Basketball coaches differ on TSSAA decision

With a 7-5 vote, the decision was made by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) Board of Control to keep the Division I basketball classes at three.

A recent push by coaches was to increase the number of classes to anywhere from four to six classes.

Two representatives from West Tennessee – Greg Scott (Milan) and Scott Gatlin (Jackson Christian) – voted against keeping the three-classification system, while Ricky Catlett (Chester County) voted to keep it the same.

And the differing opinions of the West Tennessee Board of Control members is representative of the opinions from coaches in the area.

Trenton Peabody boys coach Tim Allen is active within the Basketball Coaches Association of Tennessee (BCAT), and that organization was one of the biggest proponents of six classes for basketball.

“BCAT supported the six-class proposal,” Allen said. “Two years ago during a clinic, we surveyed the coaches, and 72 percent of the coaches at the clinic voted for six classes like football. Over 20 percent wanted something different from what we have, which means five to seven percent wanted to keep it as it is.”

That is different from what Hillwood’s Steve Chauncy said at the meeting when he told the board members that there was no consensus on what people want.

“I was disappointed with what Chauncy said because he met with us Monday afternoon,” Allen said. “We told him what 70 percent of the coaches wanted.

“We knew the east was against it, but I am happy with what Greg Scott, Scott Gatlin and Bryan True [Lewis County] tried to do.”

Allen’s District 14-A mate John Glisson at Bradford was also disappointed in the decision.

“We are an extremely small school,” Glisson said. “We are in the bottom five percent with enrollment, and we have to play teams four or five times our size. I would have liked to have leveled the playing field.”

Glisson might have felt better about the stay at three classes, if football didn’t increase between Division I and Division II.

“I am upset that football went to nine classes, while basketball stayed at five,” he said. “There are more basketball-playing schools than football-playing schools. I fail to see the sense in that.”

James Burkley coaches the boys and girls basketball teams at Middleton, and he has taken the girls to two straight appearances in the Class A state tournament that included the 2015 state title and a 67-game winning streak.

“I didn’t see a big reason to change,” Burkley said. “I knew some wanted the change in classes, but it didn’t matter to me.”

Chester County girls basketball coach Lee Pipkin has also won a state championship on the Class AA level in 2005, and she is content with how the classification system is now.

“I know that there were a lot that wanted us to increase classes, but I don’t care either way,” Pipkin said. “I know for the smaller schools it matters a lot more.”

McKenzie is one of the larger small schools, and boys basketball coach John Wilkins had a concern about moving up the number of classes.

“My only concern with the proposals was the amount of travel,” Wilkins said. “One proposal I saw had us in a district with Waverly, Scotts Hill and Camden. While those games would be competitive, we would be driving over an hour to those games. Right now five of the schools in my district are within a 15-minute drive.

“Coming from Henry County where we made those long trips for district games, I love having the close games here at McKenzie.”

South Side girls basketball coach Brent McNeal is worried about what a bump up in classifications would mean.

“For me, I am happy that it stayed at three classes,” McNeal said. “It could have hurt some of us in the middle because it might have bumped us up. I think our level of competition is good right now.”

Another question that was brought up by coaches and board members was the loss of district tournaments with more classes.

“The loss of revenue alone would hurt us,” McNeal said. “But in the last five or six years, we have had some crazy games and upsets. The loss of the tournament would hurt us.”

Burkley is concerned about another decision that the TSSAA will be making soon, and that is about the new district alignments.

“My thing right now is that I don’t want to be sent out of the district,” Burkley said. “I am concerned about getting moved to a Memphis district, and that is because of two reasons. One, I don’t want the long travel to Memphis twice a week, and I don’t want to lose the revenue from the gate.”

Michael Odom, 425-9754