coachkev

Is it me, or are the officials this year (as a whole) horrible. I have seen some obvious calls missed by officials who are supposed to be qualified. Foul differentials of 15-0 in the 3rd quarter. This year has been the worse I have ever seen.

postup00, "Justin is a white kid that can dunk" 1. 50% of all players in HS can dunk, so that does not make him or anyone else a complete player just because he can get his wrist above the rim. 2. What does the color of his skin have to do w/ his ability. We have plenty of good ballplayers in TN that aren't African-American. I was offended by that one and I am African-American!!! Justin Hare is a gr8 ballplayer, but not for the reasons that you mentioned!

Brewer is an exceptional athlete. State champ in the high jump his soph. year (many do not know), great student (early qualifier), and an all around gr8 kid (sings in a gospel group). What else could you ask for? Regardless of his record, he is a marked man (and he knows this) ,but he puts up numbers every night. When you play w/ the Travelers every summer and YOMCA last summer (MVP of 17U nationals) one can see why you would be frustrated @ Portland's success and roster, yet he still smiles and never lets it show. Corey is a class act, especially compared to other local "zeros" who get too much pub on this site. Best basketball student/athlete in the state (meaning you have to go to class)!! i guess that leaves Jamont out!

Do you think Brandon and/or Brian would get the exposure or the grades to go to a major D-1 school @ Whites Creek. If so, who was the last to do so since 92'. Research, research, research. I like Brandon's odds where he is. And I'm sure his family feels the same, I know his middle school coach does!

Tennessee has the same if not more athletes as KY,MS,AL,GA. Why do all of the mentioned states have kids who qualify and we sit and drool over kids who will never see the floor @ a university. You will turn your back on him as everyone else will. This time next year you will be taliking about aqnother future "has been". I speak the truth, get to know the situation first before speaking on per capita nonsense. Jamont can't read, but instead of you tutoring him and others in his situation, you sit and brag about how good he is. Look @ the big picture!!!!! He is being used...........

I also heard Demarco Polk was gr8 as well. I think we need to look at the big picture instead of cheating the kid of an education. I am so tired of watching gr8 kids for 4 years get used by the system and become useless after the final horn. How Demarco won Mr. Basketball over Mario I will never know. Mario had the grades to get into Vanderbilt, while Marco lasted a week @ JUCO (shame on you Stratford). The same thing can be said about Cory Brewer an early qualifier @ a top 10 program in Florida. Give respect for student athletes not the Streetball legends. This is the reason why TN gets no respect nationally recruiting wise. Over 1/2 of the kids don't qualify. If Jamont's grades are low and will not qualify to play D1 next year, why are we talking about him? Shouldn't we be preparing him for the real world? Be honest..................

In order to predict the future, one must look to the future. The Travelers must once again be able to get local Middle Tn talent in order to be successful. They will always find one or two East Tn. "flunkies" to go along w/ their marquee players, but w/ up and coming programs (Ballerz, Thunder, etc...) getting the kids the Travelers used to get, it does make it more difficult. they have no one here in Nashville w/ any expertice and street credability to lock any of these kids down for the summer anymore. Those days are over. People have to understand, Brewer, Dansby, Harris were all approached 4 years ago. Who of any quality have they picked up lately on a consistent basis (I'm sure there are 1 or 2)

This is ridiculous , I see why I have been gone for two long. I have a great up and coming coach arguing with two mediocre at best players about who is better on summer circuit. Who cares? I wouldn't neccessarily expect more from average players w/ big egos, but Gomab come on! We both know, that as a former Traveler coach, that neither one could hold a candle to the Travelers of old. The program as a whole is on the decline and we ALL know why.

I heard Barry was not playing for the Travelers this summer. Who is he playing for and why is not on the same squad this year?

Jamont has a lot of people around him telling him the right things to do. Dooney has tried to assist the kid. I went and watched him play this summer at Belmont and witnessed him getting kicked out of a summer team camp game and almost getting into a fight w/ a grown man after another. At some point he has to understand that he needs to change his ways in order to be successful. Some D-1 players are thugs,true, but a player of his magnitude playing on a sub-500 HS team and a AAU team w/ not a lot of exposure will never be seen to even be given the chance, attitude or not. He is approching his jr. year so the grade issue needs to be addressed ASAP. Until he learns that he needs to crack down in the classroom, and become a "positive" he has a better shot of being George King than a D-1 prospect.

Henry is the poster child for a student-athlete... He should have his own movie. A kid who comes from a broken home, lives w/ grandma, sings in the choir, 20+ on ACT as a soph., drops 20+ every night, goes to Stratford (come on yall), A average in the class. I would definitely go see it before Antwan Fisher! Jamont on the other hand is a thug! Plain as day. Sometimes you gotta call the as you see them. Bad attitude, bad work ethic, bad language, bad social skills, just plain bad. Kids like this have no business being apart of a HS team, because you have no continuity on your club. The best thing Glencliff's coach can do is cut him loose. He thinks he's God and he's not even a deacon. Henry is the better of the two.

My point is why does age even come into play. TSSAA has a rule against allowing athletes from competing if they are too old. Obviously he didn't fall under this umbrella. And BA of all people should not criticize anyone of the topic of age "doping". My point is simple, regardless of age, "race", or anything else, Sean was the best track athlete in 2002. I coach track, as well as basketball. As a matter of fact, I coach for the Tennessee Travelers (Nike Basketball AAU) and I have worked w/ David Harrison since he was 14 on his game. He played for the Travelers in HS. I have a lot more knowledge of athletics than you think or/ thought! As far as championships: BA has won the most, but could have beaten Hunters Lane this year????

First off, I appreciate you withdrawing your statement about Sean being OLD!!! Second of all, never underestimate who you are speaking to on this site, because if it weren't for people like myself going to bat (and almost losing my job) for BA 5 years ago during the recruiting scandal, you may not have had a track team to run on this year. Coming from a former track state champ myself and collegiate track athlete, you could never mop the floor up w/ the talent that I produce year in and year out. Moral: Keep your comments to yourself and before you hit "Post reply", review your silly statements.

You have the guts to talk. As many kids who come through BA getting passed through w/ grades and such. PLEASE!! The fact is that Sean is a great kid, if he was too old he would not have been able to run by TSSAA rules. And as for as his age I've known the kid since 6th grade and coached him in middle school, he has never even gone to summer school during that period. My theory, maybe he was held back a year in 2nd grade to go to BA and be a 19 (oh I'm sorry), 17-yr old star. Wouldn't you agree or does that type of thing NEVER go on there. [Edited by coachkev on 5/29/02 1:19P]

As a former runner in college, I had the opportunity to be one of Sean's middle school coaches and used to race him everyday after football practice. I knew then he was going to be special. I told Chuck Lewis about him about running Music City that summer and the rest is history. To see him develop into the dominating machine that he was on yesterday is a testimony to hard work. Good luck at your former coaches alma mater, do Coach Hayes proud!! Armstrong