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No particular order - these are the best 4: Not sure of #5 Rushawn Reeves - Fulton Jody Fersner - Karns Logan Johnson - South-Doyle Albert Harris - AE

Seymour, Campbell County, Tellico Plains, Morristown West, Bearden, Heritage, Maryville, Rhea County, Kingston, and a team from Wales (no joke). Not sure of the brackets, though.

Here are the games I either saw or heard about: Austin-East beat West by about 15 and Heritage by 10 or so. McMinn Central beat Maryville and Farragut - not sure of scores Heritage beat Knox Central and Boyd-Buchanan and lost to A-E - Central game was close and other was a blowout. Webb beat Maryville (I think - they were winning a close game late when I left). Bearden split their teams and rotated guys around, but their first seven looked awsome when playing together. Didn't see several people play - Karns, CAK, Harriman, Cocke County. Someone said Harriman beat West. I think South-Doyle won both their games. The schedule got messed up some because Pigeon Forge cancelled due to the death of the football player. Bearden and McMinn Central were probably the top two teams there.

South-Doyle is a unique team. The top two players, Logan Johnson and Tate Burroughs are as good as anybody. Adam King is experienced and solid. The questions are the supporting cast and depth. Coach Smith has done a good job there. I would put Wright and Blevins in a different category than everybody else. Both of them have more to work with, but in fairness, Wright had to rebuild that program and is a few breaks away from winning two state titles.

Maryville will be very good, even after losing Humphrey and the others. They still have some good players and Andy Tipton in the post. Alcoa has just about everybody back and Pasqua is much improved. Depth is their only concern. Should be a real good year in the county. William Blount lost 5 starters and some quality depth, but still have very good guard play. Heritage is much improved with 4 starters back.

Carter ahead of Fulton? Let's try to get back to reality a little bit. Carter ahead of Seymour? Coaching comes into play and it isn't even close. Randy Moore may be the best in East Tennessee. Let's not get ahead of ourselves and overrate Carter's talent, which is minimal.

Not sure where these games are, but here are a few matchups: Maryville vs. Fulton Oak Ridge vs. South-Doyle Oak Ridge vs. Heritage Clinton vs. Heritage Campbell County vs. Sevier County

As usual, a ridiculous bias toward anybody that plays for the Midstate Ballerz. How can anybody tajavascript:emoticon('') smilieke these things seriously?

Hard to ignore Seymour in AA. They have all five starters back from a team that was in the state semi-finals. Dominant post presence in Johnson and a great coach in Randy Moore. Guard play is adequate but not great. Probably a really good guard away from being a legitimate state championship contender, but they are still really dangerous.

In no particular order, these are the best 5 I've seen in Knoxville this year. DeMarcus Stevens - Fulton Justin Long - Fulton Albert Harris - AE Larry Williford - West Cassen Jackson - Central

Gatlinburg-Pittman is a pretty neat place to see a game - the mountains on every side. Austin-East is unique in that you don't need to go eat before the game - chicken wings, BBQ, fried fish. Dobyns-Bennett is a great atmosphere.

This will be a close, low-scoring game. Penalties, mistakes, and maybe special teams will determine it. You have to like A-E at home, but Fulton is probably better than everybody thought even though they graduated just about everybody. Both teams are probably better offensively than last year. Long (Fulton) and Harris (A-E) are upgrades at their respective positions. Both teams have studs - Stevens (Fulton) and McCallister (A-E) on defense. Little things will decide this one.

Too many teams have gone to pants with no stripes. I don't like the wild look - like the Denver Broncos, but plain pants are just that - plain. With that in mind, here is who I've seen that looks good. Helmets - Fulton (the old Atlanta Falcon), Gatlinburg-Pittman (the classic GP lettering), Jefferson County (the old New England Patriot), Farragut (the Dallas Cowboy star), Dobyns-Bennett, Knox Central (CHS in block lettering going down the helmet), Alcoa (the Tornado logo). Uniforms - Knox West (the Arizona look), Farragut (hasn't changed in years, the blue and silver look good), Gatlinburg-Pittman. Just a question - how many teams still have stripes on their pants??

Ranking Seymour ahead of William Blount, Anderson County, and Fulton is a little ridiculous. Good win over Sevier County, but this is not the Sevier County of ood.

Why is the coach of the Ballerz arguing with teenagers on a public message board? As for the Travelers being down, I'd say that's a little premature. The true test is the test of time, and the Travelers and the YOMCA are the only ones that have endured. As for being sponsored, that's something you have to earn and maintain.

Jeremiah Crutcher, Deon Gaines, and DeQuan Twilley are the best I've seen. I've not seen Willie Kemp but he's obviously an elite player. I think Crutcher is 16, but give him credit - he is playing with the Travelers' 16-u team.

Another thought on the Travelers choosing not to play AAU - some other top programs from other states also choose not to do so. A few years back, the Travelers began getting good out-of-state players from North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and even Florida, including Desmond Allison and B.B. Waldon - which prohibited them from playing AAU - I believe the AAU rules are more accomodating now, but that's another reason they got out. Even with their resources, there are only so many events you can play.

The Travelers had to work pretty hard for a lot of years to get where they are and earn the Nike sponsorship. It wasn't just handed out. They started out like most everybody else - with little or no resources. They've earned what they've gotten from Nike. There are a lot of people in that organization that have worked long and hard. As for AAU, their calendar is full enough with invitational type events.

Fair enough - the information on the Kentucky tournament was probably wrong. They must have gotten the teams mixed up, reported a score for one team that acutally applied to the other, etc. I didn't check the date - didn't realize you posted prior to the C-N tournament. I know Plavich's team beat everyone easily there except the St. Louis Eagles, who they beat in a close game. The other team was 2-2. I can't really help you with 15's because I've not seen very many of them play. I know the Travelers have two teams, but they did not create a #1 and #2 team. Plavich's team has a lot of guys that played together last year on a team out of Georgia that was pretty good - they acutally split (last year) with the Murfreesboro team that has Brandon Wright. A lot of those guys are from the Chattanooga/North Georgia area.

The information on both Travelers' teams is incorrect. Plavich's team is 7-2, reached the finals of the Kentucky Hoopstars Classic in Louisville. That team also won the tournament at Carson-Newman with a 4-0 record, which makes the record posted here incorrect. This team did not lose to the Nashville Stallions, nor did the other team - both teams beat them. Plavich's team beat Spiece in their only game, and the other team lost to Spiece twice, once in overtime. It's unfortunate that someone will get on this board, rank teams without seeing them play, and post incorrect information. If you want to verify a record, tournament finish, etc., call someone who can provide accurate information. If someone is going to post rankings, ratings, etc., on this board, there has to be a commitment to accuracy. I realize much of this is opinion-based, and that's fine, but if someone is speaking with the authority of this board and providing inaccurate information, that certainly damages the credibility of both the person who posts and the board itself. I'm all for expressing opinions, but not providing accurate information while attempting to post rankings, speak with authority, etc., just doesn't fly.

Since the school is dropping football, are the players bound by normal transfer rules, or will the NCAA make exceptions. I know they can transfer down a level (D2, D3, NAIA) and be immediately eligible. I wonder if this year's signing class has any options or are they locked in to their letter of intent. It doesn't seem fair for these guys. I would think the NCAA would have some kind of waiver so these guys could explore other options. With a lot of East Tennessee talent there, I wonder if Carson-Newman and Tusculum stand to benefit from transfers.

The Travelers lost to the Breakers and the Alabama Nike Challenge team when they split their teams up to fill a time slot for a team that didn't show up. They only had five on each team and lost two close games with no subs.

Tennessee Travelers Navy 15-u team went 4-0 and the 15-u Orange team was 2-2. The Travelers' 17-u team was undefeated when playing together, including two wins over the Thunder and a great win over the East Coast Scholar Athletes. Because a team didn't show up, they had to split their team for one night session (5 on each team). One team lost a close game to the Breakers and the other lost a close game to Alabama Nike Challenge. The 16-u team was 3-2 - lost two good games to the St. Louis Eagles and Tennessee Thunder. The Thunder 16's were undefeated and the Breakers' 17's lost once to East Coast after beating a good Alabama team.

The tournament is this weekend at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City and lasts two days - Friday and Saturday. No play on Sunday because of Easter. The Travelers have four teams in the tournament. Out of state entrants are the St. Louis Eagles, Alabama Nike Challenge, East Coast (VA) Scholar Athletes, Masters Hoops (VA). Several in-state teams are playing - Tennessee Breakers, Tennessee Thunder, Tennessee Dream Team, Murfressboro Nets, Knoxville Lakers, Clarksville Magic, Alcoa Ballers. Three ages divisions: 15, 16, 17. Games begin at 11 Friday morning and at 9 Saturday morning and go until late at night.

The Travelers don't play AAU - they play invitationals only.