matt86

Father Ryan wins 35-34.

MBA's enrollment last year was 1140 (according to the TSSAA website). Guess that averages out to about 285 boys per class.

BGA has never beaten BA by the way, or really been that close for that matter. How would you know how good BGA looks if you are a part of BA's team?

You're MBA 7th grade team would not have won the TNT this year, you wouldn't have even won the HVAC this year. Maybe when you're in the 8th grade next year.

David Peden, BA grad, Ole Miss grad, currently on staff teaching and coaching at BA. Outstanding coach and teacher. Even better person. Great hire.

Puff, As far as I can tell, I don't think anyone on here has said that Tommy Russell can't coach or is disrespecting him. Nor that he is not a great man, teacher, coach, husband, father, etc. He IS all of those things. I think that what is being said is that it's just time for new leadership of the program. He has been there a long time, it's just being suggested that the program needs new direction and influence. And, I already have a degree, two of them in fact, as well as having coached on the middle school, high school, and college level. I have never questioned what Tommy Russell does on the floor, in fact, go back and read what I said, I've already said it before.

Mojo, I'm sorry if my comments were misconstrued as me being a private school hater, I'm anything but. I haven't seen USJ play in person this year, I've only followed their scores and kept up with some of their players. I was speaking in general terms about the past few years regarding getting their "brains beat out", I know they haven't won a district game in more than two years. I agree with your assessment that they are a year away. I love Pierce's game and how he competes. If EJ could control himself and just worry about playing hard, he has all the talent in the world, I like the glover kid and they have some good players to fill in other spots - IF THEY WILL WORK HARD AND GET TOUGHER - they have a nice team to compete in the DII small class - who cares what people say about DII, they'll never be satisfied as someone said earlier. Murph you're exactly right about Tommy Russell - I'm in the first group.

I think that basketball at the school is the 4th wheel (behind baseball, football, and even soccer) - whether that's due to the program's leadership, the school leadership, I'm not sure. Also, I think that specialization in other sports has hurt basketball (kids would rather play other sports plain and simple - which is a another deeper issue - social, socioeconomic, etc)- combine that with losing (not many kids want to come out and get their brains beat in by Haywood, Fayette Ware, etc) and playing in a loaded district, and not wanting to play for the coach, and it's pretty obvious why kids don't want to come out. I think that basketball could succeed at the school - with the right leadership/coach (While I respect Tommy Russell tremendously, and think he's a great man, and fine basketball coach, I think it's time for new leadership for the program) and with the right leadership of the school - I'm not sure the people leading the school, in general, know what they're doing regarding athletics as a whole, not just basketball. There are athletic kids at the school (not necessary basketball players) that want to play, but don't - for some of the reasons stated above. Elvis, I won't get into what they do on the floor and what happens on the floor. I'm not the coach, what they do is up to him, and I won't second guess him. These are my opinions, many may disagree, that's what these boards are for.

If USJ was "buying" players I would suspect that the delk twins, wayne chism, willie kemp, the sain brothers, the long brothers, or jarvis varnado or any other of the top players in west tn the past few years (you pick) would have attended USJ. But last I checked, USJ has struggled in their district the past few years, doesn't seem that USJ is "recruiting" or "buying" anybody. WTM, you're right, maybe all private schools should be banned from athletics. It's only the next logical step according to the publics. BTW since this thread is about USJ basketball, I think there is much more to the puzzle as to why USJ doesn't compete well in basketball (other than so called lack of players or direction of the program/leadership of the program), some of which has been stated, a lot of which has not. Just my opinion.

I'm just curious, who are the players that attended St. Paul and CPA. Not trying to start anything. I'm just curious.

SRV - no hard feelings, it's all good, apology accepted - you love and support and Milan, there's no harm in that. We as adults just get carried away in our support for our schools. As for Milan/BA that's a tough argument. nwtnsports - good luck to the bulldogs this year, you guys are a great community - i love watching games in your town, yall have awesome support - I hope you guys can knock off Goodpasture and meet up with Alcoa, it would be a heck of a matchup

Kurston, I couldn't add anything else. You've summed everything up perfectly. People don't understand unless they've experienced what BA has to offer. It is a special place that cares so much more about the eternal value of each student that attends - so much more than what kind of athlete they are.

Calm down, I was agreeing with you. Calm down, I was agreeing with you.

SRV - First off Franklin is about 5 miles from Brentwood. Stephen attending BA is not that far fetched, I would say that most (note, most) of the kids that play at BA are from Williamson County. To assume that any student attends BA on a "full ride" is false. Each child pays tuition. If you don't believe me call the school and ask them and they will give you an admission packet that gives you the policies and practices of admitting students into their schools. Stephen attended BA in the 7th grade. Tito attended BA in the 7th grade. Richard attended BA in the 8th grade. Kurston attended BA in the 9th grade. So to insinuate that BA goes out looking for 6th graders or 7th graders that are great football players is ludicrous. I'm pretty sure that Carlton Flatt did not have a crystal ball that would tell him which 12 and 13 year olds would turn out to be outstanding high school football players. This may come to a shock to you, but Brentwood Academy's purpose is not to go out and get kids so that they can win football games. In fact, I would venture to say, that all of the DII schools are not about that. While being successful in athletics is important at these schools, they have higher purposes and greater priorities. SRV please do not speak about people you have no knowledge of. Tito was one of the finest human beings that I have ever known. Yes, TITO COULD READ AND HE COULD WRITE. In fact, Tito probably worked harder in the classroom than he did on the football field. Please do not attempt to be sarcastic/funny or prove your unfounded claims and opinions by demeaning his achievements on the football field and making false assumptions on why he did or didn't go to certain colleges. Coach Tucker and Coach Flatt are two of the greatest coaches to ever coach in Tennessee. Both Milan and Brentwood Academy have storied pasts and great tradition. Let's leave the speculation and hearsay of rumors out of the discussion. Good luck to Milan, they have an outstanding team, tradition and community. I hope that they play for a state championship and are successful in their pursuit of their 5th gold ball this year.

They don't hand out gold footballs in August.

Does anyone know where the Covington coach (Bodenhamer?) went?

USJ beats Hillcrest 11-3, only played one game - too wet.

No one said they are.... but the suggestions on here that USJ doesn't want to play Lexington are incorrect. Dyer gave Odle the above dates (of which 5 are Wednesdays, 2 in which Lexington already has a game I believe - March 26 and April 9th maybe - I might be wrong), and was told that they (Lexington) reserve Wednesdays for church - which is totally a legit reason (but it's interesting Lexington has 4 games on Wednesdays this year), the other two dates are Thursdays - of which neither school has a game. These conversations were held before both schools' schedules were complete. I'm not trying to say either team is avoiding the other... just trying to shed some light on why this natural rivalry isn't taking place - it would be a great game that a lot of people would want to see

USJ is more than willing to play Lexington. These are USJ's dates of availability - tell Odle to call Dyer if he wants to play: March 26, April 2, April 9, April 10, April 16, April 23, April 24. I can assure you that USJ is not hesitant about playing the tigers.

Schwiering, I left out Bobby Gentry & Wendell Harris too! I earned my red from Coach Bobby - can't leave him out.

No, I got some from them too (and Bowers before he left /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> ) I spent time the first half of practice on Mondays & Tuesdays under all their guidance at one time or another.

You're right, how could I forget, I played in those two games. I think I took too many whacks from Dalton, Flatt, Gentry, and Jacobs /smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> 14-1 in 93 - only loss to Cleveland in Clinic Bowl & 12-2 in 94 - losses to Robert E. Lee of Montgomery (9-3) and Haywood 7-3.

I wouldn't call losing to Cleveland (probably the best team in the state those two years in any classification) in the State Championships as "unsuccessful" years.

What time is the game? 7 or 7:30

Humboldt is a talented, well coached team. I don't see them getting blown out. I think it will be a close game either way, like someone said earlier, it comes down to USJ stopping the run. If they do that they give themselves a great chance to win. As for styles of play in 2A, I think West TN is predominantly a "running style" area. There are plenty of 2A schools that have been successful at throwing the ball - especially in mid-tn CPA, DCA, Goodpasture, etc. I think it all depends on the kind of athletes you have and of course the coaching and what they prefer and how good it is.