attila

I heard today they are at 100 teams and full. Great event that showcases the best players and teams in the state. Preview of the state tournament! 

5 hours ago, CaptainGuru said:

That is your opinion and I respect it. Perry Vikings were a good team in the 90s. Bolton Wildcats and Memphis Westside were good teams in the 80's too. I guarantee it. I am Captain Guru and I approve this message.

2 hours ago, warmachine7954 said:

07-08 Union City Tornadoes went 37-0 also. They beat Manassas for the championship and that was no small task. Humboldt and Lake County were no joke that year either.

I saw the 96-97 PC team. They were huge for a A school. I have no doubt that UC, Humboldt, Lake County would have given that PC team trouble and any of those teams could've pulled out a win.

I will give you my opinion and there is truly no way to know this without playing. I have had the privilege of watching every 1-A state champion since 1976 I am an old timer. Here is my top 5 class A teams of all time:

1. Perry County 1997. Shooters/scorers everywhere. Big/quick. Underrated defensively. 

2-3. BGA 93-94 Pettus, Fleming, Vsn Landingham. Beat the heralded non champ Goodpasture with Maddux, Mercer, Howard. 

4. 2014 Mitchell very deep team can’t remember all the names old age.

5. Tie: 1985 Bolton, 2008 Union City. Bolton Sylvester Gray of Bolton. MJ Brown Union City. Fun to watch teams.

What  a lot of people forget or don’t know is that Perry County team had 4 players in Haston, Jones, Brown, and Hamm that would have been the best player on any of the above teams not named Perry County. But all of those teams were fun to watch and well coached. That is my opinion and I approve it.

I asked the question to start a debate and it has definitely created discussion . I actually like both venues. But Tech should be considered  I think because:

currently better arena

easy access off of I-40 to arena

has a lot of new hotels in last 2-3 yrs

average fans with no school ties will attend

community will get into it, not sure still the case in the boro 

 probably won’t move from m’boro but good to discuss

Which venue would be better as a host? Both good arenas centrally located, Tech’s gym looks better and more updated than MTSU when watching the D-2 tourney a couple weeks ago.

Which venue would be better as a host? Both good arenas centrally located, Tech’s gym looks better and more updated than MTSU when watching the D-2 tourney a couple weeks ago.

10 minutes ago, CASC95 said:

The Upper Cumberland is fortunate to have Upper Cumberland Reporter now because they go to bat for local UC teams. The state media lean towards more city areas in coverage and voting.

The UC reporter is great they do a great service to the athletes there. But until the Gannett news mafia with their mob boss Kreager are out of the mix of naming the finalist and winners it will remain the same. It should be a coaches vote and coaches committee that determines it. It should be handled better and there’s no question about that!

Excellent camp and very well ran. A ton of college coaches attend. They love seeing the players in this environment with their hs teams!

This discussion is very good. I looked at margin of victory for last night’s sectionals and average margin of victory was 16.7 ppg, contrast that with 2019 average margin of victory of 11.3 ppg. There were some blowouts sure, but there are every year. My feeling is that the whole state has been a little down the last couple years in boys. Some perennial powers have been just ok. Don’t see us going back to 3 classes, just like football will not drop classes to make it more competitive. Athletics in Tennessee need 4 classes across the board for all sports but again just don’t see it happening. 

13 minutes ago, 85warrior said:

Reed is the only senior. Jones is a junior. The 3 guards are all sophomores. The freshman(Selby) will start next year.

The best should be to come from this group. A lot of talent. Hope this isn’t like the 90’s for WC. This should be a valuable experience for them. They need a tougher schedule to challenge them. Skill work for all, and quit reaching defensively so much. But much more upside to them than down. Will be interesting to see them in a year.

This is a great question. I have seen coaches that win every year and make the state tourney regularly that aren’t great coaches but have excellent talent. I see coaches who coach less talent and are competitive against everyone but may win only 10-12 games every year. I look at these things:

1. They play with effort and purpose.

2. Fundamentally sound.

3. Player development..

4. Game plans that give them a chance to win. 
5. Their in game adjustments succeed.

6. Play with discipline.

7. Togetherness 

This is how I judge a coach. Championship are great but that isn’t all that goes into being a good coach.

Unfortunately we may never see the great players finish hs in state anymore. Many players and parents think it is better to leave and go to ‘prep schools’ to expand their game. Makes me wonder how we produced player like Penny Hardaway, Shawn Marion, Kirk Haston, Thaddeus Young, Trenton Hassell, etc with such poor coaching and competition. Lol it’s a different world!

Here is the issue with this thread, Cookeville and Upperman have very little history of playing each other in basketball, look back 50 years  of playing rarely if at all. With Sparta/Cookeville there is a history for 80 plus years, even over 40 years ago when they were separated by classifications then they still played. 
I know Cookeville can’t or won’t control their student section, not many schools do. But with the talent and tradition of White County they should never back down from playing any program. It’s a failure of the leadership at both schools that they aren’t playing.

This is typical for this program. This place is unreal and will not stay out of a coaches way. Wouldn’t advise any coach to take this job, they will be unemployed again within 2 yrs

Hard to believe these teams are missing out on the BCAT camp at Lebanon this week during the NCAA live recruiting period 15th-17th. Well over 50 colleges were in there recruiting. At least 4 SEC head coaches in the house today!

The BCAT HOOPFEST team camp in Memphis June 16-17. This camp is during the NCAA live recruiting  period specifically for high school teams. Some of the best teams and players in the state will be there. Games at P7 Sports Academy, Briarcrest Christian, and St. George School. Team list is posted at www.bcathoops.com

Come over to Lebanon for the BCAT HOOPFEST team camp June 15-17. This camp is during the new girl’s NCAA live recruiting  period specifically for high school teams. Some of the best teams and players in the state will be there. Games at Lebanon, Mt Juliet, Wilson Central, and Cumberland U. Team list is posted at www.bcathoops.com

8 hours ago, WestTNHoopsFan said:

I don't understand why they would move her. Great private school and the recruiting process is basically all AAU now anyways ( I hate that ). Why move? Doesn't make sense

That correct about great school environment. But the high school coaches, players, and parents need to know the NCAA has sanctioned recruiting camp for high school teams only June 15-17 this year. The BCAT is running it in Tennessee at Lebanon. Currently 65 teams are committed to play. These have usually been for boys only but the NCAA passed it for girls this year. Boys camp have been very well ran and huge successes.

10 hours ago, FootballDavis said:

Tony Williams was fired at Cleveland high school. Never beat Bradley the whole time he was at Cleveland, and East Hamilton.

Who else beat Bradley in those years? 

18 hours ago, tradertwo said:

Your post seems hard to argue with, but I'll still respectfully have to give Perry County the edge. 9 players to play at the next level is impressive, but Ollison, Martin, and Echols were the meat of the team in '15, and I'm assuming that some of the others must have been undeveloped underclassmen in that year. Starting 5 head to head with PC would have been a tough matchup for Mitchell, but you definitely have a good point to argue.

I will give you a little more on ‘97 Perry County, these players were great, not all played college basketball because they played other sports in college. They Averaged 30 pt wins in the state tourney. Averaged 86 ppg in the state tournament. In every game they lead by over 40 before subbing in the 4th. Beat Union City the AA state champ during the season and numerous AAA schools. They played no one out of their district in class A. They were a matchup nightmare for anyone: 

Haston 6’10 All-America at Indiana for Bobby knight. 1st Round NBA draft pick Charlotte Hornets

Hamm 6’8 tremendous skill great scorer recruited at high level

Jones 6’6 without question the best all around player. Could shoot, handle, rebound and defend any player/position on the floor. If not mistaken played overseas

Warren 6’5 big and strong could score and pass

Rhodes 6’4 Deep three range an outstanding shooter

Brown 6’1 Fastest and one of the quickest kids I have ever seen. Handled outstanding and could score from anywhere. 

These were not the only guys, I’m sure there are several missing but for their size they were fast, quick  and played very fast. Plus they were an outstanding defensive team as well. I saw the 08 Union City team and the  ‘15 Mitchell team. I would say if they both played ‘97 Perry County 10 times I would bet PC every time by 10-15 pts. 

41 minutes ago, Swipes said:

Ewwwww I would go back and look more in depth at their schedule.  Yes, the teams they scheduled are traditionally good but wouldn't call it great competition by any means. They lost to Whitehaven (East beat them by 27), White Station (had a losing record and lost to Whitehaven the game before the East beat down), Blytheville (A team White Station beat even with a losing record on the year), Brighton (Losing record), and Ripley (Losing Record).  Fulton played against tougher competition with teams like Myers Park, Trinity, and Mountain Brook. 

 

The point was with them moving to 4 classifications it's watered it down.  It's nothing against Haywood either because it happened last year in AAA when Greeneville beat SS in the finals by 29.  SS said they had played great competition all year when in fact it was ok competition and not teams like Dr. Phillips (ranked 30th in the nation and took an L), Berkmar (7a State Runner up in GA), Amarillo (Lost to Texas State runner up by 9 in the post season ) DB (4a State Champs who they split with during the season), Bearden (4a State Runner up to DB) 

 This argument can go on forever. But let’s just consider this: the 4 classes have allowed a few teams to make state that haven’t been in years that is true and a positive in my view. What is also true is I have watched every state tourney boys and girls for the last 30 years and what is also true in my opinion  is the talent around the state in the public schools is down, I would say WAY down from past years. Between the best players going to the private schools or to out of state prep schools it may get worse. Some of these teams look like glorified AAU teams and just not very well coached or taught the game. Just an observation. 

31 minutes ago, Doc931 said:

Memphis Mitchell 14-15 team and its not even close. 1 D2 player, 6 D1 players just off the top of my head if I had to bet i would say that entire roster played college ball. There has never and will never come close to this team. 

They lost 6 times, that ends the conversation for me. 

20 minutes ago, pujo said:

They win football every single year with players from several different schools. Not sure if its urban or not but its close enough to load their teams with others schools kids.  Have nothing against them but they have nothing in common with the 3a schools in this area.

If Blount county has open enrollment out of middle school, that is a choice. If they are actively recruiting the hall of other high schools that is a problem. 

Wouldn’t exactly say that they are urban but since they won they must be

34 minutes ago, pujo said:

Urban ,rural and you fix the whole mess. 3 classes would be a plenty for true public schools.

Exactly how would you classify Alcoa? Are they rural or urban?

15 minutes ago, WestTnBasketball1234 said:

Watered down bad. This AAA championship game is a good example 

Well it’s two traditional  powerhouse programs that have made many trips to the tourney. I would say the Fulton has just outplayed Haywood by shooting 70% in the first half.