride of St. Louis with stately mansions and well kept streets. Some of those mansions are still there, standing empty, windows boarded up, roofs falling in on themselves.
The people who are still there didn't cause this.... they are left with it. If you read the "Color of Law" by Richard Rothstein you will find that our government perpetrated the deterioration of our inner cities with unjust housing and loan practices that prevented blacks from participating in the great housing boom of the 1950's through redlining of neighborhoods, unfair loan practices and support for new residential home developer covenants that prevented blacks from buying homes in these new neighborhoods. White flight to the suburbs left the cities and school systems without the tax base to maintain themselves.
(https://www.amazon.com/Color-Law-Forgotten-Government-Segregated/dp/1631492853/ref=asc_df_1631492853/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583795260643243&psc=1).
Vashon basketball is a ticket to a better life. Vashon athletes have an opportunity for college scholarships and a ticket out of these neighborhoods we escaped and abandoned. There is a huge level of pride in Vashon and the area for their basketball team. No wonder they hooted me down with a #7 ranking, but as I said last week, I didn't have the game comparisons to "get it right".
The Bass Pro Tournament of Champions was a great opportunity for Vashon to strut their stuff and they almost pulled it off, losing a close game to #2 rated Oak Hill of Virginia while creaming Christ the King of NY by 36 and stuffing a great Booker T. Washington team from Tulsa. Those three games gave me enough data to revise their standing, with a nearly 142 rating. I watched the Oak Hill Vashon game on CBS Sports and I was impressed with coach Irons. I know he was mic'd-up, so he might have been on good behavior, but he was impressive in how he handled his team in a highly competitive game. I can see that Vashon is in good hands with Tony Irons.
Some schools are really lucky to have a great head coach, like Irons. I had the father of Park Hills Central outstanding freshman point guard Mason Williams tell me that he was jealous of the Eureka coaching staff with "four head coaches" on staff. I have to admit that Austin Kirby has assembled quite the coaching staff with Scott Allen, former Lafayette head coach (140+ victories), Corey Choate (former Lafayette JV coach), Trevor Noonan, former Air Force and Denver U power forward, and his father, Rick Kirby, long time Parkway Central head coach with over 400 wins. This coaching staff has done wonders with a mish-mash of players after the graduation of their elite scorer, Avery Taggart. Kirby and company have molded a solid team that nearly upset Ladue and ended up 3rd place champs of the Denver Miller Kirkwood tournament. Eureka players and parents are lucky to have such a great coaching staff.
And speaking of good coaches, Bill Gunn, stopped by at half-time of the Ladue game to say Hi. He likes my ratings blog and decided to come over and chat. He saw that I was live streaming the game on MaxPreps and Twitter and looked for someone in the crowd that "was working". I was also scoring the game stats on Breakthru Stats so I was a busy guy. Check out Bill's Missouri Basketball Coaches ratings on Twitter at @MOsportsdotcom. Hope to see him back coaching next fall. I appreciated the feedback.
Here's an update top 50. Constructive comments are always welcome.
I have gotten specific feedback from fans or coaches and I looked to see if I had missed results that would rank them higher (or lower).
Everyone can have an opinion. I only ask that you provide me with game scores rather than "go back to your day job" comments. Thanks
I took a lot of heat last week when I posted Vashon #7 in the state. Vashon fans are passionate and I mean that in a positive sense. I worked on North Jefferson near Vashon High School for four years and the school is a shiny pillar of hope in an area of St. Louis where there are more empty lots and derelict buildings than there are homes and apartments. Many blocks look like a bombed out war zone. This area was once the pride of St. Louis with stately mansions and well kept streets. Some of those mansions are still there, standing empty, windows boarded up, roofs falling in on themselves.
The people who are still there didn't cause this.... they are left with it. If you read the "Color of Law" by Richard Rothstein you will find that our government perpetrated the deterioration of our inner cities with unjust housing and loan practices that prevented blacks from participating in the great housing boom of the 1950's through redlining of neighborhoods, unfair loan practices and support for new residential home developer covenants that prevented blacks from buying homes in these new neighborhoods. White flight to the suburbs left the cities and school systems without the tax base to maintain themselves.
(https://www.amazon.com/Color-Law-Forgotten-Government-Segregated/dp/1631492853/ref=asc_df_1631492853/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=&hvpos=&hvnetw=o&hvrand=&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583795260643243&psc=1).
Vashon basketball is a ticket to a better life. Vashon athletes have an opportunity for college scholarships and a ticket out of these neighborhoods we escaped and abandoned. There is a huge level of pride in Vashon and the area for their basketball team. No wonder they hooted me down with a #7 ranking, but as I said last week, I didn't have the game comparisons to "get it right".
The Bass Pro Tournament of Champions was a great opportunity for Vashon to strut their stuff and they almost pulled it off, losing a close game to #2 rated Oak Hill of Virginia while creaming Christ the King of NY by 36 and stuffing a great Booker T. Washington team from Tulsa. Those three games gave me enough data to revise their standing, with a nearly 142 rating. I watched the Oak Hill Vashon game on CBS Sports and I was impressed with coach Irons. I know he was mic'd-up, so he might have been on good behavior, but he was impressive in how he handled his team in a highly competitive game. I can see that Vashon is in good hands with Tony Irons.
Some schools are really lucky to have a great head coach, like Irons. I had the father of Park Hills Central outstanding freshman point guard Mason Williams tell me that he was jealous of the Eureka coaching staff with "four head coaches" on staff. I have to admit that Austin Kirby has assembled quite the coaching staff with Scott Allen, former Lafayette head coach (140+ victories), Corey Choate (former Lafayette JV coach), Trevor Noonan, former Air Force and Denver U power forward, and his father, Rick Kirby, long time Parkway Central head coach with over 400 wins. This coaching staff has done wonders with a mish-mash of players after the graduation of their elite scorer, Avery Taggart. Kirby and company have molded a solid team that nearly upset Ladue and ended up 3rd place champs of the Denver Miller Kirkwood tournament. Eureka players and parents are lucky to have such a great coaching staff.
And speaking of good coaches, Bill Gunn, stopped by at half-time of the Ladue game to say Hi. He likes my ratings blog and decided to come over and chat. He saw that I was live streaming the game on MaxPreps and Twitter and looked for someone in the crowd that "was working". I was also scoring the game stats on Breakthru Stats so I was a busy guy. Check out Bill's Missouri Basketball Coaches ratings on Twitter at @MOsportsdotcom. Hope to see him back coaching next fall. I appreciated the feedback.
Here's an update top 50. Constructive comments are always welcome.
| Missouri schools Boys Basketball Top 50 2019-2020 Rankings | ||||
| Current | ||||
| Rank | Team name | Class | District | Rating |
| 1 | Vashon | 4 | 6 | 141.6 |
| 2 | Chaminade | 5 | 4 | 138.3 |
| 3 | Trinity | 3 | 7 | 137.5 |
| 4 | De Smet | 5 | 6 | 136.9 |
| 5 | Mehlville | 5 | 2 | 136.5 |
| 6 | CBC | 5 | 6 | 136.4 |
| 7 | St. Louis Christian Academy | NC | 133.9 | |
| 8 | Francis Howell | 5 | 8 | 133.9 |
| 9 | Cape Girardeau Central | 4 | 1 | 129.2 |
| 10 | Cardinal Ritter | 3 | 6 | 127.7 |
| 11 | Rockhurst | 5 | 14 | 127.0 |
| 12 | McCluer | 4 | 7 | 126.8 |
| 13 | Grandview (Kansas City MO) | 4 | 13 | 126.8 |
| 14 | Father Tolton Catholic | 3 | 9 | 125.6 |
| 15 | Raytown South | 4 | 14 | 124.6 |
| 16 | South Iron | 1 | 3 | 124.5 |
| 17 | Webster Groves | 5 | 4 | 124.5 |
| 18 | Truman | 5 | 14 | 124.5 |
| 19 | William Chrisman | 5 | 15 | 123.1 |
| 20 | Raymore Peculiar | 5 | 13 | 123.1 |
| 21 | Liberty KC | 5 | 15 | 123.0 |
| 22 | MICDS | 4 | 5 | 122.4 |
| 23 | Blair Oaks | 3 | 9 | 122.3 |
| 24 | Christian (O'Fallon) | 3 | 8 | 121.9 |
| 25 | Rock Bridge | 5 | 9 | 121.6 |
| 26 | Dora | 1 | 4 | 120.8 |
| 27 | Nixa | 5 | 11 | 120.4 |
| 28 | Staley | 5 | 16 | 120.4 |
| 29 | Confluence | 4 | 6 | 120.3 |
| 30 | Blue Springs | 5 | 14 | 120.2 |
| 31 | St. Dominic | 4 | 7 | 120.2 |
| 32 | Raytown | 5 | 14 | 120.0 |
| 33 | Ruskin | 4 | 13 | 119.8 |
| 34 | Joplin | 5 | 12 | 119.5 |
| 35 | Park Hill South | 5 | 16 | 119.4 |
| 36 | SLUH | 5 | 4 | 119.1 |
| 37 | Westminster Christian Academy | 4 | 4 | 118.9 |
| 38 | Ladue | 4 | 5 | 118.8 |
| 39 | Lafayette | 5 | 3 | 118.7 |
| 40 | Lift for Life | 3 | 6 | 118.7 |
| 41 | Fort Zumwalt South | 5 | 7 | 118.7 |
| 42 | Hazelwood Central | 5 | 5 | 118.5 |
| 43 | North Kansas City | 5 | 15 | 118.3 |
| 44 | Greenwood (Springfield) | 2 | 11 | 118.2 |
| 45 | Eureka | 5 | 3 | 118.2 |
| 46 | Normandy Collaborative | 4 | 5 | 117.5 |
| 47 | Kickapoo | 5 | 11 | 117.2 |
| 48 | Charleston MO | 3 | 1 | 117.2 |
| 49 | Lutheran North | 3 | 7 | 117.1 |
| 50 | Glendale | 5 | 10 | 117.1 |
Editor's comments: When I say "comments were welcome if they help improve the ratings," I don't think it is constructive to reply on Twitter demeaning comment. What I would ask for is for you to point out games that show a team is consistently better than teams rated above them.
I have gotten specific feedback from fans or coaches and I looked to see if I had missed results that would rank them higher (or lower).
Everyone can have an opinion. I only ask that you provide me with game scores rather than "go back to your day job" comments. Thanks
I love the list but I have a question. You have Rockhurst at number 11, Liberty at 21, Blue Springs at 30 and a team in Ruskin who beat all 3 at 33. A 9-3 record and the 3 losses by Ruskin were by 3 points each game. I also question how low Ray-Pec and Raytown South is on the list as well. Just curious as to how your rankings are calculated?
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking in. I need to devote more time to the KC area and will take a look.
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