For the next month or so, the Indiana High School Athletic Association is holding public hearings around the state to discuss multi-class basketball. Even if there is an overwhelming outpouring of support for going back to the old system, no one really expects the tournament to change. The final decision is in the hands of the state’s principals, who are overwhelmingly for keeping things the way they are.
I’ve written before about how my opinion on this has changed after living here. I didn’t used to understand why a state this size would throw tiny rural schools against schools in Indianapolis with 5000 students in any team sport. But I’ve come around, and while I don’t think a single-class tournament would solve all the problems facing high school basketball, a modified system that bridges the gaps between the two systems would be best.
While he doesn’t include it in his story, Indianapolis Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep tweeted that one speaker at last night’s meeting shared the old, tired, wildly innaccurate, Bookeyman argument against multi-class basketball: “it’s socialism, dammit!” If you start talking about high school basketball in this state, someone will claim dividing schools by size is an evil socialist plot sooner rather than later. Well done, Hooisers!
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