Top 10 of Last 10 - Shooting Guards

I received an interesting "note" (we will call it) from an old acquaintance of mine. Actually a guy I used to play some ball with, but really haven't stayed in touch with. He was all upset over the previous rankings, and how there wasn't enough players from southern VT listed. The whole vibe he was giving what that of the never-ending "the south gets no respect in Vermont Basketball..." (blah, blah, blah) story that (at least for most the people I talk hoops with) are tired of hearing. This was pretty strange considering this guy was from the north (at least central VT) and played his HS hoops there. Regardless, concerning his beef with the Centers, PF's, and SF's list...yeah maybe he does have a legitimate gripe (that is of course if he never saw the statement I made time and time again that this was strictly OPINION based) that there isn't that many guys listed from the South. There were only 3 guys who played at Southern VT high schools in my first 30 players listed (Aj Mahar, Grant White & Kyle Henry). But lets be honest...how many of the guys I have listed could you make a legitimate argument for someone to take their place? By all means...please do...hell I ask for comments and suggestions all the time!
This did however get me thinking how much of a difference is there really from the North and the South in terms of Talent? I really don't want to dive into this, for god knows it could start a small brush fire down in Bennington, or Manchester, so I decided to just state some facts. I would tend to guess we would all believe that when it really comes down to it, good players, make great teams.  Its really not that much of the coaching, or the competition level, its a simple fact that the team with more talented players tend to be better, therefore are more successful.  Makes sense to me anyway...
So how do you measure success in a Vermont High school program? The number of All-State players that a high school produces? How about the number of college players it may produce? POY awards? Sure while all that sounds great...and personal player accolades may sound sexy...lets be honest...Banners are really the only thing that matters.  State Championships...that is what defines the great teams, or schools from others. So I took a look at the last 10 years, the same previous 10 years that I have been creating my top 10 lists from (notice I said MY lists, as in MY opinion) and who won state titles. Out of the last 40 banners that were handed out from 2000-2010 (Divisions 1-4) I wanted to know exactly how many went to the North, and how many went to the South. I think the numbers speak for themselves...well at least if we are all believers that the best teams, the ones who win titles are made up of the best players. In the last decade, out of the 40 state titles that were handed out...29 of them have stayed (basically) North of Exit 4 on I-89. For all those mathematicians out there, that means only 11 have headed south. The scary thing is 5 of those 11 banners are hanging in Proctor's gym. Here's the break down...

Division 1 Titles:
North 10      South 0

Division 2 Titles:
North 6    South 4

Division 3 Titles:
North 8   South 2

Division 4 Titles
North 5
South 5

I hate to get into all of this...but I did feel I had to show some support for my reasoning. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of great players from Southern, VT, and there always has been. Maybe there just wasn't quite as many between 2000-2010...just saying......

Not to get side tracked and take anything away from the star-studded list of shooting guards (because it is a GOOD one)...here is my list....

Shooting Guards 2000-2010

10. Matt St. Amour (2013) (yeah... he will be that good when its said and done)
9. Mike Cioffi - Rice (2003)
8.  Jed Thibault - Burlington (2000)
7.  Canden Rusin - Twin Valley (2008)
6. Geri Gulliory - Burlington (2004)
5. Bj Robertson - Burlington (2002)
4. Kyle Cieplicki - Rice (2003)
3. Joe O'Shea - Burlington (2010)
2. Tyrone Conely - Burlington (2007)
1. Mike Perez - Spaulding (2002)

PG's on deck!.