Flash Gordon

Aaron Douglas is back playing. He started against Heritage Friday night. He will definitely be an impact player for the Rebels once he rounds into basketball form. Tyler Maples has not returned to practice yet as I understand it. I've heard he has some lingering issues with his foot injury from football. I don't have any inside knowledge on the matter but I am beginning to wonder if Maples will play hoops at all this year. Derek Hunt played some against Heritage. He could help the team some in a reserve role. I also heard Stephen Shiver is practicing with the team now. He didn't play basketball at all last year but he obviously is a great athlete and had some success at basketball at the freshman level a couple of years ago. To my knowledge, that is all of the footballers who are varsity level basketballers.

Good to see some Maryville players get some individual recognition. Coach Quarles gets a lot of well deserved praise as a coach but I am sure he would tell you that he has to have quality players to have the success that he has had. It all works together. Tyler Maples has had a terrific year this year. His numbers this year are impressive enough but one can only wonder what kind of numbers he would have put up if Maryville didn't have so many blowouts in which he played a half or less. I am a little surprised that Aaron Douglas won the award as a junior, even though he is a great player as well. His early commitment to UT probably helped him, it obviously didn't hurt. Congrats to both.

Although he is better known for football, guard Tyler Maples from Maryville led the Knoxville area last year shooting around 50% for the year from beyond the arc. Maryville's new coach Mark Eldridge loves for his teams to spread the floor and shoot the three. Don't be surprised for Maples, along with teammates Kent Basile, Jordan Damron, Wes Lambert, and sophomore Ryan Click to shoot the ball very well from downtown this year.

Thanks TG24. I was extremely impressed with how William Blount played last year with a team that wasn't projected to make much noise in the preseason. One thing is for sure- Coach Baumann will demand great effort and teamwork from his squad. After last year, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see WB have another good year this year.

Hey TG24 (or other Gov fans)- I know Drew Houser is a great shooter and returning starter. Besides Houser, who else do you see as key players for the Govs this year? Also, I think freshman Micah Ballard is an outstanding young player. Do you expect Micah to play varsity ball this year or will he be a freshman/JV player?

Quinche Dowdell from Oak Ridge can throw it down very nicely. Also, how about some love for Jared Stephens of Oak Ridge. A 5'-8" point guard who dunks with ease like he can deserves to be on the list. I personally think Stephens is one of the most underrated players in the state. He has incredible quickness and handle skills, is a tenacious competitor, and is shooting the ball better from long range.

Maryville won both games with Loudon (57-48 @Loudon, 53-48 @ Maryville).

David Duggan and Ken White collaborated on a great book about the history of Alcoa basketball during the years that Vernon Osborne coached the team. A similar book about the history of Alcoa football would be fun to read.

Actually Friendship won the state title in 1982. If I remember correctly, they defeated a very good East Robertson team in a close game in the first round of the state, narrowly beat Goodpasture in the semifinals, and then beat Alcoa by two points in the championship game. They were the ultimate team of destiny. I remember reading that they were trailing with 4 minutes to go in all of their last seven games ( 3 region, substate, and 3 state), yet won them all.

Ignore my last post. I read your post again and see that you are talking about this year's freshmen, who will be sophomores next year. Sorry about that.

Just out of curiousity drillthej, who are the freshmen you anticipate starting for Alcoa next year? I know Alcoa loses a lot of seniors this year but I didn't realize they had any freshmen coming up that are ready for varsity action, much less starting on varsity.

A very good hire if he will stick around for a while.

Can anybody provide any scores and highlights from the Monday night games at the Seymour Tip-Off Tournament? Thanks.