Metroman

It sure doesn't seem like it:) That being said, with all of the negative stuff that goes on here sometimes, I am glad region 6-AAA stays offline. There are really only three teams with a shot to move on to state, Hillsboro, McGavock, and Brentwood. There are a couple of others (Antioch, Glencliff, Overton, Franklin, Ravenwood) that could pull an upset or two, but those three are the only three with a realistic shot of beating any 5-AAA teams. I really hope McGavock pulls it out. Whoever wins the 11-AAA tournament will have a much easier road to the region final than McGavock will.

Losing to Hillsboro is nothing to get upset about. Hillsboro is as good as anyone in the state.

I can speak from experience on this one. When your team isn't very good, you keep coaching. In fact, some of the best coaching you can do is when you are down by 30 and playing against a 2nd/3rd team. You can run the same play over and over and call timeouts to discuss where they can improve and then have a really good practice. Let me tell you, it is really frustrating to be in that situation, but it is gratifying when the players get it. I have watched several coaches in Metro do this. When Kim May started at McGavock, they were awful. They were losing games by 30-50 points. She instilled a work ethic and by the second year it was 10-30 points. The third year they were losing by 1-15 points. Now the number of wins didn't increase all that much, but when talent arrived, they were set up for success. The same could be said for Coach Coombs at Antioch or Coach Tribue at Hunters Lane (now at Cane Ridge). They have all gone through some tough times when talent was down, but have coached hard to make their teams competitive.

Overton picks up a nice win vs Centennial.

I was. I suppose the cats out of the bag, I am the coach at Overton.

Actually I am not at Cane Ridge, I am at Overton. I do think that Mt. Juliet is in the Leroy Wright.

We're at Cane Ridge. We'll be better. I have great kids who work really hard. We have a move in who could be good and a couple of freshman who will be good. We'll play hard, but have trouble scoring. It will help that the district appears to be down.

We'll be at a scrimmage away.

Unless there are no significant newcomers that I haven't heard of, Hillsboro, McGavock, Brentwood, and Ravenwood should be the top 4 in Region 6-AAA. Antioch, Hunters Lane, Overton, Glencliff, and Franklin are next in line. Then Cane Ridge, Stratford, Hillwood, Maplewood, Whites Creek, Independence, and Centennial. I think Antioch might be better than people think. Hunters Lane is a bit on an unknown with a new coach.

LeKeisha Crouch from Hillsboro is the best player in Metro. Played on the Team Flight Team with several other good players. Vacie Perry from Hillsboro is also very good. Brentwood has a good one whose name I can't remember. Madelyn Hudson from Ravenwood is really good. McGavock has several good players but I don't know their names. Of course, Hassell at Wilson Central. Jefferson at LaVergne is really good. There are a couple at Ensworth that are great, but I don't know their names. Those are all I can think of off the top of my head. I still think Crouch is the best of that group, but you could make a case for her, Hudson, Hassell, or Jefferson.

If LaVergne is going to make a run, they have to be more consistent, more disciplined, and less emotional. They have more team speed than just about anybody, but they don't handle adversity too well. This district is just too tough. They'll beat some people, but they'll blow a couple games to. I certainly wouldn't want to play them in a tournament game.

She graduated from Hillsboro in 2000. So, I guess she would be around 25-26. She was the freshman coach last year.

It will be interesting. She was a good player, but there will definitely be growing pains. Being a head coach isn't easy, especially with a team where there are such high expectations. Say what you want about McGill, but last year those girls played HARD all the time. Coach McGill resigned in August because of some health issues.

I think there are only a couple of things TSSAA can do with 12 AAA. I believe that one of their goals is to have no more than 8 in any district and no fewer than 6. 1. Leave everything as is. 2. Take on or two of the other Metro teams in 11 AAA (Hillsboro, Hillwood, Overton) to 12 AAA and make one district of 7 and another of 6. 3. Move all three 11 AAA teams to 12 AAA and then move a team from around Williamson County to 11 AAA (Columbia Central, Spring Hill, Page if either team moves up a classification) 4. Move LaVergne and/or Smyrna or some other county into 12 AAA. (Hendersonville, Beech, Mt. Juliet, Wilson Central, Dickson County, Gallatin, Station Camp) I think the most likely is either 2 or 3. I think Page, which will be AAAA in football and AA in basketball, likely will make the move up into AAA and AAAAA in order to avoid traveling so far for all of their sports. That makes an all Williamson and all Davidson district a real possibility. As for AA, I have no idea. 8A would be an unbelievable boys basketball district, but most of the other sports would be pretty weak.

I don't think it will be completely the same. Brentwood lost some depth and will have a new point guard. I know they have some new girls coming in and they will compete for the district championship. Hillsboro lost some size and depth, but they still have three very good players in Crouch, Pace, and Perry. I think Ravenwood is not a distant 3rd by any stretch. Hudson, being so big and athletic, will make them very competitive. They did beat both Brentwood and Hillsboro late in the year last year. Overton and Franklin will probably be next. Both return most of their players from teams that were OK. Hillwood and Centennial will still be down. Independence lost everything, including their coach. I can't imagine they'll be very good, but who knows. If it all shakes out, I think Hillsboro, Brentwood, and Ravenwood make the Region semis and Hillsboro and McGavock will play in the Region finals. Of course, we never know about freshmen or moveins, and in the girls game, one player can make a huge difference. Just ask Ravenwood.

I don't think it's fair to call McGavock undisciplined. They play very hard and are well coached. They run a lot of good half court sets and have big, physical posts who will play at the next level D1. They guards are athletic and good ball handlers. Their biggest deficit is they don't seem to have a great outside threat. So teams can pack it in and make them make outside shots. Hillsboro lost to a very good Smyrna team and Hillsboro had the same problem last year. They had streaky outside shooters. Back to McGavock, they beat some very good teams this summer and are poised to make a real run. It seems like every year, there is one or two teams in Metro that set themselves up for a run. Hillsboro, Whites Creek a couple of years ago, Antioch two years ago, Pearl Cohn, Maplewood, Hunters Lane and Overton have all been close. The problem is, those teams haven't been able (besides Hillsboro) to maintain it. The other issue is they have to play the toughest region in the state for their substate games.

That's not completely fair. The top of 12 AAA is as good as anybody, the bottom is just worse than most. McGavock is the best and has a chance to make the state tournament. Hunters Lane will be OK. Whites Creek should be way down, along with Maplewood and Stratford. Glencliff will be OK. I expect Antioch 2nd.

I am not sure that rule was in place at the time. There were a lot (over30) of teams there.

I find it hard to believe that any school would practice during the day during the offseason:) I mean it clearly states in Section7 of Article 4 in TSSAA list of rules and regulations that that is clearly forbidden. "Practice During the School Day – All athletic practice during the regular hours of any school day shall conform to the same rules, regulations, and season as corresponding athletic practice outside the school day." I can't imagine that any school does anything but condition during that "4th block". I remember a few years ago, the calendar was changed so that the first day of practice was on November 1. Not the week of November 1st, but the actual day of November 1st. That year, the first was on a Friday and Shelbyville had their playday on Saturday. That's right, one day of prep before a play day. I guess it is not surprising that several of the top teams there were running very complicated systems with only one day of practice. Many of these kids were playing their first varsity games and still knew everything. I guess it's OK to do if you win. Wait a second...(If there was sarcastic font, I would insert it for this last line)

True enough, but Franklin has had to play 2 or 3 12AAA teams in a row in order to win the region the last several years and that is a tall order for anyone. Antioch, Whites Creek, Maplewood, McGavock, Hunters Lane, and Stratford have been tough games for just about everyone the last few years.

12AAA

Per the Tennessean Hillwood-Steve Dodd from Russell, KY Overton-James McKee (Overton's freshman coach)

What I thought I was responding to was the question about whether Springer was eligible to be the head coach. I believe it is a TSSAA rule that a non-faculty basketball coach can not be a head coach until he has 5 years as an assistant. Since Springer has been an assistant for 3 years, he is not eligible to be a head coach until the 2010-2011 season.

Here's the thing about Williamson County. The 2 sports are soccer and volleyball. Brentwood and TNFC dominate the local and state girls soccer at all levels. IMPACT volleyball is one of the best in the state. Basketball will always be third. The good athletes in WC play soccer or volleyball year round. That's the reality, that's the way it will always be. The youth programs in both soccer and volleyball are too strong for basketball to overtake. The only school that has a chance to overcome that is Independence, because they are a different type of school than the others. So, how does a coach overcome that. You embrace it. You don't fight it. Look at Brentwood, how many basketball only players do they have. They usually have 1-3 players and then the rest come from a state winning soccer team or a state winning volleyball team. They take the athletes and then put them in a system that optimizes their talents. If Franklin could keep the girls playing soccer on the basketball team, they'd be strong.

No non-faculty coach can be a head coach until he/she has been an assistant for 5 years. That's why Springer can't be the coach.