don23

Obviously the best high school basketball prospect in Tennessee is Brandon Wright. The candidates for A, AA, and AAA are deserving. Is Mr. Basketball given to the best college prospect or the best high shool performer? (By the way, congrats to Mr. Hare, a classy human being and a whale of a ball player)I'm sure there are other players which feel they should be candidates and were slighted. Jonathan Adams is an excellent high school basketball player, but gimme a break. Did the committee see this game? Does your team have to come in second place in the region to be nominated? I always thought it went to the best player on the best team, or the most valuable player. Obviously Knoxville Catholic (26-2) is the best team in the East. Big time players are get it done in big time games. Fox's 42 points lifts Catholic in double OT By BRAD GASKINS, Special to the News Sentinel February 29, 2004 It was a game you needed to see to believe. What was a one-sided contest for nearly three quarters turned into a double-overtime thriller in the course of three minutes. "It may have been the greatest high school game I've ever seen," said Catholic coach Mike Hutchens, who has coached for 21 years. Tony Fox was the hero in Catholic's 90-85 home victory against Chattanooga Baylor in the Division II-East Region championship game Saturday night. Fox scored 42 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead Catholic (26-2). He was named the tournament's most valuable player. "Tony Fox is the best guard in East Tennessee," Hutchens said. "I'll come out and say it. "When he gets hot, I've never seen (anybody hit 3-pointers like him)." The victory gives the Irish their 16th consecutive home victory and fourth overtime win of the season, including two against Baylor. Catholic opens state tournament play Thursday at 2:30 p.m. EST against Memphis Briarcrest at David Lipscomb University in Nashville. "We're a small school in a big town," Hutchens said. "I'm going to tell you now, this team can play with anybody." After trailing the entire game, Catholic made its move with a 15-0 run - the first 13 from Fox - that began with one minute remaining in the third quarter. It started when Baylor's Donnell Flint fouled Fox and then drew a technical foul. Fox made all four free throws before making consecutive 3-pointers to cut Baylor's lead to 49-46. Fox opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer that tied it, 49-49. Daniel Sheridan gave Catholic its first lead of the game, 51-49, with 6:27 remaining. Baylor regained the lead and extended it to as many as five points. But Catholic wouldn't go away. With his team trailing 68-65, Fox made a 3-pointer as time expired to force overtime. "As soon as I released it, it felt good," Fox said. "I knew it was going in." Fox was fouled on a 3-point attempt as time expired in the first OT. He made two of three free throws to tie the game at 74-and send it to double overtime. "I was really disappointed in myself for missing just that one," Fox said. "I'm glad I made two and I'm glad we got the win - that's all that matters." Catholic secured the win in a second OT period that it controlled. Baylor coach Austin Clark, who was visibly upset with the officiating during the game, refused comment afterward. Catholic trailed 18-14 at the end of the first quarter and 37-24 at the half. "Baylor came out a little bit better than we did, and I give them credit for that," Hutchens said. "They're a great team." Catholic's offense showed no signs of a spark until the run. "These kids, they just don't quit," Hutchens said.

chill, Thanks for the insite. I met Fox and the Merryman at 5-star when I worked the camp in Radford. I have only seen Knox Catholic play twice this year. A few guys I know at UT said Fox was the best senior guard at the camp from the area besides J. Smith. I assumed all Knox area teams were there, maybe some were not. Maybe that was a presumptious statement, but I like the kid. People better watch out for Merriman too, he has not reached his potential. Juco maybe be a good route for him. He can play at the next level. Both are good kids and play hard. Parton also has potential. He can handle it, he sees the floor, and is a tenacious defender. I think if he works on his j, he could be very good when he is a senior. I love his competitiveness. Connor is smart and moves without the ball well. But when I saw him play he had like 3 or 4 points and the man he was guarding had like 20 in the Baylor game. He could also benefit from gaining some strength. I don't think he can create his own shot either. Catholis is fun to watch, I wish them luck this year. Hopefully all these kids play somewhere at the next level.

Gomab: If I had to pick of your available choices I would have to go with Smith at Bradley Central. He has turned Bradley into a periennial contender in AAA. One guy who doesn't get much credit, but always gets the maximum amount from limited talent is Austin Clark of Chattanooga Baylor. His teams are very disciplined and always play good defense. This was a cool thread.

granny6 Like your picks, where is Gaskin headed next year? I know one of the Maryville guys is going to C-N, but where is the guard going? Thanks!

Hello Gomab, Thanks for the information. Wright should go to Oak Hill, he will not improve as much by staying and playing in D-2. He reminds me of Chris Bosh. I agree with your assessment of Smith, a little under-sized and a little too inconsistent to merit interest from SEC or ACC. He could definitely play in the Southern Conference, OVC, and the like. Obviously size hurts Fox. I also believe he plays with the level of his competition. I was not impressed either initially, until John Higgins (UT) told me he scored over 20 in one half vs. White Station at UT's camp. I then contacted a friend of mine that is an OVC assistant and he said Fox went nuts at the Blue-Chip camp at Georgetown College in KY. I've seen him play twice this year and both games he looked good, scoring 30 vs. BA and 7 straight points in OT to beat Chattanooga Baylor. He has a good first step, not a great one. He can see the floor, and has a very quick release on his jumper. It would be tough for him to defend at the next level with his size, but he can score. He is the best senior guard in Knoxville, that is not super impressive though. I definitely think he is D-2 or NAIA, but I hear he may try to walk-on at UTC or Middle. Where do you think he belongs? I have seen Merriman once. He is a nice athlete, but like Smith a little too small, and will not be able to play with his back to the rim at the next level. At what level do you see him playing next year? Two more questions if you don't mind. Who is Chattanooga's best senior? I hear great things about Pickel, never seen him play, is UTC after him? Again, thanks for the reply. As I have said before, keep up the good work. I love the site.

Gomab: I assume you have nothing to offer concerning my first 2 issues which I inquired about, which is understandable. I am not from this area and moved here just recently, so I haven't seen a great number of the players on your top 170. Where are the new rankings located? Are the rankings based on age or class? Does it matter how old someone is, do college coaches or high school fans care? Also, according to last Friday's Knox-News-Sentinel Fox is KC's leading scorer and second in assists. Fox is easily KC's best player, and is their true "player to watch" as this site would call it. I assume you were referring to Connor, he is a junior. Sure Fox's game has flaws, show me a high school kid which has no flaws in his game. It is obvious you guys just didn't do your homework on these 2 kids, which how could you not miss some kids having to cover such a broad area. Again, this site is cool, the previous state I lived in had nothing of the sort. I am not complaining by any means I appreciate your insite.

First, I wanted to commend the website. This site provides a plethora of insiteful data and analysis of high school basketball. It is also a great recruiting tool with the team and player rankings, also good team sites with the schedules and rosters. Is there any truth to the rumor that Tennessee's most sought after recruit, Brandon Wright, is heading to Oak Hill in the near future? He looks like the next Chris Bosh, unlimied potential. Is Jujuan Smith going to be academically eligible to attend a NCAA school, or will he have to go the juco route? Are any FL jucos calling? Just wanted to point out a glaring omission to your top 200 list. Merriman of Chattanooga Central is definitely worthy, he has had many quality outings against quality opposition such as Brainerd and Bradley Central. Tony Fox is another kid who should make this list, I realized this after watching him score 30 points vs. Brentwood Academy and beat Baylor in OT. I'm sure BA is the frontrunner to win the D-2 state championship courtesy Mr. Wright, but watch out for Baylor. They have an excellent coaching staff and a very good starting 5. Again great site, keep up the good work.

I'm sure all of Tennessee high school sport patrons are keeping the Pitts family in their prayers. Add my family to the list, we will be praying for a quick recovery for his daughter. What a great role model Coach Pitts is for young men, God bless him and his family.

Question for Coacht.com: I am a former graduate assistant coach for an OVC school. I do some scouting for several area colleges to help their recruiting as I still have many friends in the business. I was asked to go see Tony Fox. I had already seen him make the all-star team at the prestigious Blue-Chip camp in Georgetown, KY. He also scored 51 points in one game at the camp. How is Tony Fox not on your list? How is he not on your top 200 player listing when he is obviously one of the top guards in Knoxville? His team is 20-2 and he averages 18ppg along with 4 assists, and is leading the area in 3pt field goals. He is obviously the top player in the D2 region. He single-handedly beat a very good and well-coached Baylor team. In that game he made the game-tieing 3-pointer to force OT, and then proceeded to score the first 7 points of the OT to seal the win. His coaches tell me he has seen a box-in-1 in over half their games. He is averaging nearly 20 ppg in region contests. He sees the floor very well, can stop on the dime and shoot his jumper. He can finish in the paint and has unlimited range on his jumper. One of his coaches called him Mr. Clutch as he always seems to make the big play in big games. He is currently being sought after by several D-2 schools, several top-notch NAIA schools, and a few Atlantic Sun and Southern Conference schools have shown interest. An opposing coach in the region with prior exoerience as a D-1 assistant called Fox easily the region's MVP, and implied Catholic would be close to last place in the region without Fox. He said their entire game plan against Catholic is to stop Fox and limit his touches and shot attempts. Another opposing coach called him his favorite player from another team b/c he plays with great effort and intensity. Jonathan Adams is the next best high school player in this region. He has D-1 potential if he can expand his perimeter game this summer. He is very skilled for his size with a nice shooting touch. He blocks shots and rebounds. Easily Baylor's top threat. I hate to say anything negative about anybody but Conner is not even close to the region's best player. In the region's biggest game of the year I saw him score 3 points and give up 16 second half points to a Baylor player who is not a scorer. In region contests his ppg average barely reaches double digits. He does most of his damage by putting up big numbers vs. weaker competition in non-region contests, which merit no value in D-2. He is an above average high school player, but not even close to a Mr. Basketball candidate.