cookeville fans?

[Tenntwin]

Everyone knows 1a and 2a teams in the area hate CHS because they are a bigger school/ better 80% of the time.   Yep, Clarkrange did beat them twice last year I agree. And they shouldn't have.  Just outplayed them (didn't have 2 starters in second game at home).  But that is just an excuse. 

 

So tired of all the smaller schools yapping like that when in reality, if this was a true "Upper Cumberland District" in all sports, Cookeville would win 80% of those district titles year in and year out.   

Cookeville should be at 95% domination in all sports.  CHS has 1,000 more students than the next largest school in the area (White County), 1200 more than Cumberland County or Stone Memorial and almost 2,000 more students than Clarkrange.   Cookeville should be dominating the state, not just the Upper Cumberland.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Tenntwin

[THE SQUAD]

OK Maybe Alumn89 is a coach?

Tell me where I'm wrong brother???

 

Yes 90warrior, Payne, the Shrums & Phillips are gone.

 

Yes, guys are discouraged from playing both basketball & football. Actually this goes way back at Cookeville.

 

If I'm wrong about the coaching situation then why don't you set the record straight? That was told to me by a parent of a current player.

 

Tell me where I was so wrong, fellow CAV fan.

Edited August 13, 2014 by THE SQUAD

[Shavonda]

hey Cookeville fans or alum why are all the Cookeville players jumping ship? what is going on over there? heard that payne transferred to goodpasture and shrum went to baxter.

There must be a lot going on over there. I'm not really sure what happened to all the other boys but John Payne is my son, and I took him out because one they didn't even have him on the right track to attend a four year college, and for two I feel like they didn't appreciate him as a player. The coaching well i'm sure you know about that. Coach Herd he was great but nothing was played right or handled in the right way and never will as long as Bray is there as coach. I'm sure that is why everybody else as well. I have heard them all complain about the coaching. My son started today as a senior at Good Pasture and for once i'm feeling good about the decision I have made to get him far away from Cookeville as possible. I do want to say good luck to Jadon he will raise to the occasion he is the star of the team.

[sparkman]

There must be a lot going on over there. I'm not really sure what happened to all the other boys but John Payne is my son, and I took him out because one they didn't even have him on the right track to attend a four year college, and for two I feel like they didn't appreciate him as a player. The coaching well i'm sure you know about that. Coach Herd he was great but nothing was played right or handled in the right way and never will as long as Bray is there as coach. I'm sure that is why everybody else as well. I have heard them all complain about the coaching. My son started today as a senior at Good Pasture and for once i'm feeling good about the decision I have made to get him far away from Cookeville as possible. I do want to say good luck to Jadon he will raise to the occasion he is the star of the team.

Shavonda, wish John the best of luck for his senior year. At least he went out on a winning note with the 3 on 3 last week!

[THE SQUAD]

There must be a lot going on over there. I'm not really sure what happened to all the other boys but John Payne is my son, and I took him out because one they didn't even have him on the right track to attend a four year college, and for two I feel like they didn't appreciate him as a player. The coaching well i'm sure you know about that. Coach Herd he was great but nothing was played right or handled in the right way and never will as long as Bray is there as coach. I'm sure that is why everybody else as well. I have heard them all complain about the coaching. My son started today as a senior at Good Pasture and for once i'm feeling good about the decision I have made to get him far away from Cookeville as possible. I do want to say good luck to Jadon he will raise to the occasion he is the star of the team.

Thank you so much for your post. Now we've heard it from someone who really knows.

I hate to see John leave, he's a good kid & a heck of a ball player, but after reading your post it appears you made a wise decision. I'm sure he do very well at Goodpasture.

Ok your turn Alumn89...

[johnnyjumpshot]

Well it is amazing to see all the griping about the Cookeville coach. Considering that most sports are irrelevant at CHS. They have ran off many coaches there and all Bray has done is win 20 or more games every year. Like most schools there are always kids 'walking the hall' that should be playing, but truth be known he has a lot of respect in the coaching fraternity across middle tn and has won a lot of games.

[sparkman]

People "gripe" because there is potential for so much more here.  They win 20 games every year in a weak district with better athletes.  Class of 2014, undefeated district champs as freshman, not one of those boys was still on the team by their senior year.  This years seniors, same thing, undefeated district champs as freshman, I believe 4 are left.   That shows how the players feel, they get tired of putting up with the BS and leave. 

 

Can't totally disagree about most sports at CHS being irrelevant,  you certainly can build more community support for sports than CHS does.  If Cookeville ever brought in a basketball coach and AD who had the passion to build a program instead if just having a team, Cookeville could be consistently among the top teams in the state. 

[THE SQUAD]

People "gripe" because there is potential for so much more here. They win 20 games every year in a weak district with better athletes. Class of 2014, undefeated district champs as freshman, not one of those boys was still on the team by their senior year. This years seniors, same thing, undefeated district champs as freshman, I believe 4 are left. That shows how the players feel, they get tired of putting up with the BS and leave.

 

Can't totally disagree about most sports at CHS being irrelevant, you certainly can build more community support for sports than CHS does. If Cookeville ever brought in a basketball coach and AD who had the passion to build a program instead if just having a team, Cookeville could be consistently among the top teams in the state.

Amen sparkman, very well said.

[Stopthepress]

I was made aware of this discussion this morning and felt the need to chime in on the subject. There are a lot of claims being made on both sides of this argument so I felt the need to weigh in from a coaching standpoint. Yes I am a basketball coach in Tennessee. It may be very un PC of me to do this but occasionally I get disgruntled at people who "know the real story". Cookeville High School is widely considered one of the most chronic underachieving teams throughout the state of Tennessee. When one of the "big boys" in the state want a win they know they can get, they schedule Cookeville. This is commonly accepted among coaches in the state. They know the team is likely to have several really good players on the team but that they will always find a way to lose the game, be it through coaching the majority of the time. Coach Bray will routinely "give up" if his teams fall behind and coaches know this. However, Cookeville does typically win 20 + games a year. AS THEY SHOULD! They also have approximately 15 automatic wins on the schedule every season. They perform well in the regular season and are guaranteed to fold in the post season. Two season ago, Cookeville had what was considered one of the best starting 5 units throughout the state of Tennessee. The Payne kid was their 5th starter for Christ sake! That team lost to Cumberland County twice that year! I remember speaking to a coach from the Chattanooga area and him saying " if I had 4 of those players, we could make a run at state"! I speak for a few college level coaches when I say that Coach Bray did nothing to assist a single player of his to get to the next level. The fact that the Roper and Ledbetter kids are not playing college basketball somewhere is an absolute and direct knock on him as a coach. I spoke with a college coach from the east Tennessee area and he told me he made several attempts to reach out regarding the Roper kid and never got a single response from the coach. There were 2 coaches from colleges in Kentucky that told me they inquired about Ledbetter only to be told not to waste their time because he did not want to play. If this was the case, it should have been left up to him and his family to pass that along instead of Coach Bray stopping the process in its tracks. Maybe 3 or 4 seasons ago, a team from the southeast part of the state simply refused to schedule his teams again when  it was found out that he directly lied about transportation issues regarding getting his players to a game. I could say these things about a lot of coaches in the state. A lot of them are in the business for the wrong reasons. I am not saying Coach is a bad man but he routinely under performs, his players typically never go on to play at the next level, and where there is smoke, there will be fire. That many kids do not leave a program in one summer without cause. And there is very much some truth to the rumor surrounding the assistant that departed. While I cannot speak directly about a unwritten promise in place for him to take over or anything of that nature, I can speak with a great deal of certainty that there was something to that. Under Brays tenure there have been numerous players that should have moved on to college basketball. Roper, Ledbetter, Henderson (at some level), Hill should have received a scholarship instead of being a walk-on. The kid last year, Mason, was not his. He transferred in and the family was on top of things enough to make that happen. The Case kid from a couple years ago had some interest from a few schools but received no feedback from the coach when inquiries were made. I have heard some nightmare details about the Payne kid that left regarding coaching and lack of assistance. I can not for the life of me make sense of how you stand back and let Schrum brothers (that are solid and major contributors) just walk. Then you lose a back-up PG in Phillips, that should be garnering much more playing time, to a border county rival! Payne is a possible Division 1 player at the right school, matter of fact, I think he has division 1 offers. The younger Schrum brother is a naia player at the right school. It is just not a good situation. Then an assistant leaves. Look, that assistant will be the bigger man and handle it in a PC manner, but do not be blind to the mass of personnel they lost. That does not happen by accident or coincidence. It will be an intriguing season in Cookeville. I expect White County to RUN away with the district!  Stone will be down considerably, Cookeville will be a shell of what could have been, and no other team in the district is worth mention. With Yoder, Simmons, and Payne gone, no one in that district will be able to contain Henderson. He will have a massive season. Sparkman was spot on regarding undefeated freshmen champs. This years team should have been one that made pushes and noise. Not now. Coach Bray will continue to misuse his players. He has a small pocket of talent left but it will likely be be wasted.

[Alumn89]

all I can do is laugh at this stuff

 

As for the original question... Yes, apparently both Shrum brothers have transferred back to UHS... although I can't see how they would be eligible, but I am not a tssaa rules expert. 

 

Phillips transferred to JCHS.  He will probably start for them, but in no game last year did I see him ready to start for Cookeville. JMO.  

 

Payne did transfer to goodpasture.  I believe he went to live with his dad.  

 

 

All this Cookeville should go to state all the time is just nonsense.  What UC man and alot of others forget, is that we have very similar talent to other teams in the UC.. but yes, we have more of it.  That still doesn't stand up to the likes of murfreesboros and sometimes the chattanoga teams who also have alot of students, and BETTER talent.  Its like this, we may have 5 guys who are 7/10.  but a boro or good chat team may have 4 guys at 8,9/10 and a couple more at 7/10, etc...    There have been 2 maybe 3 teams since the current coach Bray has been here that have even had a remote shot at state, and that would have had to have some good luck and great play.  

[Alumn89]

I was made aware of this discussion this morning and felt the need to chime in on the subject. There are a lot of claims being made on both sides of this argument so I felt the need to weigh in from a coaching standpoint. Yes I am a basketball coach in Tennessee. It may be very un PC of me to do this but occasionally I get disgruntled at people who "know the real story". Cookeville High School is widely considered one of the most chronic underachieving teams throughout the state of Tennessee. When one of the "big boys" in the state want a win they know they can get, they schedule Cookeville. This is commonly accepted among coaches in the state. They know the team is likely to have several really good players on the team but that they will always find a way to lose the game, be it through coaching the majority of the time. Coach Bray will routinely "give up" if his teams fall behind and coaches know this. However, Cookeville does typically win 20 + games a year. AS THEY SHOULD! They also have approximately 15 automatic wins on the schedule every season. They perform well in the regular season and are guaranteed to fold in the post season. Two season ago, Cookeville had what was considered one of the best starting 5 units throughout the state of Tennessee. The Payne kid was their 5th starter for Christ sake! That team lost to Cumberland County twice that year! I remember speaking to a coach from the Chattanooga area and him saying " if I had 4 of those players, we could make a run at state"! I speak for a few college level coaches when I say that Coach Bray did nothing to assist a single player of his to get to the next level. The fact that the Roper and Ledbetter kids are not playing college basketball somewhere is an absolute and direct knock on him as a coach. I spoke with a college coach from the east Tennessee area and he told me he made several attempts to reach out regarding the Roper kid and never got a single response from the coach. There were 2 coaches from colleges in Kentucky that told me they inquired about Ledbetter only to be told not to waste their time because he did not want to play. If this was the case, it should have been left up to him and his family to pass that along instead of Coach Bray stopping the process in its tracks. Maybe 3 or 4 seasons ago, a team from the southeast part of the state simply refused to schedule his teams again when  it was found out that he directly lied about transportation issues regarding getting his players to a game. I could say these things about a lot of coaches in the state. A lot of them are in the business for the wrong reasons. I am not saying Coach is a bad man but he routinely under performs, his players typically never go on to play at the next level, and where there is smoke, there will be fire. That many kids do not leave a program in one summer without cause. And there is very much some truth to the rumor surrounding the assistant that departed. While I cannot speak directly about a unwritten promise in place for him to take over or anything of that nature, I can speak with a great deal of certainty that there was something to that. Under Brays tenure there have been numerous players that should have moved on to college basketball. Roper, Ledbetter, Henderson (at some level), Hill should have received a scholarship instead of being a walk-on. The kid last year, Mason, was not his. He transferred in and the family was on top of things enough to make that happen. The Case kid from a couple years ago had some interest from a few schools but received no feedback from the coach when inquiries were made. I have heard some nightmare details about the Payne kid that left regarding coaching and lack of assistance. I can not for the life of me make sense of how you stand back and let Schrum brothers (that are solid and major contributors) just walk. Then you lose a back-up PG in Phillips, that should be garnering much more playing time, to a border county rival! Payne is a possible Division 1 player at the right school, matter of fact, I think he has division 1 offers. The younger Schrum brother is a naia player at the right school. It is just not a good situation. Then an assistant leaves. Look, that assistant will be the bigger man and handle it in a PC manner, but do not be blind to the mass of personnel they lost. That does not happen by accident or coincidence. It will be an intriguing season in Cookeville. I expect White County to RUN away with the district!  Stone will be down considerably, Cookeville will be a shell of what could have been, and no other team in the district is worth mention. With Yoder, Simmons, and Payne gone, no one in that district will be able to contain Henderson. He will have a massive season. Sparkman was spot on regarding undefeated freshmen champs. This years team should have been one that made pushes and noise. Not now. Coach Bray will continue to misuse his players. He has a small pocket of talent left but it will likely be be wasted.

Wow to this post... this is either a disgruntled parent, or... a coach in the district.   

 

Again with this coach in waiting deal... lol. 

 

Here is what I know (I think, feel free to try and correct me) , before 2010, Cookeville was in the boro 7AAA district.  Noone can expect them to win it.  They did get 3rd or 2nd a couple times.  I know of one 3rd and I'm thinkin 2009 was either a 3rd or 2nd... anyway...    Since the new 6AAA, Cookeville has had Either the reg season or tournament championship every year. 2010-Season champ, Tourn runner up (CCHS) 2011-Tourn Champ  2012-Tourn Champ  2013-Season Champ, 2014-Season Champ, Tourn runner up (Stone) 

 

People hate success?? 

 

And this guy calling Bray a liar and saying he is in coaching for the wrong reasons... get real. 

 

I'm used to the hate, bring it on... Cookeville has always been hated

[90warrior]

heard that lamb transferred to cookeville from white co. via dekalb co.