I expect the numbers could jump again at the beginning of next year as they did this year. Snapshots are taken in the first part of the year but if OF enrollment remains as you have indicated, OF should be good.
You never know. If Tarkington were to get some momentum, the destiny can change. It will take a little time and a strategic plan. Hopefully the community will support the new coach and give him the time and flexibility to implement his plan.
Quite possible. I hope they get to stay in 3AD1 given all of the turnover lately. Would be a tall order for the new regime to have to deal with 4AD2 out of the gate in current circumstances.
Never said Tarkington would be over 600 kids. Shepherd is the one that will be over 600. If the cut off went to 570 that would likely save Tarkington. My initial projections were based upon existing cut off numbers.
Coaches do develop relationships with the college ranks. Coaches also lobby on behalf of the players so long as the player has no character deficiency that would make the coach look bad. If a player is not getting recruited is usually because the player's behavior is not worth the risk to the coach. As stated previously, the coaches see the kids everyday and in many cases, spend more time with the players than the parents do.
I wish I had a nickel for every player that could have played college ball but acted the fool at school and practice and as a result went nowhere. Meanwhile, the parents and community could not understand why the player "did not get support from the coaches" or "why he was not recruited".
Yep, that was the cut numbers that I based my projections. To me, the real question is what 4AD2 will look like. The addition of OF, Shepherd and Tarkington mess up the 4AD2 numbers for the region. Rusk, Center, Carthage are the only ones close that can fill out a district. Suppose they could add Madisonville again. I know Center would like to split from Carthage.
A coach/father's first duty is to his family. It is likely that he could find a situation where he can combine the two objectives if he does his homework. If the father/coach were to seek the "absolute best" opportunity for his son and it did not happen to be his first choice for himself, it would certainly be noble and valid to put his son first and then seek his best place at a later date. It would not be uncommon for him to be able to accomplish both objectives in one shot.
Looks like Bridge City will move up which could keep Jasper in District 9 but I think it would be more likely that 9 turns into a 6 team district so they will be able to create a functional district to the North/NW with Shepherd and Tarkington.