This basketball season will be the fourth that boys and girls basketball programs will use the four classification system.
Five sports will compete in four classifications in the 2024-25 athletic calendar year: volleyball, football, cheer, baseball and softball.
Those sports were considered by the Competitive Balance Committee then approved by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission’s Board of Control.
Back in April, the WVSSAC Board of Control gave the green light to add a four-class system in other sports by a large margin, 117-12.
There have been good and bad reviews. The bad reviews are people yelling at this story saying, “West Virginia isn’t a big enough state to do this.â€
Yes, while that is the case with the over 120 high schools in this state. There are also a few positives to this unique system.
Seven — that’s the number of boys and girls basketball teams to win their first ever state basketball title. Five of those came in the system’s inaugural season (2020-21).
Eight — the number of boys and girls programs that had not won a title in five or more years. The Williamstown Yellowjackets won their first state title in 59 years in 2021.
People can continue complaining about this system. However, it gives these smaller communities an opportunity to compete on the state’s biggest stages.
There was a rush of thousands of emotions whenever my Winfield teammates and I ran onto the ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Civic Center floor for our first-round game against Westside in 2018.
It was Winfield’s first time back at the state tournament since 2009.
That was our “we made it†moment. Our community rallied behind us as we marched to the Class AA semifinals, where we fell to eventual state champion Chapmanville.
Making the postseason is always a benefit. For the schools that rarely make it, getting there is a thrill.
The Wahama White Falcons boys basketball team is a great example. They had not made it in 53 years before making it last season. The community of Mason rallied behind its team, which was an awesome sight to see.
We’ve seen some positive flashes in basketball. Now, let’s see how it pans out in other sports before the naysayers stomp all over it.
JUSTICE BACK ON SIDELINES: Gov. Jim Justice has worn many hats throughout his life, especially in his two terms as governor of West Virginia.
He has worn the political hat as he sits in front of the camera and talks to West Virginians. Justice also wears his seasonal Greenbrier East girls basketball coach hat.
He has held this position since he won the 2016 election.
Justice is in a competitive race for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2024. He did not close the door on coaching, if elected, saying, “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?â€
If elected, Justice’s duties as a U.S. senator would start in the middle of the 2024-25 girls basketball season.
“You’re not going to have one ounce of me that says I’m just going to throw the towel in on the kids and everything; this is my last season and everything,†Justice said.
GOING THE EXTRA kilometer: Hurricane Ty Steorts and Winfield’s Brayden Marshall competed at the 2023 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships South Regional in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Saturday.
Each finished in the top 10, meaning they will get to race against other regional winners in the 2023 Foot Locker Cross County Championships National Finals in San Diego on Saturday, Dec. 9.
Steorts finished fifth with a time of 14:55.75, and Marshall came in eighth with a time of 14:58.00 on the 5,000-meter course.
Marshall competed in the national finals last year.
