Joe Girard, G, Glens Falls, NY - SYRACUSE

Stud football player. Was a very good baseball player too but had to give something up.

Stud is an overreach. He played class B. He was a d1-AA football player if he went that direction. No shame in that at all.

He isn't anywhere near the talent Greg Paulus was.

This is exactly the player who kicks our asses every time.

Stud is an overreach. He played class B. He was a d1-AA football player if he went that direction. No shame in that at all.

He isn't anywhere near the talent Greg Paulus was.

Just wondering if you’ve seen him play. He’s a stud trust me.

Don't know if he can play D but he is an unbelievable shooter with unlimited range.

Just wondering if you’ve seen him play. He’s a stud trust me.

Joe Girard III is Jimmer Fredette II.

Joe Girard III is Jimmer Fredette II.

Incredible that they come from same school and within such short time but they have much different games.

Just wondering if you’ve seen him play. He’s a stud trust me.

I have seen him many numerous times in football and basketball. Like I have stated in the past, Class B football and basketball is not very tough. However, he is a great athlete who is dominating against talent level well below him. He has taken advantage of it and nothing wrong with that.
I’m not sure how he would’ve done against AA schools in football. Teams have much bigger and faster guys than Class B.
Basketball - I don’t get a joy in watching someone who shots 40 plus times in a game and gets a foul whenever someone touches him and still out there shooting when they are up by 30 going into the 4th. You can count on 15-20 pts from the free throw line. He is a great passer and amazing 3 pt shooter no doubt, but again the talent level is D3 at best except the kid from Schalmont. 
If Stephenson plays 5 yrs in the same league the scoring record would still be his.

I have seen him many numerous times in football and basketball. Like I have stated in the past, Class B football and basketball is not very tough. However, he is a great athlete who is dominating against talent level well below him. He has taken advantage of it and nothing wrong with that.
I’m not sure how he would’ve done against AA schools in football. Teams have much bigger and faster guys than Class B.
Basketball - I don’t get a joy in watching someone who shots 40 plus times in a game and gets a foul whenever someone touches him and still out there shooting when they are up by 30 going into the 4th. You can count on 15-20 pts from the free throw line. He is a great passer and amazing 3 pt shooter no doubt, but again the talent level is D3 at best except the kid from Schalmont. 
If Stephenson plays 5 yrs in the same league the scoring record would still be his.

I watched Girard play in Glens Falls against Johnstown High School, and yes he looked impressive. But the competition was god awful. The entire time I couldn't help but wonder what he'd look like playing against NYC schools.

The competition isn’t nyc level and no one will tell you it is but for the last 5 years every gameplan has been to stop him. Zones, double teams, denial, etc.. with the competition being weak keep in mind so are his teammates. I’m not gonna defend his shot selection because it can get ridiculous and personally I’ve always been an advocate for getting the best shot possible, but score 3500 points and that might give you reason to fire them up.

I don’t want to get into specifically but I know Joe personally, he loves the attention and the hate feeds him. I’m worried that at cuse he will be torn appart by pundits and opposing fans, will he ignore that and just play basketball? Or will he try to prove them wrong and perhaps hurt his game in the process? Either way, I’m going to be unfortunately rooting for cuse as long as he is there and in any game not involving us directly.

Just wondering if you’ve seen him play. He’s a stud trust me.

I've seen him a few times.  He's all over the tv when I'm at my sister's in Saratoga Springs.  You have to understand how bad the football is in New York in general and, within NY, how low level Class B is.  I played at AA and we played one A team in my career (they finished second in the section that year) and we were beating them 42-0 in the first quarter before our starters were pulled. 

I later coached one season of Class B not far from where Girard plays and I was blown away with how awful the talent was.  Out of 11 kids on the field for each team...I'd say 7-8 didn't belong playing football.  Out of the 40 kids on my team, I think 3-4 would have been able to be a backup for my high school team and MAYBE one could have started.


A good illustration of the talent difference between Class B and Class AA is a friend from my hometown who was zoned for a neighboring school.  He broke the then NYS rushing record against a Class B team going for something like 392 yards in three quarters when we were sophs.  The next week he rushed for just 16 yards against us on over 20 carries.  This kid was actually a clear talent and moved to Alabama shortly after and was the state player of the year and had a great college career and a cup of coffee in the NFL. 

IMO Girard is nowhere near the talent Paulus was--nor his younger brother.  I always thought Paulus made a mistake choosing basketball.

This kid was actually a clear talent and moved to Alabama shortly after and was the state player of the year and had a great college career and a cup of coffee in the NFL. 

who was the player you are talking about..?

I've seen him a few times.  He's all over the tv when I'm at my sister's in Saratoga Springs.  You have to understand how bad the football is in New York in general and, within NY, how low level Class B is.  I played at AA and we played one A team in my career (they finished second in the section that year) and we were beating them 42-0 in the first quarter before our starters were pulled. 

I later coached one season of Class B not far from where Girard plays and I was blown away with how awful the talent was.  Out of 11 kids on the field for each team...I'd say 7-8 didn't belong playing football.  Out of the 40 kids on my team, I think 3-4 would have been able to be a backup for my high school team and MAYBE one could have started.


A good illustration of the talent difference between Class B and Class AA is a friend from my hometown who was zoned for a neighboring school.  He broke the then NYS rushing record against a Class B team going for something like 392 yards in three quarters when we were sophs.  The next week he rushed for just 16 yards against us on over 20 carries.  This kid was actually a clear talent and moved to Alabama shortly after and was the state player of the year and had a great college career and a cup of coffee in the NFL. 

IMO Girard is nowhere near the talent Paulus was--nor his younger brother.  I always thought Paulus made a mistake choosing basketball.

Burnt Hills, a class A school has dominated section 2 football for 10–15 years and has routinely been better than the top AA schools.

With no disrespect meant I will trust my eyes and the local coaches who I’m close with. I can’t compare him to Paulus cause I never saw him play high school football.

Next time you are in Saratoga let me know, maybe we’ll grab a beer.

who was the player you are talking about..?

Dwone Hicks.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwone_Hicks

Burnt Hills, a class A school has dominated section 2 football for 10–15 years and has routinely been better than the top AA schools.

With no disrespect meant I will trust my eyes and the local coaches who I’m close with. I can’t compare him to Paulus cause I never saw him play high school football.

Next time you are in Saratoga let me know, maybe we’ll grab a beer.

Burnt Hills is a borderline A/AA school. Enrollment for AA football is 1025 and up. Burnt Hills has an enrollment of 1170 according to its site, so it should be AA. The difference between big A and small to middle AA schools can be negligible and overcome with good coaching and Pop Warner programs. The gap beteeen the lower divisions is much less forgiving.

Class B football schools have an enrollment of 355-584! Divide that lower # by 4 grades and multiply it by .48 for the % in boys and you get 42 boys per grade. There is no way 25 out of 42 kids can play high school football. You have theater kids, trans kids, band kids, soccer players, disabled kids, dancers, etc. in that group. You're lucky if 6-8 kids can play good football. Now compare that to 3,000 kids at a school like Newburgh, Monroe-Woodbury or some of the schools on Long Island and you can see the difference fast.

What I can say is that traveling to see my niece cheer for Saratoga Springs Pop Warner is that Saratoga Springs, which is an AA school, has the worst youth football program I've ever seen.

Live in Saratoga, Ill join you if I can.

Burnt Hills is a borderline A/AA school. Enrollment for AA football is 1025 and up. Burnt Hills has an enrollment of 1170 according to its site, so it should be AA. The difference between big A and small to middle AA schools can be negligible and overcome with good coaching and Pop Warner programs. The gap beteeen the lower divisions is much less forgiving.

Class B football schools have an enrollment of 355-584! Divide that lower # by 4 grades and multiply it by .48 for the % in boys and you get 42 boys per grade. There is no way 25 out of 42 kids can play high school football. You have theater kids, trans kids, band kids, soccer players, disabled kids, dancers, etc. in that group. You're lucky if 6-8 kids can play good football. Now compare that to 3,000 kids at a school like Newburgh, Monroe-Woodbury or some of the schools on Long Island and you can see the difference fast.

What I can say is that traveling to see my niece cheer for Saratoga Springs Pop Warner is that Saratoga Springs, which is an AA school, has the worst youth football program I've ever seen.

Ill join you, I live in Saratoga April-Dec.  Parting Glass for best beers and Irish Music.

Burnt Hills, a class A school has dominated section 2 football for 10–15 years and has routinely been better than the top AA schools.

With no disrespect meant I will trust my eyes and the local coaches who I’m close with. I can’t compare him to Paulus cause I never saw him play high school football.

Next time you are in Saratoga let me know, maybe we’ll grab a beer.

Burnt Hills should be AA, you have to remember when they made changes a lot of those schools in B right now were C-C/C. So right now Glens Falls is most likely one of the larger schools in the B’s.

I’m not saying he couldn’t compete with AA or A but he wouldn’t be putting up the crazy stats like he does every game.

I think he would have a better career someplace other than Cuse. There will be a lot of pressure on him. I still think BC would’ve been better actually.

People either love him or hate him here, you should see that. Some of the hate is jealously and the other part of the hate comes from how he plays and of course how his cousin leaves him in the game even in blow outs to increase his stats. Everyone respected Jimmer the person and player, you couldn’t find one person who disliked him. Joe probably had more pressure right away due to his father playing history which I’m sure wasn’t easy for him in the beginning.

Anyway, let me know if you ever want to get together. Grew up in Wilton now I live in Queensbury.

Burnt Hills should be AA, you have to remember when they made changes a lot of those schools in B right now were C-C/C. So right now Glens Falls is most likely one of the larger schools in the B’s.

I’m not saying he couldn’t compete with AA or A but he wouldn’t be putting up the crazy stats like he does every game.

I think he would have a better career someplace other than Cuse. There will be a lot of pressure on him. I still think BC would’ve been better actually.

People either love him or hate him here, you should see that. Some of the hate is jealously and the other part of the hate comes from how he plays and of course how his cousin leaves him in the game even in blow outs to increase his stats. Everyone respected Jimmer the person and player, you couldn’t find one person who disliked him. Joe probably had more pressure right away due to his father playing history which I’m sure wasn’t easy for him in the beginning.

Anyway, let me know if you ever want to get together. Grew up in Wilton now I live in Queensbury.

Burnt hills is half the size as some double AA schools, I disagree with you there.

Joe brings a lot of the hate on himself but it works for him, I wish he would tone it back but it has been something he’s done/had to deal with since 6th grade or so.

I moved down to Troy earlier this year but I would love to get a watch get together for those posters in the Albany/Saratoga area.

Burnt hills is half the size as some double AA schools, I disagree with you there.

Joe brings a lot of the hate on himself but it works for him, I wish he would tone it back but it has been something he’s done/had to deal with since 6th grade or so.

I moved down to Troy earlier this year but I would love to get a watch get together for those posters in the Albany/Saratoga area.

After 4-2 Im in for beers and/or dinner.  Im in Saratoga

The enrollments become really important at the far ends of the categories. Most of the good Albany area programs seem to be close to the A/AA cutoff--on one side or the other.

Enrollment is a huge factor but it's not everything. You need a football culture and a good Pop Warner team. I've watched my niece cheer for Saratoga Pop Warner and I can say confidently that it is the worst youth program I've ever seen. I actually get bad for the kids because the coaches were clueless. It's a different world in Florida and even where I grew up in NY we had 2 and sometimes 3 teams per age group and we were all about football and wrestling. We had the worst baseball in he country.