Originally posted by Red87:
The population of Cedar Rapids Metro area is almost 260,000 people. That is Xavier's population base from which it draws its raw 3A school enrollment (Williamsburg is about 3,000, LeMars about 10,000, and Dubuque area about 100,000 counting the tri-state area; or Iowa City with a metro population of about 160,000 vs. Cascade with a "metro" population of about 2200). Pella's population base is not quite 11,000 from which it draws its 3A enrollment. When having to select 5-7 quality "items" (in this case basketball players), selecting from 260,000 vs. 11,000 or 3,000 will more often than not yield better results. The group selecting from 260,000 will always have a natural, INHERENT, advantage to start from through no control or influence of their own; they aren't better selectors. This isn't difficult to understand, and really isn't a debatable issue. A school from Cedar Rapids should almost always perform a school from a town 1/24th its size.