By MONTE DUTTON

Next week high-school coverage will amp up, but for now, here’s a collection of thoughts from here, there and yon.

The dominant story on radio/TV gabfests is “who will get Shohei Ohtani?” Either the Los Angeles Angels keep him in Anaheim at the risk of watching him become a free agent, or they trade him for copious amounts of draft picks and somewhere between a bushel and a peck of players who are merely good but not unprecedented.

Ohtani is 30. At the moment, he is both among the best pitchers and batters. He’s likely to sign a contract that will not be cost-effective as time goes along. Either age or circumstance is likely to force Ohtani to give up, eventually, one or the other. I’d offer a massive salary for five years, with that mother lode of gold continuing as long as he is pitching every five days and toiling in the outfield and as the DH in most of the others. Then I’d pay him merely a silver lode to do one or the other for the remainder.

This, of course, is not going to happen. History suggests that the Yankees and Dodgers won’t care, and how are the poor agents going to make a living if they can’t be unreasonable, brash and confrontational?

Moving east almost 3,000 miles, both the county’s high schools have excelled in 7-on-7s. Clinton went 7-1 and won the shindig at North Greenville University. Laurens sparkled both athletically and spiritually at the FCA revival over at PC.

The Red Devils can throw it, but I doubt they’ll do much of it in the season, particularly with a cast of shifty speedsters in the backfield. A secret of winning offense is throwing when you want to, not because you have to. The Raiders need a better running game.

What they’re doing is all the law allows right now, and what happens when the pads go on is what matters. There’s an old song that advises “do what you, do well, boys,” and that’s what they’re both doing lifting weights and playing catch.

Laurens Academy has announced a jolly good schedule befitting new head coach Jolly Doolittle. The Crusaders play Richard Winn and Newberry Academy twice. The home games are the former against Richard Winn, Oakbrook Prep, Faith Christian, W.W. King and the latter with Newberry Academy.

I don’t know Coach Doolittle yet, but I’m looking forward to asking him, “Jolly, mon, how you doing?”

All three county high schools open on the road Aug. 18, with the Raiders at Hillcrest, the Red Devils at Batesburg-Leesville and the Crusaders in North Augusta to face the Augusta Eagles, a home-school team.

Steve Englehart has filled vacancies on his PC football staff by hiring Blake Stone to coach the offensive line and Quinton Lee the inside linebackers. Stone played for Englehart at Florida Tech.

My expectation is that the Blue Hose will fare a good bit better this fall in Englehart’s second season. The losing streak will almost certainly reach 11 at Murray (Ky.) State on Sept. 2 and had better end on Sept. 9 at Bailey Memorial Stadium against title-exaggerated Virginia University, a private school in Lynchburg that fell to PC last season.

The Blue Hose are opening at Furman in 2025. The Paladins, who open this year on Aug. 31, a Thursday night, at home against Tennessee Tech, are to play non-conference home games versus Charleston Southern and Stetson in 2024.

On paper, the Paladins look strong and are coming off a 10-3 season. According to the depth chart, 38 out of 44 players on the two-deep are back.

For the first time ever, I have watched a lot of NBA summer games, mainly because the Paladins’ Jalen Slawson is trying to make the Sacramento Kings and Mike Bothwell the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Slawson hasn’t put up big numbers but has made lots of highlight videos with slams, nifty passes and blocked shots. I have a hunch he, South Carolina’s G.G. Jackson and Clemson’s Hunter Tyson will stick. Bothwell, a free agent, hasn’t had as much of a chance to impress as he has played sparingly. One would think everybody would get plenty of playing time in the summer league. One would apparently be wrong.

Slawson and Bothwell were the Southern Conference’s players of the year the past two seasons. Slawson was the top defender two years ago and the top player last season.

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