HARLAN — Will the 2024 be the year of the Black Bears in the 13th Region?
Most observers believe so.
Harlan County returns the region’s top player in South Carolina signee Trent Noah, and a cupboard that is full of talent.
The Black Bears are coming off a season that saw them win the 52nd District title before falling unexpectedly during first round action of the 13th Region Tournament.
Coach Kyle Jones hopes things are different this season.
“We felt like we played pretty well all season last year, and got better as the season went on,” he said. We are disappointed in how we played offensively in the regional tournament, but we can’t worry about that anymore. I felt like we had a solid summer we played some good competition in and out of our region/state. We got to see some guys play that did not get a lot of varsity experience last year.”
The Black Bears had four starters returning from last season’s squad before losing Jonah Swanner to an injury during football season.
“We have three starters returning,but would have had dour. Unfortunately, we lost three-year starter, Jonah Swanner, to an injury during football,” Jones said. “We return our post player, who improved all season last year in 6-4 junior Jaycee Carter, who has really changed his body and gotten a lot stronger over the offseason. We also return 6-3 point guard Maddox Huff, who can really score and pass the basketball. He is one of the top guards in the 2025 class.
“We also return two-time all-stater 6-7 Trent Noah, who has continued to improve his overall game, which may be hard for some people to believe, but he has,” he added. “Trent is one of the few players you can say has improved every year he has been in high school. He is one of the top scorers and rebounders returning in Kentucky, and is a Mr. Basketball candidate for 2024. We also return Caleb Johnson from last year’s team. Caleb is an understated athlete in this region, who also has the ability to make 3s.
“Our 5th starter, I feel could be one of the biggest surprises in our region this year, 6-3 sophomore guard Reggie Cottrell,” Jones continued. “He played limited minutes as a freshman, but has grown and gotten stronger, he will be one of the best athletes in the 13th this year. We feel like he is one of the top sophomores in the 13th Region. Brody Napier gained a lot of experience this summer he is a very smart player, who defends and shoots the ball well.”
Jones believes one of his team’s main strengths is his team’s size, but he also cautioned depth could be a concern.
“This is probably the biggest team in school history as a starting five,” he said. “That should relate to us rebounding and defending better as a team.”
Jones also pointed out some concerns, too.
“We have to add some more overall depth with the loss of Swanner to injury,” he admitted. “We have some young kids who have improved, but need more JV and Varsity game experience.”
Jones mentioned his team will be challenged early and often with one of the toughest schedules in the program’s history this upcoming season.
“I feel like this is the toughest schedule in Harlan County basketball history, including the great Harlan teams my father had in the 90s,” he said. “We are hoping this will prepare us for tournament time. We play fuve preseason top 25 teams according to the recent courier journal rankings on our regular season schedule, not including the King of the Bluegrass, Arby’s Classic in Bristol, and our regional opponents.”
Jones’s hopes the tough slate will prepare his team for the upcoming challenges against 52nd District teams, and regional opponents as well.
“I think our district will be very competitive again, Bell is young, but bring back some guys who have played,” he said. “Middelsboro brings back most of their players from last season, and Harlan has one of the best players in our region in Kyler Mclendon, along with Trenton Cole, who started last year for Harlan as well.
“We feel like we are in the hunt for the district and region again this year, just like last season,” Jones added. “We just want to keep working to improve, again we know our schedule is brutal, but we hope it pays off when it matters the most. Our region will be very tough this season. I believe from top to bottom, it is as good or better than last season.”
