B-Ball Fan

Sorry if this has been posted, but I wanted to post info regarding this great eveneing of basketball in Johnson City. Not sure how that date coincides with the Regional Tournament. Here's a link: Freedom Hall Grindstaff Featuring the first East Tennessee appearance in 10 years of the premier boy's high school basketball team in America - the Oak Hill Academy Warriors - winner of five national championships and four runner-up spots. The Warriors currently have 11 players on NBA rosters and countless others on NCAA Division I teams. - The Patterson Prep School Bulldogs - the top prep school team in the U.S. - will tangle with North Atlanta Prep. The Bulldogs feature 14 future NCAA Division I players including (Bruce Pearl) University of Tennessee signee Cameron Tatum. - Stoneridge Prep from Simi Valley, California ia also participating. The Panthers are the best prep school team in the west and are loaded with collegiate prospects. Event times: 22 Feb 2007 (Thu) 4:30 PM Stoneridge Prep vs. Patterson School HS 6:00 PM Hope Christian Academy vs. Our Savior New American 7:30 PM Oak Hill Academy vs. Future Academy 9:00 PM Patterson School Prep vs. North Atlanta Prep Academy Ticket Information: Tickets on sale now! Ticket Prices: $36, $16, $13, $11, $9 There will be both Reserved and General Admission Seating for this event. Ticket prices, including building surcharge, will be as follows: $36 (Adults & Children) - Row A of Lower Level Sections 6,7,8,9,19,20,21,22 - Reserved Seating $16 (Adults & Children) - Rows B-J of Lower Level Sections 6,7,8,9,19,20,21,22 - Reserved Seating $13 Adult; $11 Student - Lower Level Sections 1,2,4,11,13,14,15,17,24,26 - Reserved Seating $11 Adult; $9 Student - All Upper Level Sections - General Admission Seating Additional Information: Ticket purchase includes admission for all four games of the tournament. Sponsored by: Grindstaff Chevrolet Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ford Sprinter Van Parking info: $5 per vehicle in all lots

Thanks PT. I agree about Freedom Hall. I wish that ETSU would use this facility more. It's great for basketball. Atmosphere is pretty good also. I remember Oak Hill-Science Hill a few years ago, and it was a great location for that.

Where is the Region 1 tournament being held this year? I'm already looking forward to a possible rematch of Greeneville vs. Science Hill.

I completely agree. Also, the volume was at a level where you could actually hear the words. Isn't that a novel concept. Come to think of it, I'm probably better off NOT hearing the words of the garbage played before the games. That's a great old gym. Anyone here know when it was built? Wonder why Spurrier didn't stick around. I was very surprised that he didn't make an appearance just before the boys game, or at halftime.

I've seen Omar a few times, and I would have to describe him as very cocky. Some might say confident, but I would probably go as far as to see it as an arrogance. I don't know the young man and I wish him well at Georgetown. I've also been able to see Antwaine Wiggins a few times as well, and his demeanor is the complete opposite of Omar. However, after tonight's game, Omar has every reason to be confident. As a side note, what was the deal with the window shaking music before the games at 'Topper Palace? I must be getting old, because my tolerance for this gets lower each year.

Don't have a box score, but listening to stats on radio after the game, Wiggins 10 points and Wattad 21. Watching the game, it seemed more like 30 for Wattad and 5 for Wiggins. I'm a Greeneville fan, but Omar played at a different level that Antwaine tonight. I knew Omar could play, but everyone they(Science Hill) pulled of the bench was on fire tonight. I don't know if it was a case of one team being extremely cold for the whole game(Greeneville) while the other was unstoppable(Science Hill), but we will find out as the next few weeks play out. If The Hill would have played like this against Liberty Tech, they could have possibly beaten them. I really think this will help both teams immeasurably. Greeneville needed to see their glaring weaknesses, and this should show Science Hill just how good they can be. When I saw them at the Arby's Classic, they were mediocre at best. Wattad had a decent game against Liberty, but the rest of the team was average. IF his supporting cast picks it up like tonight, they can contend for the state championship. Quite impressive tonight.

Do you have the You Tube link? I'd be interested in seeing that. I couldn't help but see the Benson's mentioned on here. WIthout saying a whole lot, I'll say that recent years have shown that the Benson's are beginning to get the reputation that many AAU slimeballs already have. I'm happy to see that they have been kept at arms length by Bruce Pearl. Wasn't it O'Neill that the Bensons tried to strong-arm a few years ago, and he politely told them to *&^% themselves? Could have been Jerry Green, but I want to say that it was Kevin O'Neill? There are tons of great AAU coaches out there, but a few have really mad a bad name for them all.

I've only seen a handful of the state's best, but I've seen Wiggins and Omar Wattad more than once. I'll also get a chance to see them square off on Jan. 27. At first glance, I thought Wattad was better, but after seeing Wiggins a few more times, I realize that his stats aren't a true measure of his talent. Although 25ppg is quite impressive, he sacrifices at least 8-12 points per game by dishing off on double teams. As a primary ballhandler, his drives from the wing often pulls double teams and leaves one of the others wide open for a lay-up. I would guess that he gives up at least 5 or 6 shots a game that are within 5-10 feet of the goal. It was a couple of these back-to-bak layups that spurred Greeneville to pull away from Alcoa just a few nights ago.

For those in the Tri-Cities area, WJHL will be airing an interview with former South Greene coach Larry Ricker. As most on here know, Ricker was paralyzed, and his son killed in a boating accident this past summer. There is also a brief story regarding this piece on the WJHL website.

Here's that answer according to Dr. Ailshie: Dr. Ailshie said that he had asked Coach DeBusk, a standout athlete at GHS during his prep days, to review the background of some of the applicants. “Because of his duties at Tusculum, Coach DeBusk knows a lot of coaches,” Dr. Ailshie said. “That’s why I thought it would be helpful for him to go ahead and check on some of the applicants.”

I seem to recall that the TSSAA stepped in and put a halt to this a few years ago. I remember going to Freedom Hall in Johnson City and watching Science Hill beat a highly ranked Oak Hill squad led by Ron Mercer. I'm not sure why the TSSAA would care, but Science Hill and Oak Hill only got to play each other once or twice. Can anyone shed any light on the TSSAA "blackballing' Oak Hill? Is it because they were robbing the state of some of it's best talent?(i.e. Ron Mercer, Ron Slay, etc.)

To say that Antioch would KILL Greeneville is absurd. They very well could, and maybe we will find out. However, at this point, they have one common opponent which was Dr. Michael Krop in the Arby's Classic. Greeneville lost by 16, while Antioch lost by 17. FWIW, it was reported that Wiggins suffered a finger to the eye(if I remember correctly) during this game, so his production was probably hindered somewhat from this. As I said, you may be right, but your statement is a bit bold. I'll agree that Greeneville doesn't seem to win impressively, but they do win.

You could be right, or it could be that since Paul is sales manager, there is more that plays into it than we know about. Also, in many radio stations, the program director is primarily a title that often has little say as to how things operate. Bill could be calling the shots, or it could be a higher-up(manager?) that dictates who will be helping him. We just don't know. What I do know is that from listening to the broadcast of the Arby's games, I don't get the impression that Bill relishes the input he gets from his color man. At least not in the normal back-and-forth that you get from most play-by-play/color teams.

I can't believe that I forgot to mention that one. I only heard it about 50 times in one game. He also got several plugs in for those wonderful "Chick-Fil-A HandSpun milkshakes". I'm sure he's a great guy that loves the game, but there were probably a couple thousand at Viking Hall that love the game, who I don't want to hear on radio. I agree that Meade seems to ignore much of the silliness that Overbay continues to spew. One poster mentioned that there are MANY that enjoy his sayings, but I have yet to meet them. I would even go so far as to say that I've heard several over the past couple of years call in to Meade's radio show and point out just how bad Overbay is. Meade obviously can't berate Overbay, but I wouldn't exactly say that he glowingly defends him either.

I've browsed the boards for a couple of months and just now decided to join. I'd like to get some other's opinions on radio coverage of high school sports. Each year I listen to the Arby's Classic and swear to not listen again. WJCW does an excellent job with their coverage. Also, Bill Meade is a very good play-by-play guy. I've also heard him do Science Hill games. I know that it would require a lot of work, but I would love to hear Bill do the games by himself. Paul Overbay is, without a doubt, the WORST I've ever heard. Each year I try to listen to the Classic, but find myself tuning it out, simply because of Paul's hijacking of the broadcast. He has ~ 5 or 6 phrases that he uses ad-nauseum. Here's a partial list(feel free to add to the list): "HE ROARS, SOARS, AND SCORES" "THAT'S DOWNTOWN LEROY BROWN" (I believe his incorrect reference is to the Seattle Supersonics shrpshooting guard from the late 70's "Downtown" Freddy Brown. I can't recall the other's, but I'm sure others can peg these without any problem. I actually heard him(Paul) doing play-by-play during one of the games, and he wasn't terrible. His play-by-play kept him from carrying on too much. I shutter at the thought of some of the out-of-town fans listening to these broadcasts, and thinking that this is the best we can do. I've heard some of the other WJCW/WKPT announcers that do a great job. Also, I've heard Greeneville's Bobby Rader, and he is top notch. All I can say is, I'd hate to be Bill Meade having to listen to 25 or 26 games of this.