3rd Region Hoops— As high school coaches begin to wrap up their upcoming summer camp/summer ball schedule & add finishing touches to next seasons HS schedule, we believe there is a significant impact on coaches who schedule tough. When you think of coaches/programs who typically aren’t afraid to schedule tough, Owensboro Catholic, Owensboro, Muhlenberg County, Ohio County come to mind first, many would argue you could throw Breckinridge County & Meade County in that list as well & we wouldn’t dispute that. It’s no secret that the 3rd Region lacks respect at the state level in hoops & that’s simply because, especially on the boys side, there’s been little success at the state level as a whole. I believe one of the ways we can improve and gain that respect is by scheduling tough. Obviously with putting together a tough schedule, you risk not having the prettiest overall record. You risk suffering some bumps. You risk hurting confidence in a sense if a losing streak were to take happen, but let’s look on the flip side of those risks, shall we? Now before we go any further, we’d be naive to believe that some schools/coaches would much rather get to the oh so pretty 20 win mark by putting together weak & less than respectable schedules. That’s fine & it will likely increase your chances to boost your team in the rankings that all of us media who glamour at the numbers put out, but it’s no coincidence that those same teams are typically not one of the last teams standing at the end of the season & sometimes even fail to qualify for the regional tournament. That’s not to say that only the teams who schedule weak get bounced early, etc because at the end of the day, ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN IN THE POSTSEASON & regular season records don’t really matter once the ball is tipped, but again, there is GREAT benefit for coaches to schedule tough., and here’s why— the biggest reason is simply this., it prepares you for the post season. Let’s go back to 2 seasons ago on the boys side. Muhlenberg County in 21/22 came into the season as the defending Region champs. They returned the majority of their pieces in Trey Lovell, Cole Vincent Brayden Lovan, Davion Summers & more & the coaches knew they’d be again, favored to cut the Sportscenter nets down. So how did Coach Kyle Eades and staff prepare the Mustangs for another run? I’m no rocket scientist but I can assure you the staff didn’t see the need to fill there schedule full of low level teams like a struggling Russellville squad or a Woeful Russell County team. Did the Mustangs have some games on the schedule that were sure fire wins? Yes, of course. There’s no way around those games but they shouldn’t make up the majority of a teams schedule. Coach Eades and staff made sure to put their players through a gauntlet, playing a schedule that saw there record end at 18-12. Going into the post season the Stangs’ carried a record of 14-11. Yes, 14-11. What?! Let’s dive a little deeper though. The Mustangs only suffered 1 loss against regional foes. That tells me 1 thing, the mustangs embraced the TOUGH SCHEDULE! How did taking those bumps & grinding through an 11 loss regular season help them? They had one goal in mind, get back to RUPP arena! Those losses prepared them mentally for the level of competition they’d face & have to overcome if they wanted to get back to Lexington. Let’s be honest, that team had little to no doubt that they’d win the Regional championship again. In large part because they were battle tested. Those mustangs came back this season, losing basically all of its rotation players and yet still scheduled tough. Yes that led to a woeful 6 win regular season but come District tournament time, the Mustangs were ready & weren’t afraid of the moment. They endured a stretch of consecutive 30+ point losses during the season and never wavered. They kept grinding knowing that the schedule would better prepare them as the season progressed. Guess what they did? Messed around and won the programs 5th Consecutive 10th District Title. If you ask first year HC Aaron Morris how his team pulled that off, he’ll be quick to point out the schedule preparing his inexperienced ball club for the moment. Owensboro Catholic HC Michael Robertson hasn’t been shy about his belief in scheduling tough. Robertson stated in a recent 3rd Region Hoops Podcast that he routinely schedules as tough as anyone in the region, if not tougher than anyone in the region, because it undoubtedly prepares his team for post season. Now I’m sure to an extent, he don’t have much choice, because if it were to be made known, there are several 3rd Region schools who won’t schedule the Lady Aces. The reasoning for that most of the time is excuse filled. Those same schools will be the first and loudest to criticize the private school on parish avenue for having the advantage of the Sportscenter hosting the regional tournament. The Lady Aces have won 6 of 11 Region titles and that is in large part because of the schedule coach Robertson puts his girls through. Ohio County boys went on the road to start the season against a top 10 Lyon County team. Played 4th Region Power Bowling Green & a top 5 4th Region South Warren team on the back end of the season. Throw in a top 20 matchup against Cooper and more. Why? Because Eagles HC Paul Decker knows his team, in order to get where they want to be, has a better chance at being prepared for the postseason by scheduling those games. Butler County boys Head Coach Calvin Dockery has ramped up his schedule tremendously going into next season, because with the lofty expectations that have become ever prominent with this current crop of bears, his team needs to be prepared to face stiff competition, to be ready for the 3rd Region Tournament. Any coach who’s seen any sustained level of success will tell you that scheduling a tough non Region schedule will 9 times out of 10 always benefit their ball clubs. Mental toughness, an increased level of competitiveness and so much more all become evident inside your program.