Yeah its the whole bs recruiting subject that they point to all the time. PJP basically has a roster full of players that would be there even if there was no open enrollment. They are mostly from the catholic grade schools in the area. None of the schools had a problem when they were having their way with PJP when the school first opened. The Pac Ten should be glad PJP is good cause it certainly needed more good teams in the league.

Just makes me laugh that the smallest school (PJP) has to move divisions due to “success” factor, yet how come when Pottsgrove was top dog for years in the Frontier before PJP, there was never a talk or thought of them having to move divisions due to their success??

Six classses for Pa is crazy. Everything is watered down now. I remember a time in the 70s when schools had to be invited to the District one tournament for basketball. There were teams with winning records that didnt make the Districts some years.

PJP had a strong sophomore class last yr. Should be good this yr but have a tough schedule both non conf and playing in the Liberty division this yr. Could be a yr away from deep run but you never know. The issue with making a deep state run is always getting by whoever comes out of the District 12, Bonner/O’Hara……my two cents on other pac schools Perk Valley should be decent as usual, Ditto Spring-Ford but don’t see district runs. Owen J has a couple players who are high end recruits but hasn’t really shown up as far as title runs at least not yet. Downingtown East has one of the best players in the country playing DE/TE a ND commit that’s never a bad place to start when building a team

I agree, talk about a watered-down system. Six Classes is bad enough. It is simple, not easy-just get better.

Did Aliquippa move down to 3A??

OK, won’t leave you hanging. Some early off the cuff predictions, at least for the larger schools in the east. I don’t follow the smaller schools much, so I’ll leave that to others who are more in tuned with them. Two disclaimers…..first, it’s early, so I reserve the right to change my mind going forward, at least up until kickoff. Second, don’t shoot the messenger, because I don’t think some may like what I am going to be typing. So………

6A: St. Joe Prep. Yep, they’re back. They’re due 🙂 Missed them last year, huh?? Actually, whoever comes out of that PCL 6A three headed monster (SJP/LaSalle/Roman) will be playing…..wait for it…..Pittsburgh Central Catholic in the 6A Championship game. I know, I know…….yawn. I’ll chime in with regards to D1 6A later.

5A: Imhotep. A little class relief, as they drop back down to 5A. Zero completion in D12 at 5A. Putting my eggs in the Joey McLeish basket for this pick. If he stays healthy. They’ll play they’ll play the repeat D1 champion Springfield Delco in the 5A semi final. Think they’ll get by Delco, who will play them a lot closer than they played Roman last year.

4A: This is interesting. The preliminary 4A bracket I saw has D2 playing in the western bracket. So do they count for the east?? I want to take North Pocono, but they’ll end up playing the WPIAL/D7 winner the state semi final game in the western bracket. Guessing that’ll be either the Quips or McKeesport. East bracket rep?? Ugh, grasping straws here, but let’s go with PJPII. Maybe a little bit of a homer pick with this one. Just not as familiar with the D12, D11, and D3 teams (all in the east bracket, D4 is in the west with D2) at the moment They had a decent run last year with a pretty young team I believe. I’ll let my PJPII friends and followers on here to follow-up with this one.

In addition, the newly adopted success factor isn’t a “cure all” either. I believe Schools can appeal the decision to remain in their current classification.