By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Aric Russell added to his impressive resume of basketball accomplishments this week when he surpassed the 400 mark in career victories as a high school coach.
Russell began his 11th season as coach of the Campbell County boys team with a pair of victories that lifted his career record to 401-254 in 23 years with three programs. The Camels posted an 83-59 win over Calvary Christian in the season opener on Monday, then followed that with an 82-44 triumph against Nicholas County on Wednesday.
Campbell County coach Aric Russell.
Russell began his head coaching career in 1998-99 with the Newport girls team and had a 51-32 record in three seasons. In his second season, the Wildcats became the first public school team to win the 9th Region All “A” Classic girls championship.
Russell took charge of the Newport boys program in 2001-02 and posted a 124-120 record over nine seasons. In his final season, the Wildcats set a team record with 29 wins and became the first public school to claim 9th Region titles in both the All “A” Classic and post-season playoffs.
In 2010-11, Russell returned to Campbell County, where he played high school basketball, and now has a 226-102 record as coach of the Camels. He has taken 10 teams to the 10th Region tournament and won titles in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019.
Two years ago, Campbell County made it to the semifinals of the boys state basketball tournament for the first time and finished with a best-ever 31-5 record under Russell, who was named 10th Region Coach of the Year.
Russell also had a successful career as a player. He was a starting junior forward on Campbell County’s 9th Region runner-up team in 1988 and had a double-figure scoring average as a senior.
He went on to play at Kentucky Christian College and was a sophomore starter on the team that won the 1991 National Christian College Athletic Association Division II national championship.
Draud begins quest to break 9th Region basketball scoring record
Beechwood senior guard Scotty Draud began his quest to break the 9th Region boys basketball career scoring record this season when he netted 40 points in his team’s first two games.
Scotty Draud
Draud has now scored 2,449 points in five varsity seasons to close the gap between himself and the top two players on the region’s all-time list. And one of them just so happens to be his father.
The current record-holder is 2014 Dixie Heights graduate Brandon Hatton with 3,045 points. He eclipsed the long-standing record of 2,865 points scored by 1986 Highlands graduate Scott Draud.
The younger Draud goes into his team’s next game needing 417 points to surpass his father and 596 points to break Hatton’s existing record. With teams limited to 30 regular season games due to the pandemic, it will be interesting to see if he can climb to the top spot before the playoffs begin.
Draud’s scoring averages the last three seasons were 22.9, 22.7 and 20.6. He played in 33, 35 and 31 games to achieve those averages. His highest point total was 794 in 35 games during the 2018-19 season.
If he does surpass his father on the all-time scoring list, Draud must take into account that the 3-point shot wasn’t a part of Kentucky high school basketball until 1988, two seasons after his father graduated.
CovCath quarterback makes commitment with coach’s former team
Caleb Jacob, a three-year starter at quarterback for Covington Catholic’s football team, has made a commitment with the Georgetown College program that competes on the NAIA level as a member of the Mid-South Conference.
Caleb Jacob
Georgetown has a 3-2 record in NAIA championship games. The Tigers won back-to-back national titles in 2001 and 2002 with Eddie Eviston at quarterback. Eviston has been CovCath’s head coach the last six seasons.
CovCath had a 39-3 record and won the 2019 Class 5A state championship in Jacob’s three seasons as quarterback. He passed for 7,432 yards and 71 touchdowns in that three-year span.
Blake Bir still holds the CovCath career records for most passing yards (7,564) and passing touchdowns (88).
During his senior season, Jacob passed for 1,796 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing with 558 yards and 15 TDs. In the district finals, he became the first CovCath quarterback to score five rushing touchdowns in a win over Highlands.
Holy Cross graduate will play in Senior Bowl for NFL prospects
Holy Cross graduate Derrick Barnes has accepted an invitation to play in the Reese’s Senior Bowl, a showcase for NFL draft hopefuls that’s set for 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30 at the University of South Alabama.
As a 6-foot-1, 245-pound senior linebacker for Purdue University this season, Barnes made a team-high 54 tackles in six games with 40 solo stops and 5.5 tackles for a loss in six games. He was named second-team All-Big Ten by the conference coaches and received his team’s Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.
During his four-year college career, Barnes played outside linebacker, inside linebacker and defensive end for the Boilermakers. His career totals were 226 tackles in 43 games with 158 solo stops, 10.5 quarterback sacks and 25 tackles for a loss.
Barnes graduated in December with a degree in sales management. He had the option to return for another football season before he signed with an agent to represent him in this year’s NFL draft.
