coachdm

Opperman, I totally agree with you about Jaycen Herring. He has a lot of talent and his stock will rise in the years to come. Also congratulations to Bartlett for winning the inaugural Mayor's Trophy in Memphis. I hope we get a chance to play you again in the district finals.

He does want to go D-1, but a lot of it will rest on his ACT score, as it does with every player out there. Anyone who has seen Keith play knows that not only does he have the ability to get a D-1 scholarship but also make an impact on that level probably right away if he gets the chance. I think he will be one of the more surprising recruits in the state, because no one is really talking about him outside of West Tennessee.

Keith and Penny are third cousins. The schools that have shown the most interest are UT-Martin (a coach has been to just about every game), Arkansas State, and Union Unviversity. Northwest Junior College out of Mississippi, Itawamba, and Southwest C.C. in Memphis have all shown great interest. He will probably play the 2 guard because of his great shooting and passing skills.

The TSSAA lets the districts decide. As far as I know, they do not have an official rule concerning tiebreakers. In our district (14-AAA) if two teams are tied by district record, we first go to head to head and then how they fared against the #3, #4 team, etc. If they are still tied they go to a coin flip. Some districts even go to the overall record before a coin toss.

Every district does handle it differently. If two teams split for first place in our distict, they would go to how they fared against the #3 team and then the #4 team, etc. If they still tied then it would go to a coin flip. The regional tournament is also left up to the regions involved, usually taking into consideration capacity of the gym and central location. Some regions have the tournament at the same location while some regions (i.e. 13-AAA and 14-AAA) swap locations every year.

In 9 years of coaching I have never seen a game totally decided by poor officiating. The hardest thing for a coach and team and especially fans to take is personal responsibility for a loss. A lesson all coaches need to know is that your team has to adapt to the syle of officiating, whereas an official will never adapt to your style of play. Until they go to instant replay or robots to call a game, there will be mistakes made, and more on some nights than others. The biggest problem I see is inconsistency among the associations on certain calls. The best officials I have seen lately are Northwest Association, which usually calls our regional and sub-state, followed by Jackson area officials. [Edited by coachdm on 2-12-03 1:01P]

It didn't look to me like Bartlett had an off night. Most of it was due to Munford's defense. Bartlett will be tough to beat but I am looking forward to the rematch in February.

Being an assistant myself, I do not envy the position this guy is in, especially following Butch. I don't have any dogs in the fight regarding Dyer Co., but I will say Haywood Co. is one of the toughest places to play in West Tn. I wish Dyer Co. luck in resolving this present situation. I would also hope that they keep the players foremost in their thoughts, for it is because of them that we get into this business to start with, not to be glamorized with a win-loss record.

Munford Cougars have won 10 in a row after an opening night loss and are 10-1 heading into district play.

Munford has started with an impressive 11-1 record over tough opponents. These include wins at Ripley, Haywood Co. which should compete for a AA sub-state appearance, and Germantown.

Hardaway is one of the best scorers I've ever seen. His defense doesn't get enough credit because he is a pure shooter. He always starts out on the quickest guard or best shooter. His GPA is above average and will make a great, surprising recruit on the D 1 level. He does have to get his ACT scores up, however.

Munford is listed as a AA team when in fact they are AAA and off to a great start at 7-1 with wins over Germantown and Ripley.