lbell615

Great tournament and atmosphere. http://public.tableausoftware.com/views/Knoxvegas_2012_Master/playoffs_team?:embed=y

Not sure of how to read this story. Is Bowers still the head coach at Ensworth? http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/7775390/cornelius-elder-torn-two-sports

Good post. That sounds very reasonable.

So you believe that Privates should play with Publics for State titles because of open enrollment? That makes no sense. CPA and FCS should compete for titles against each other. Open enrollment is so wide spread in the state that it has balance. What's wrong with non-public schools (that choose to not play in DII) playing in their own league? Unless their goal is to win titles that mean something and beat up on publics. Go to DII or put them in a non-public league. Non-public schools that think that playing in their own league is unfair are up to something. If your worried about open enrollment, public recruiting and things of this nature let the publics sort that out. CPA and schools like it should be in their own league as well so they can sort out like minded issues OR go to DII.

I don't know if CPA cheats. Let me get that out of the way. However, it it safe to assume that that playing field has rapidly become unbalanced. The evidence is there for us all to argue. Right or wrong, it's there. For example, which Mr. Basketball award winner didn't fit in with the others? Mostly all of them played the cards they were dealt: 4 years (one is a JR) at the school, carried a major load for their team that lacked weapons and could have gone elsewhere (transfer, prep school or private school in some cases) to better themselves on the court. None did. Most played in very challenging situations but overcame and succeeded. Hats off to those young men. The problem we have here is not unique. Other states have swiftly addressed situations like CPA's. The TSSAA should just simply add another class to the classifications next year. "Non-Publics". That would solve this problem and add transparency. Lipscomb, Knox Catholic, Goodpasture and others would have to bite the bullet. This problem will only get worst if real decisions weren't made at the TSSAA soon. Football season is right around the corner. Coach Martin is a fine man, but he will be expected to win in the "name of the lord" as well.

No I don't. CPA looked strong. As strong as a team could look with a PG from Knoxville, Post from Murfreesboro and a D1 guard from Greenbrier. Very good AAU team.

Here we go. Perfect match-up!

I don't know why people are overlooking Spring Hill. They are probably the most seasoned team in AA. Everybody keeps talking about the teams CPA has beaten this year. But have they really beaten anybody? The tournament they won in Ky was horrible. I saw that someone on here mentioned the two "great" teams from Ky they beat and thought to myself, really? The teams they beat didn't make it out of their district playoffs. The team from Ca (Lutheran) they beat had one player, Gabe York and are not very good. They are done too. CPA played Christ School tight but who didn't? 2012 was arguably Christ Schools worst team in years. If you look at things closely, Spring Hill beat a Ky sweet sixteen team by 15. CPA hasn't played many teams that can play them man to man and pressure the ball. They will now. Spring Hill and Tech should be not be overlooked and one of them will win it all.

Some people don't understand what the Travelers have done for AAU basketball in Tennessee and never will. They, the Travelers, should be commended or left alone. Question Mr. Rines, I noticed on the new nike eybl website you linked that there is a new team called the Bluff City Legends. Is this the YMOCA team? They have no city by their name. Where are they located? Also, have the Travelers moved to Nashville? They have them listed as a Nashville based team. It was my understanding that you all are headquartered in the Knoxville area.

That's good to hear. I've lived in West Nashville all of my life and never heard of all the good things going on at CPA. Which further confirms my point in fact. If CPA is on pace with MBA and USN but academically superior to the Ensworths, Harpeth Halls of the world; it makes sense that they should be competing with their equals. With the resume you put fourth and the severe disadvantages that other Class AA schools find themselves facing (academically and athletically; when considering that CPA basketball and football coaches can start teaching their system when the kids are young in the same building) CPA is a DII school. TSSAA should address this immediately. This is getting beyond obvious.

This issue would go away if CPA just admitted their true identity. They are a DII school posing as a Class AA school. They have kids playing sports from multiple zip codes in Middle Tennessee. They use the 8th Grade rule to recruit talent. They have a basketball coach that played High Major ball at Vandy. They have an NFL player as their football coach. Is this all for the legacy kids at CPA from pre-first until graduation? Never has been. I don't see kids crying about not being admitted to CPA for academics. Have they brought in great math, english and science teachers? CPA is way down on the list of West Nashville's premier schools. One could safely assume that CPA is stocking up to destroy schools that don't have the advantages they have in sports. CPA should should look itself in the mirror and go play with the schools it's trying to be like. If that doesn't happen, the TSSAA should put them in DII on principle. On a side note, CPA posters should stop all this "Christian values" non-sense. I'm sure the lord has better things to do. Making sure basketball players play for Jim Jones over there is a reach.

Ok. You just keep blindly following that Lee Atwater style of fire and brimstone. Blatant propaganda. I always wondered what kind of people made Jim Jones famous. Ipecac, depending on the amount of koolaid ingested, may save some if application is prompt. Truckloads are needed on OHB asap. Then ship the them to DII where they belong.

This post is so factually wrong. It proves that you should probably refrain from commenting about this situation. The only true statement in this entire post is the part about getting exposure. Everything else is wrong. Rick Byrd and other coaches went to Greenbrier to see Bradshaw. Allsmiller, Lindsey, Howell, Blackwell and Richard have never played all together on the same AAU team and certainly not in the past two years. Nor will they this year. Coach Maddux doesn't recruit? Sure, ok. Blackwell's situation at MBA, you're way off. He was leaving anyway when other issues surfaced. Maybe you should talk to someone at MBA.

I think this situation has finally addressed an issue. CPA didn't do anything wrong from what I understand, however the "K-12" rule should be tweaked by the TSSAA. K-12 rule states that 8th graders can play varsity at schools that have K-12th grades in the same building. This is a great, but silent, recruiting tool that CPA has been clever to exploit. For example, when Lindsey is a senior, he will be playing his fifth year of varsity basketball. If they can continue to attract (or identify.. ?) young talent, the East Lits of the world won't have a prayer of winning Class AA or the other 96% of schools that don't have this luxury. I'm not saying CPA isn't playing by the rules. But, this will get out of control if the TSSAA doesn't do something to make things more balanced. Getting a kid from Greenbriar, Murfreesboro and getting a kid to repeat 8th grade at CPA after completing 8th grade at MBA screams CPA should probably be in Division II. MBA's weighted scale, regardless of the kids grade, speaks for itself. He should never played this year on that fact alone. Congrats to CPA for finding a way to make a basketball prep school in Tennessee. The football program is poised to follow the script.

*

*