will26896

Think you are forgetting about Clarkrange...and yes I realize that it's a bit one sided toward the girls over there, but they've had some good boys teams along the way too....and almost always Jackson Co. or Upperman who aren't slouches have one or the other been in and out of that district.....and Van Buren Co. way back when that streak started. Strength builds strength there with a lot of the veteran Bobcats helping to bring along the younger ones and making them better. Plus having a string of strong coaching staffs hasn't hurt either.

And here we are again at tourney time, I'll make a safe prediction that at least one Upper Cumberland team brings home at least a silver ball...........more like maybe 2 for 2 for the gold ball in A and AA ball.

There is a tough kid at Oneida. Can't recall his name but he plays big.

Huddleston and Beaty at Clarkrange are a couple good freshman that should have been starting on a bad team.

Who were the others on the All-Freshman team?

Hate to say it, but have to agree. Not impressed at all so far this year. Plenty of talent there but not utilized correctly. Have potential for incredible inside out game but look like they are playing a pickup game most of the time with no structure.

Having played ball in Class A in high school and being old enough to remember most of those teams I'd like to put in my two cents but in doing so would have to agree with most of you. I do recall some decent teams from the Upper Cumberland area over the years being the Coe/Arms led Celina teams in the early to mid 80s, along with the Mike Buck 88 Clarkrange team and some early 90s Pickett County teams. However with some recognition having been given to those teams the elite was of course the Perry Co. bunch with the brothers and I remember the Bolton teams being feared and revered when I was young. East Robertson was always tough to handle in the late 80s too. To me though it would be a tough choice between the Sylvester Gray Bolton team and the Fitz Jones/Groves East Robertson teams. I think either of those could have beaten the other class champions handily those years. Gray was a freak of nature. I remember being in such awe of him because I'd never seen a guy play the way he did. It's been over twenty years and just reading the name brought back memories of being so impressed with him. Guarded Jones myself and never played against someone so quick, and Groves, now let me just tell you about Groves. Dunked on me and I was so scared that I closed my eyes when I set up to take the charge. Thing was he never hit me and I opened my eyes just in time to see his shoes flying by my head.

That's a whole lot of hardware. Bet there isn't that much in one concentrated area outside of a major city anywhere in Tennessee, maybe anywhere in the U.S.

Don't want to offend fans of other areas but don't the titles speak for themselves? The only shortcoming would be in the big schools but that is probably because there are so few schools that size in the area. Despite the bickering about the goings on at one particular school in an earlier topic, it seems that 7A is, as usual, the class of A ball, and that isn't even mentioning AA. Year in and year out contenders for the title, 7A is tougher than any other A district from top to bottom, and for the most part competitive with surrounding schools regardless of class size. AA always seems to have a contender from the Upper Cumberland as well. It could be just that the competition with each other have driven the schools of the area to be so good just to keep pace. I'm not sure if it's that or not, but it does seem unusual to have such consistency of good play from such a rural area. Could be that there isn't many other things going on for the area that the kids are started at a young age for them to have something fun to do together. Whatever the reason, one could hardly argue that the Upper Cumberland area consistenly produces teams that have to be looked at when you think of who is gonna be fighting for the gold ball in the Boro. Clarkrange, tough as always, the pipeline seems endless, and the wins keep coming. Jackson Co., tough again and doesn't look to be ending anytime soon. Pickett Co., always competitive, once the cream of the crop and possibly could be again in a few years. Clay Co., RBS, and Monterey, smaller schools that are never an easy win no matter who you are York, Livingston, and Upperman have the potential certain years to beat anyone, anywhere, anytime. These teams spring to mind right away when you think of competition and won titles. If Shelbyville were a little further east and in the area most of the girl's titles would no doubt be found along I-40 between Knox and Nash. It seems that there's a pretty big chunk of them there anyway. Only thing that I've been suprised about is the lack of attention from Knoxville. Granted the ones with enough size and speed to be top notch Division I are rare, the area is loaded with solid players year in and year out.