[HCS]

If you can remember Harry Taylor, I guess I will get over you suggesting I was crazy for not seeing a Corbin player on the bench who actually wasn't there.
Different world in the 40s-50s though - before integration and most consolidations.

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Ok so, i hear people saying 4 region titles in 25 years is so impressive you get the job for life or whatever. So i ask this question, how many teams have won more regional titles in that frame in this region? From 98 to 2023, Corbin has won 5, 1 with Deaton. Clay has won 5. South 4. North and Knox 3. Harlan county (including cumberland) 3. No other team has won 3 in that span. However, let’s think about logistics. The best football program over multiple coaching tenures in this region over the last 25 years in Corbin. No team minus maybe the 2019 bell county team would beat corbin from this region in football in nearly the last decade. The best team in all sports combined in the last 25 years is Corbin. Corbin has the tools in place to win at athletics and academics over every other school in our area that is undisputed. However, Corbin basketball is not as dominate as they probably should be, they are just consistent. Corbin athletics requires top notch at every single level for players and coaching, except for men’s basketball. They accept consistency. Let’s run out a football coach who loses 5 games in 4 years or whatever greer did, or run off probably the best active coach in kentucky in haddix, to strive for GLORY. But in men’s basketball 20 wins is fine. I’m not a corbin supporter or anything, but i don’t really understand that double standard.

Are there just two sports in this discussion?
I think the girls basketball team has won three regional titles in that time. Not sure about softball, but it seems North and South have dominated there.
Baseball has won several regions, but none from 2007 to around 2017.
Not sure on cross country and track. I believe they've won a crazy amount in tennis though.

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Billy Hicks had much stiffer competition than TP ever did. He was smart enough to know he wasn’t going to be able to continually have the talent at Corbin, which was a really small school back then, and made the jump to SC.
As for Pietrowski, you can say what you want but the guy has been the best coach in the region since he’s been there, at least as far as programs are concerned. What school in the region has had a better 23-24 years since he took over?

All that said, I do think the end is near. I think the plan was always to get the kid through school and then go from there. Seems like that’s what most of them do anyways. If he stepped away now I’d still consider him one of the regions best ever, and I think that time has come or is really close to coming.

Clay was really good, but most of that was in Billy's first couple of years when he was rebuilding. Hicks didn't have to beat the Laurels for a regional championship or a consolidated Harlan County. He didn't have to beat a future NBA player or two future UK players (Richie was the only one then, I bellieve).