ADVERTISEMENT

Charlotte Observer Pre-season State Rankings

you do what should've been done about 4-5 years ago in Eastern Cleveland county....you create another HS. I know how that will go over in the punch bowl with CC people because they're keenly aware of what that will do to all four other programs. CC is probably the best positioned county in the entire state for creating a good football roster by having only 4 HSs in the county plus the additional Gaston County immigrants to KM/Shelby and SC refugees going to Crest/Shelby.

Either that are somebody has to go 4A next year or two.
I don't see them building another school at all, just expanding. No redistricting either. It will probably be 3 different classifications in the county in 2 more alignments if the expanded version is still in play. The early college, and the 3 charter schools close by lesson some of the need to build. The 2 privates schools are expanding in the county also.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shslion
KM more than likely would already be 4A if the Gaston County section of Kings Mountain still attended KM High School. East School size probably would be double what it is now. That bought KM some time going from City schools to county schools.
It would be good to see Shelby and Burns get their enrollment back up to 3A numbers or 4A if NC goes to six classifications. I know a lot of that would depend on what type of student growth that Crest experiences. It would be unpopular because of history but maybe at some point CC should revisit their school district lines.
Freshman poster you seem to be really in tune with a lot of the planning dynamics in the area. I am always interested in your thoughts around growth in KM and Cleveland County.
 
KM more than likely would already be 4A if the Gaston County section of Kings Mountain still attended KM High School. East School size probably would be double what it is now. That bought KM some time going from City schools to county schools.
It would be good to see Shelby and Burns get their enrollment back up to 3A numbers or 4A if NC goes to six classifications. I know a lot of that would depend on what type of student growth that Crest experiences. It would be unpopular because of history but maybe at some point CC should revisit their school district lines.
Freshman poster you seem to be really in tune with a lot of the planning dynamics in the area. I am always interested in your thoughts around growth in KM and Cleveland County.
Absolutely no way Cleveland County lets Shelby have more students and bump them up a class. How in the world does Burns, in Lawndale, have more students than the biggest city in the county? It makes no sense. I don't see Burns getting more students unless they redraw the lines to make it that way. Which they may do to ensure Shelby stays in a lower classification.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DeBoer31
Absolutely no way Cleveland County lets Shelby have more students and bump them up a class. How in the world does Burns, in Lawndale, have more students than the biggest city in the county? It makes no sense. I don't see Burns getting more students unless they redraw the lines to make it that way. Which they may do to ensure Shelby stays in a lower classification.
Easy

Y’all pull from Fallston , Lawndale , Belwood, Polkville all the way up here where I live near the Burke and Lincoln county line then down to almost Kingstown AND all the way down to the north side of the city limits just above Ingles on 18 …

It ain’t a conspiracy
 
Easy

Y’all pull from Fallston , Lawndale , Belwood, Polkville all the way up here where I live near the Burke and Lincoln county line then down to almost Kingstown AND all the way down to the north side of the city limits just above Ingles on 18 …

It ain’t a conspiracy
Really?

The combined population of Fallston, Lawndale, Belwood, Polkville, Casar and Waco is right at 3,000. Shelby and Boiling Springs are 22,000 and 5,000 respectively.

If the population of Shelby and Boiling Springs is cut in half, each is still pulling from an equal amount, it would be 13,500 each. Still three to four times the amount that Burns pulls from. The lines are not drawn proportionally.
 
I don't see them building another school at all, just expanding. No redistricting either. It will probably be 3 different classifications in the county in 2 more alignments if the expanded version is still in play. The early college, and the 3 charter schools close by lesson some of the need to build. The 2 privates schools are expanding in the county also.

Easy

Y’all pull from Fallston , Lawndale , Belwood, Polkville all the way up here where I live near the Burke and Lincoln county line then down to almost Kingstown AND all the way down to the north side of the city limits just above Ingles on 18 …

It ain’t a conspiracy
Belmont has a population of 15k and two 3a HSs drawing from it. IF you split Meth Holly's 18k population and apply half to SC/SP then you have 24k people making up those 2 HSs.
Shelby has a population of about 22k and one 2a HS.
It might not be a conspiracy, but there is some intent/direction on how things have been set up.
 
When I grew up, it took me less than 10 minutes to get to Shelby High School. It took me 15 -20 minutes to get to Burns. I was in Burns district. That's crazy.
 
Very limited seats in Cleveland County at the elementary level. Most are located in Northern end of the county. You have all the growth in KM and now they are putting up houses on any empty lot they can find in Shelby. 300 home neighborhood going up beside Jefferson. Another 100 water taps have been put in near Pinacle. Gonna be really interesting in the next 5-10 years. Was told it was due to the location being between 85 and 74. Live here and work in Charlotte, Spartanburg, even Asheville. Cost of living still lower than those areas.
 
Very limited seats in Cleveland County at the elementary level. Most are located in Northern end of the county. You have all the growth in KM and now they are putting up houses on any empty lot they can find in Shelby. 300 home neighborhood going up beside Jefferson. Another 100 water taps have been put in near Pinacle. Gonna be really interesting in the next 5-10 years. Was told it was due to the location being between 85 and 74. Live here and work in Charlotte, Spartanburg, even Asheville. Cost of living still lower than those areas.
You are exactly right. Quiet a few people in KM area actually work in Charlotte. It seems Charlotte use to empty out into Cabarrus County. Then it started going south to South Carolina. Now many are looking west to KM and beyond. I know a guy who commutes from Asheville to Charlotte everyday. Crazy…
 
  • Like
Reactions: smashmouth5
You are exactly right. Quiet a few people in KM area actually work in Charlotte. It seems Charlotte use to empty out into Cabarrus County. Then it started going south to South Carolina. Now many are looking west to KM and beyond. I know a guy who commutes from Asheville to Charlotte everyday. Crazy…
I live in Charlotte and every Friday I’m driving to Asheville to watch my Rockets and I’ve been called crazy by lots of people (including my wife), however football is way more important than work! 🤣
 
KM more than likely would already be 4A if the Gaston County section of Kings Mountain still attended KM High School. East School size probably would be double what it is now. That bought KM some time going from City schools to county schools.
It would be good to see Shelby and Burns get their enrollment back up to 3A numbers or 4A if NC goes to six classifications. I know a lot of that would depend on what type of student growth that Crest experiences. It would be unpopular because of history but maybe at some point CC should revisit their school district lines.
Freshman poster you seem to be really in tune with a lot of the planning dynamics in the area. I am always interested in your thoughts around growth in KM and Cleveland County.
The new classifications is 7 going by the general assembly input. So 2 more alignments, I see KM 5a, burns and Crest 4a and shelby 3a.

My job allows me time to do one of my favorite things, research. I'm from the area with family land there and family and friend's that are getting into real estate investing. So I am the one doing alot of leg work and connecting with people while helping others out. 2 more years from now when I am in the position we're I could invest like i want,I think, KM would be overpriced by then. Biggest opportunity I missed was not buying the property directly across the front entrance to the casino. It was still for sale 2 months before the casino approval and I think it will eventually be about 30 times or more the price it was listed at. The growth for the county is really going to be centralized around KM and not spread further into shelby or other cities. My reasoning behind that is, the major developers have already bought huge tracts of land in KM for cookie cutter houses and some more upscale ones. There is still alot of land in KM that is compromised of huge tracts for more building that some younger generations inherited that will see it as an excellent opportunity. The other reason I don't see it spreading throughout the county is SC. The 'entertainment district' will have well paid jobs but still people want affordability. Blacksburg and Gaffney land and homes(investor) roughly 30% cheaper(have found some ridiculously cheaper) than that same home north of the border. Easy access to 85 and the jobs.

The other thing when talking about growth in the ares besides the entertainment district (casino,restaurants,shops,sports venue,concert venue) is the 85 spec building going up in KM. Not sure what will eventually go there but it is the largest spec building under construction in the entire southeast US. It's that huge and could represent 1000s of more jobs.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shutdownD24
Yeah the Shelby pick is crazy, Reidsville or Monroe will come out the West. I still believe whoever comes out the West in 3A will be the favorite to win it all. Southern Durham defense will be good but that offense isn’t championship caliber.
Defense wins championships. Ask any coach which they would rather have, if they could only have one. A great defense or a great offense. I’ll bet most would go with defense. Usually a great defense will prevail over a great offense. There are always exceptions.
 
Defense wins championships. Ask any coach which they would rather have, if they could only have one. A great defense or a great offense. I’ll bet most would go with defense. Usually a great defense will prevail over a great offense. There are always exceptions.
I have coached before and I don’t disagree. I never said defense doesn’t win championships but Southern Durham’s offense may be their downfall to even making it.
 
Last edited:
Belmont has a population of 15k and two 3a HSs drawing from it. IF you split Meth Holly's 18k population and apply half to SC/SP then you have 24k people making up those 2 HSs.
Shelby has a population of about 22k and one 2a HS.
It might not be a conspiracy, but there is some intent/direction on how things have been set up.
Also have to factor in that even though the population is around 20k, it's probably only about 3500- 4000 total that is school age for the city before subtracting. You have to minus the students that stay in the city of Shelby but zoned to Burns and Crest. Then a good majority of Pinnacle kids from shelby also,so you would subtract that also. That 3500-4000 includes elementary, intermediate, middle and high school.
 
Someone on this thread mentioned earlier that Cleveland County should revisit district lines. Anyone who knows anything about Cleveland County knows that district lines do not exist for high school athletes. Athletes especially good ones go to whichever school they choose or whichever offers them the best chance of getting on the field. That’s just a fact. Freshman didn’t say that I did. Not sure how his name got on top of my post.
 
Last edited:
Spraider78


I've said it here before and even had someone say they asked the coach and he told them what i am about to say isnt true,but.... Cleveland County has had an open door policy for years. Of course you can not go for a transfer and say I'm leaving school A to go to school B to play a sport. The Cleveland County policy was and still was I know as close as 2 years ago, is that as long as you stay in the county, you can go to any school in the county, as long as it's not at capacity or the school that you want to transfer to rejects you( they look at file and history or trouble making is an issue,'denied'). You don't have to have a physical move in the county. 2 other exceptions for transfer is if outside of county, you can attend school if guardian works for system or pay the $1414 transfer fee. When playing sports, the NCHSAA basically allows one school change without a move once considered a high school student before having to do the 365.
 
Defense wins championships. Ask any coach which they would rather have, if they could only have one. A great defense or a great offense. I’ll bet most would go with defense. Usually a great defense will prevail over a great offense. There are always exceptions.
A great defense got us past Chambers and Butler last year in the playoffs.
 
Absolutely no way Cleveland County lets Shelby have more students and bump them up a class. How in the world does Burns, in Lawndale, have more students than the biggest city in the county? It makes no sense. I don't see Burns getting more students unless they redraw the lines to make it that way. Which they may do to ensure Shelby stays in a lower classification.

Yea Shelbyville has their ways to keep their numbers down. No secret there
 
Defense wins championships. Ask any coach which they would rather have, if they could only have one. A great defense or a great offense. I’ll bet most would go with defense. Usually a great defense will prevail over a great offense. There are always exceptions.
Defense always wins championships at any level. Pretty simple to understand that.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: KingJordon704
That's what I was going to say. It seems like KM will be knocking on the 4A door in the next couple alignments.

If CC does build a new school, where does it go? I don't feel like CC is big enough to have 5 schools. It would make more sense to expand the existing schools.

The next realignment is 24 months away and KM will be 5a or 6a
 
Also have to factor in that even though the population is around 20k, it's probably only about 3500- 4000 total that is school age for the city before subtracting. You have to minus the students that stay in the city of Shelby but zoned to Burns and Crest. Then a good majority of Pinnacle kids from shelby also,so you would subtract that also. That 3500-4000 includes elementary, intermediate, middle and high school.
Subtracting population segments applies to the info about Belmont and half of MH mentioned above....and any other area. It doesn't matter where they currently go, or have gone...if you have the biggest concentration of population in the county - Shelby- (DOUBLE the size of KM's population....Gaston County "transfers" not withstanding) then you should at least have a 3a school and not a 2a school sandwiched by two 3a schools on either side of it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 87SwO
Subtracting population segments applies to the info about Belmont and half of MH mentioned above....and any other area. It doesn't matter where they currently go, or have gone...if you have the biggest concentration of population in the county - Shelby- (DOUBLE the size of KM's population....Gaston County "transfers" not withstanding) then you should at least have a 3a school and not a 2a school sandwiched by two 3a schools on either side of it.
Different real estate markets. Belmont, Mt holly and KM are or will be destinations for new and growing families. Shelby has a higher percentage of older adults compared to those cities. That factored with the subtractions is the reason. The city of Shelby probably has loss more students to Pinnacle and early college than the rest of the cities in the county combined.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 87SwO
Subtracting population segments applies to the info about Belmont and half of MH mentioned above....and any other area. It doesn't matter where they currently go, or have gone...if you have the biggest concentration of population in the county - Shelby- (DOUBLE the size of KM's population....Gaston County "transfers" not withstanding) then you should at least have a 3a school and not a 2a school sandwiched by two 3a schools on either side of it.
Only way to make them(Shelby) 3A is redistricting the Shelby residents that was required to go to the county schools before the merger. That is an option but they never did that after the merger leaving the previous lines as they were from what I remember.
 
  • Like
Reactions: shutdownD24
Only way to make them(Shelby) 3A is redistricting the Shelby residents that was required to go to the county schools before the merger. That is an option but they never did that after the merger leaving the previous lines as they were from what I remember.

Or wait 24 months and they will be 4a.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 87SwO
Most I seen are wrong and use wrong numbers.
1a will top out around 410

3a will start around 600/650
 
  • Like
Reactions: 87SwO
Most I seen are wrong and use wrong numbers.
1a will top out around 410

3a will start around 600/650
Grizzlydevils had really good numbers using nchsaa admissions and he had 3a in the 750-940 range. That makes more since numbers wise with shelby around the 827 mark. Even if it did start at 600/650, less than 200 from your start number would not push them up classifications into 4a with I believe, over 20 current 2A schools larger than Shelby.
 
He used the wrong numbers.
He used HSots numbers.
He had Robbinsville at 370
The numbers the state used had Robbinsville at 335.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 87SwO
It's a PDA . I found it by just Googling NCHSAA adm 2022-23 but I believe with this link you can download the PDA but it's off the official nchsaa website...


Grizzlydevils had really good numbers using nchsaa admissions and he had 3a in the 750-940 range. That makes more since numbers wise with shelby around the 827 mark. Even if it did start at 600/650, less than 200 from your start number would not push them up classifications into 4a with I believe, over 20 current 2A schools larger than Shelby.

Shelby 805
 
He used the wrong numbers.
He used HSots numbers.
He had Robbinsville at 370
The numbers the state used had Robbinsville at 335.
I think he went back and redone one using NCHSAA enrollment numbers. Pretty sure, not 100% positive, he had a revised one.

Reason I believe they would be 3A is with an even split it has them at the 3a/4a line and I think the charter and magnets will be moved up one classification, keeping them safely 3A range. Moving them up,shifts others down.

Off estimated numbers, if there was an even 7 split classifications for all member schools today, including charters and magnets and just using numbers, Shelby would be 3A with about 8 3a schools bigger than them.
 
I have 15 bigger after looking into it.
If it's 8 Shelby will probably be 4a because 3 or 4 new schools this year. Probably the same next year than again the year realignment starts. With the new schools after this season and the next two I still have Shelby around 7th from the line. But. That's if nchssa goes
64-64-64-64-64-64-rest
If they split even it will be more like this
62-62-62-62-62-62-62 which will put Shelby
really close to the line. Either way I think Shelby will be 3a after all but only for one realignment.
A very small 4a for the 2nd alignment.
Of course they is a lot we don't know yet.

I hope they don't move charters up. That would ruin 1a and 2a, maybe 3a.
2a would be mostly charters.
1a would be full of 2a schools that moved down to make room for charters. Remember only 64 in a class.
Nchsaa hasn't said anything about moving charters up that was two bills from the government. It's been taking out of one bill already.
Hopefully it will be taking out of the other soon.
I believe charters will naturally move up to 2a and 3a overtime as publics get smaller and charters grow. Look at Uwhariee charter they are about seven years old and are probably close to 700 this year.
 
Different real estate markets. Belmont, Mt holly and KM are or will be destinations for new and growing families. Shelby has a higher percentage of older adults compared to those cities. That factored with the subtractions is the reason. The city of Shelby probably has loss more students to Pinnacle and early college than the rest of the cities in the county combined.
Understood....but there is no way in the world that Shelby or entire Cleveland County loses more % or overall student numbers than (just) Belmont/Mt. Holly does to charter and private schools. Whether it's local charter schools or big private schools in Charlotte, SP has the lowest student population in our conference so it's amazing they are this competitive in all sports in the recent past.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BK13T-$
Understood....but there is no way in the world that Shelby or entire Cleveland County loses more % or overall student numbers than (just) Belmont/Mt. Holly does to charter and private schools. Whether it's local charter schools or big private schools in Charlotte, SP has the lowest student population in our conference so it's amazing they are this competitive in all sports in the recent past.
I'm not sure on the comparison between the 2 but I would bet that Shelby definitely, loses higher percentage of high school students to Pinnacle, the Early college and smaller number to Thomas Jefferson, which had a bus route to Shelby library for pick up. That's why Shelbys numbers keep them in 2A. If those 3 didn't exist, Shelby would have and extra 250 kids. So about 30% increase with the current district lines drawn. That actual percentage will go higher because Pinnacles lower grades are much larger than what the current high school classes are,the reason for them expanding the school again. I have no clue on the numbers for Gaston Christians move into Shelby.

I'm not surprised by South Points success across the board in sports. Tradition plays a large part of it. Kids coming in and wanting to win, verses just wanting to be on a team. The other part is that it's a more affluent area. Being able to afford to play with travel teams and get person fitness training as well as private lessons makes a huge difference when you look at sports success across the board. Oh and another key thing that gets overlooked is nutrition. That's how I look at Charlotte Catholic. I hear people say they are not athletic (we no reason why it is said), but the few times I have seen them, they were. I mean quick foot work, big and solid guys on the line and not bent over in the 4th quarter or (7 overtimes,lol).
 
  • Like
Reactions: DeBoer31
@shutdownD24 At this current moment I think KM looks the best. This may be the year they get it done.
@New3ra this season thing to a championship is a marathon. I think early in the season many of the top 3A teams are encountering some kinks in their armor. I definitely think we have a shot but so does 5 or 6 other teams in 3A. I’ve definitely heard of or seen some of the concerns the top 3A teams are experiencing. Size, line depth, defensive liabilities, qb play, etc. I haven’t heard much this season about Southern Alamance in pre-season. Any info on those guys?
 
@New3ra this season thing to a championship is a marathon. I think early in the season many of the top 3A teams are encountering some kinks in their armor. I definitely think we have a shot but so does 5 or 6 other teams in 3A. I’ve definitely heard of or seen some of the concerns the top 3A teams are experiencing. Size, line depth, defensive liabilities, qb play, etc. I haven’t heard much this season about Southern Alamance in pre-season. Any info on those guys?
Of course, you know everyone’s still working out kinks and some teams can peak early or later in the year. Just from what I’ve observed so far KM definitely has what it takes to win. Yes, I’m very familiar with Southern Alamance. They run the Wing-T, they were 4A last season and had a good run in the playoffs, even knocked off a few solid teams. Young on defense last season and return around 8-9 guys. Offensively they return maybe around 6 or 7 guys but you know with that style of offense it’s plug and play. They will be a tough out in the East for sure. I wouldn’t pick them as a team to win it all but it wouldn’t be surprise if they represented the East.

*They also return both leading rushers from last season.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: shutdownD24
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT