Hoopallday

Thanks for the response. A lot of good points. The bottem line is that all interest should be for the young ladies and that is what most High School coaches have lost. They would rather be 20-1 and beat there chest of how good of a coach they are than work with the summer coach and help the young lady reach her goal of continuing her education and playing career at the next level. Bottom line is that nobody cares about girls basketball except the people involved. So if a high school goes 30-0 and wins the state nobody cares except the school who won. So why not work together for a higher purpose, helping young ladies reach there dream and you can do this and still have a quality high school product. Most high school coaches will not even have any dialog with AAU coaches. I do not know what they are affraid of. If the high school coach is doing what he/she is suppost to be doing, they have nothing to worry about. If they prepare everyday to be the coach these young ladies deserve then they should be will to work together. What the are failing to realize is that High School basketball is irrelevant. A young lady does not need to play high school basketball to get to the next level but 90% of them have to play summer ball to do so unless you are a Candace Parker. If the High School coaches dont come around they will not have anybody to fill there teams. Just look at the numbers. High School participation is down over the past 5 years and AAU is up 75%. Just sad!!! By the way, There is not a high school team in this area that can hang with a top D1 team. Science Hill is a quility team but most D1 AAU teams have really good player 1-10. They have a couple quality players. Joe Ebarb? really? that is funny! But great point!

Why do most High School Coaches not like AAU or Summer Travel ball and there coaches? I just seems that some high school coaches put the young ladies in a position to choose one our the other and they do not have the best intrest of the young lady in mind only there record. There are some very good high school coaches and there are some very good AAU coaches. I would think if they work together that the young ladies goal would be reached. Sad is what it is! Does this just take place in Northeast TN or does it happen all over the state?

Just a question for everybody. What is the punishment for coaches that recruit other players to come to there school and play? Is this a common practice? Just wanting to know what you think.

I am talking about the University of South Carolina..

I want to thank all the teams,Carter County Elite, East TN Elite and TN Team Hustle, that participated in the 3 game friendly this weekend at Elizabethton High School. Good competition and a great day of basketball. We must do it again. Thanks again...

Congrats to Shelby Hicks from Nautilus Express and South Greene. She has verb commited to USC UpState to continue her basketball and education. She has worked extreamly hard and this is the iceing on the cake. Awsome!!!

Makensey Campbell who plays for the Nautilus Express 16U and Sullivan South High School has commited to Western Carolina to play her college ball. Congrats to her and all the girls. This is when all the hard work pays off!!!

Thanks so much. Big blow! For our team,yes but for the young ladies even more. They were working hard and I just feel so bad for them. They will know more today with the MRI. Hopeing and praying for the best. Great playing you the other day. You have a great team with players that show alot of respect.

The Nautilus Express 16U just got back from the showcase is Suwnnee GA and won the Gray Division. They went 4-0 and play extreamly well. Play some good comp and played very well togeter with huge amont of determination and passion. Got alot of looks from college coach and are another step closer to there dream of playing college ball. That is what this is all about, the young ladies! Some of the Girls Ansley Ricker (South Greene), Shelby Hicks (South Greene), Juli Osborne (DB) Makensey Campbell (South) Abby Fletcher (South) Jaquline Kestner (Central) Emmie Thompson (Unicoi) and Blakley Burlison (TN High). Great job girls and good luck with the rest of the season.

To the Ricker family.. May God bless your family and be with them through this time. My prayers go out to you. Justin Wimmer

Congrats to the Nauitlus Express 16U Girls team. They played in the Peach State Tip Off Classic in Suwannee GA this past weekend and won the Gray Division. The girls played there hearts out and all the credit to them. A lot of good looks from college coaches and one step closer to reaching there dreams. Job well done and good luck with the rest of the season!!!

comp... Who in th H#*@ told you that Ricker was bailing? This is how S#$@ gets started and destroys a team. From people that dont know there #### from a hole in the ground. I guess it never stops!!!!! She is on board and will be a vital part of our success!!!

Cara, I want to give you my sincere apology for bringing such disruption to you and your family. This was not my intentions. I also apologize for the others that have posted on this thread. You are a great player and I hope nothing but the best for you and your future. I hope you accept my apology. Justin

the dream 1 you are on a roll... for all of the insightfull thoughts that you have, you must have a team that has great success and does not charge the girls $400 start up and $160 per month to play. Can you please tell me what team that is you run and coach? OH you probably dont. You are the one that sits in the stands and complains about everything and does nothing. You speek like you know us or me and you dont know Jack. You have no clue what we are about and the time and energy we put into this so every younglady, no matter what income level, has an opportunity. So dont sit behind this board and talk about something you have no idea about. If you what to help please call and we would love to have you sit on the sideline and engergize our team. But if not then shut up!!! We have corp sponsor at a fundraiser that pay most of our expenses so the cost is Very low if any to the familes. We are a one team show.. that is it. We do not have a 12,13,14,15 and 16U teams so all of the girls play on one team..that is why we have 15 girls on our team.. SO WE CAN GIVE EVERY GIRL WE CAN THE OPPORTUNITY TO REACH THERE GOALS!!!!!!! I have no kids so I do this because I care.. period but why am I explaining myself to you... If you have a girl that wants a fun but challenging experence then we would love to have them tryout... Because this is not about you nor me it is about THESE YOUNG LADIES!!!!!!!!

Wow... How people want to put others down. Now I know why it is so hard for these young ladies to reach there goal. So I am going to keep doing what I do and help all of the ones that I can. This was just a reach out to this young lady to help her. By the way I did not say that "300 coaches sat and watched our team play" I said we play in tournys that are in front of 300 coaches and yes there are 300 coaches that come in and out during the weekend... We must be doing soming right to have such success in this area... Every girl that has came out of our program in the past 3 years has gone and played at the next level except for one and she made that dissision herself... So to answer your question about the tournys we play 1. Boo Williams (which we came in second in our braket which is better than any outer tri city area team. 2. AAU D1 Nationals (which we got 9th 2 years ago) 3. Peach State Invitational (which we won 2 years ago) 4. The Atlanta Showcase.. So that answers you question! Thanks for you insight and knowledge about our team and thanks for sitting and watching us play at these tourneys since "every tournament that you have been to that our team was at we were in the 2nd or 3rd braket and 300 college coaches don't watch brackets at a time maybe 10 or 15 if that" I am glad you keep up with us... maybe if you keep up with your team and not ours you would have much better success!!! Have a great day and thanks for your support of these young ladies and helping them reach ther goals and dreams!!!

A preditor? Well i am not that. That is what the first question was about. I would like to get in touch with her parents. But never mind. Sorry to cause so many problems. By the way my name is Justin Wimmer so no longer anonymous!!! But if you see her parents please give them my # 276-356-9888.. Thank you!

I never said she did not get great coaching. It is aparent she does because she is a great talent. I am here to help not put down. You on the other hand are very rude. We have a team that plays infront of 300 D1 coaches 4 times per year and have 4 other national tourneys we go to. We, in the past 10 years, have help 23 young ladies contiue there education and reach there dream of playing college ball. 13 of those have been D1 at such schools as Mississippi State, VA Tech, Georgia Southern, ETSU, Radford, UMass, Memphis, Southern Miss and so on. Our team is 90% funded so the cost is minamal to the family. This year we are playing a schedule that will take us to Orlando,VA Beach,Cinn,Atlanta and maybe Las Vegas. We are here to help and if she had no where else to play we would love to have her. We are here to help the young ladies not ourselfs. It seem that you on the other hand our worried about yourself and not the betterment of the young lady. This would help her greatly. So sorry to have crossed the line trying to help. Hope you have a wonderful day!!

Thanks for the update. Would love to get intouch with her so she can play for a team in the area that would benefit her skill well. She is a very good talent and would love to help her reach her goals.

Panther I wish you nothing but great success. What you do for these young ladies and the time you put in is an awsome, awsome amount of heart!!! Thanks for all you do and the same 3 girls that play for me also speak very highly of you and your summer league!! All the best in the future and if I can help in any way please let me know.!!

Just a question, does anybody know where and what team Cara Bowling is playing for this summer?

I am glad that your team does well and I wish them all the luck. We have been doing this for about 10 years now and it has been better for us to have a larger roster. The tournys that we play and the style we play needs a deeper bench. We also practice 4 times per week and our season runs for almost 8 month. If you dont have the numbers then the girls will break down. Like I said last year we had 2 go down with injury. If we only had 10-11 player then practice would not be any good and games, when it came down to the 5th one of the weekend, would suffer. So it is best for us to have numbers. This is not good for all but we have had great success with this style. And hope to do even better this year!

The team carries 15 players due to misfourtunes during the season which include injury, sick, prom, quit or what ever else comes along. This past year we had 2 of our best players go down with injuries. Blaine Frolich and Mac Campbell both went down and we were still able to put a quality product on the floor. Some tourneys players cant go due to other issues and at practice we always have 10 players so we can have a quality workout. We play 16U or Jr eligable which it is call now. We have 14,15,16 and 17 year old girls on our team. So some of the girls play there way up the program. This year we will have 3 girls on the team that has played for 3 years. In this area you have to do this to have a quality team. 15 sounds like alot but when the time comes to start the meat of the season you will be glad that you have them to move forward and to reach the girls goals.

The team practice up and down 81. Everybody has a bit of travel but we try to limit it as much as possible. Before season we practice 4 days a week and after it starts 3. It is very challenging and rewarding. We all work for one common goal. Tol see that each girls reach there potential and goals of playing at the next level. Each year is a new team. We have players graduate out of the program and always need new ones to fill there spot. I hope this helps.

To all girls in the 9,10 and 11 grade. March 7th at 4pm at Virginia Intermont College in Bristol. Great team with great success. National travel schedule and exposure. Great competition. Corp sponsor. Look forward to seeing you all. more information nautilusexpressaau@live.com. You wont be disapointed!!!