TryNotToSuck

9 hours ago, fredjones said:

The Commercial Appeal is reporting that MLK Prep is closing at the end of the school year.  Its returning students will transfer to Trezevant for the 2024-2025 school year.

Was there a reason why they're closing? Not totally sure that students have to go to Trezevant.

Does Memphis have a place to host the TSSAA Tournament? Yes. Well, there are actually two places.

One place will be the Elma Roane Fieldhouse, which is located on the University of Memphis campus. Let me just say there are high school gyms in West Tennessee that are better than that gymnasium. Murphy Center is head and shoulders over the Elma Roane Field Fieldhouse any day of the week.

The second place would be FedEx Forum. However, I would think the FedEx Forum and the Memphis Grizzlies would have no desire to host the tournament, which will mean the Grizzlies would have to be out of town for 4 straight days, then head back into town for a game or two, then go back out of town. I doubt there's enough money for the Grizzlies to entertain that. With that being said, FedEx Forum would be an amazing place to host the tournament, and for the players to get that experience. Hotels are also pricey in downtown Memphis, and the nearest ones will be in Northern Mississippi, or in the Bartlett area.

Here's the best case scenario:

East Tennessee will hose Football and Golf state championships

Middle Tennessee will host the basketball tournament (because they are basically two separate tournaments).

West Tennessee will host the Spring Fling and Volleyball state tournaments in Jackson. 

Therefore, every region of the state will host two tournaments. I know that is not the case and will likely never be the case, but I do think it's the perfect situation.

I’m taking Lee is retiring at South Fulton? Haven’t been to a South Fulton game in a while, but I’m assuming he is still there?

South Fulton’s girls basketball and softball jobs are now available.

4 hours ago, WestTNHoopsFan said:

Lot of success there recently. 

For sure, and I'm not sure where Chester County goes from here.

3 hours ago, Charger731 said:

I just saw that. I am very surprised. That young coach was doing a good job with them. Was there something going on internally or another issue? 

I don't know, but he's young and good for sure! Won't be surprised if he took another job somewhere else.

The Chester County job is open. A little surprising to see that.

1 hour ago, WestTennRaider said:

I see that what I had heard through the rumor mill was true! It will make for an interesting game against Mcnairy! Congrats on the job Coach.

It's a good hire that will be able to continue to build off what Hayden Williams has built there. Bolivar was able to score 20+ points in 9 of their 10 games. The defense has question marks, and they'll need to find a new quarterback. However, I don't expect there to be any significant drop off if they can find a good quarterback.

Bolivar hired Rennard Woodmore as their head coach. 

3 hours ago, JustABlueFan said:

Let's call it like it is. The Glass House is a dated disgusting mess. It takes 15 minutes to walk to the bathroom because your feet get stuck at every step. Nobody empties the garbages, half the snack bar people look high. Tech is a much cleaner, comfortable facility. Move it.

Poor you!

Was the temperature too cold inside the Murphy Center? Did they put pickles on your nachos and not jalapeños? Did a bag of skittles cost a little more than you expected? Stop complaining. Good grief...

1 hour ago, LetsGoBrandon said:

She's the #1 ranked player in the 2027 graduating class as rated/projected....in the Nation. Has been since she was an 8th grader. 

Yes, but what I’m saying is that it’s excessive. Like whose coming out with that info?

I’m not saying she’s not the “#1 ranked player.” But if “they” are saying she’s ranked that high, then who is the #1 ranked player for the class of 2028 and 2029? Because I’m sure “they” have that info somewhere.

On 3/14/2024 at 7:45 AM, WestTNHoopsFan said:

There will be universities getting involved! I would not be surprised to see them go somewhere and one of them coach high school and one go on staff at a university. 

Sounds familiar to Memphis with the Lawson’s and Tennessee with Trey Smith…

As of now, there’s only one place where Ayers need to go play college basketball. 

On 3/13/2024 at 6:53 PM, pioneer42 said:

 

Ensworth is what I kept hearing last week. Heard they were interested  in possibly making an offer with big money. Yeah he went to Riverdale during the housing boom and I heard he couldn't find a house that wasn't through the roof high. I thought he might have went to Webb School last year because they had a job opening. Definitely a package deal and two jobs would have to come with the daughter you would think. Why would they go anywhere else and not coach?? Yesterday on the Miss Basketball Awards Mike Keith said that she was the number 1 player in the 2027 class in the nation I think is what he said. No telling what kind of money could come their way. 

I have a hard time figuring out how they’re already making rankings for the class of 2027. They’re all still 4 years away from graduating. Not saying Mike Keith was wrong, but it does make me question where he got that info from. Or how there can be a list of players that far out until they graduate?

36 minutes ago, west10EZ said:

You may be correct , my guess it’s someone with HC experience … Carr, Foster, Hodge … those 3 would be my first interviews but I only know of two currently . 

Obviously, the coaching carousel in West Tennessee has been active this offseason. More active than what I expected. I knew there would be three head coaching  jobs for sure that will be available, maybe four. All four of those schools that I expected to get a new head coach, did in fact, get a new head coach. Right now, we're at 14 schools in West Tennessee that'll have a new football coach in West Tennessee.

Of those 14 schools, only three of them still have an opening. I will throw an interesting nugget at you, the 11 schools that filled their vacancy, either hired from within, or took another coach (whether if it's head/assistant) from another school in West Tennessee.

I have this odd theory that some schools will want to hire a head coach, just to hire a head coach. With that being said, it doesn't necessarily work out. Scott Stidham left South Gibson for Independence. He had the #1 player in the state in Ty Lockwood that was scheduled to play for him in 2022, but elected to have shoulder surgery and miss the year. He also had a player that is currently at Western Michigan in running back, Tre Hartwell. They ran more of a I-formation type offense with play action pass. Not to mention, Dexter McCluster is on that coaching staff. They're a 6A school with good athletes. In 2023, they lose Hartwell, and the offense changed to the Wing-T. The same offense that Stidham ran in Medina. To put it nicely, the offense plummeted in stats, and defense in that region figured them out. They were average, and it's not a good fit right now off 840.

I knew the Lexington job would be open last summer. I think everyone in Lexington had a feeling that it was going to be Hollingsworth's last season before the season began. With that being said,  they also had John Ross Hudson on staff. Hudson left Lexington as an assistant to go to Camden. That occurred while the Lexington job was still open. Kind of told me that Lexington was going to get a head coach somewhere, and they did.

Liberty hired Robert Gillard as their football coach. And yes, he did have heading coach experience at Kenwood and Austin-East. He spent 3 years at Kenwood as a head coach, and won around 10 games total. I love Tyler Reeder as a person, but he struggled at South Side, especially post covid. 

USJ hired an assistant in Derrick Pritchard  and South Gibson hired Ben Johnson, an assistant from Westview. I know McKenzie would do their homework, and I'm not worried about who they will hire. However, saying they'll bring a head coach just solely because he has the "experience" doesn't mean it's good.

3 hours ago, RexKwonDo said:

Mckenzie starts running the Wing T,  I will find something else to do on a Friday night.   Four quarters of that boring nonsense- no thanks!

What's wrong with the Wing T? Y'all don't want Scott Stidham to come over from Independence? Or even Swenson? Haha.

Regardless, McKenzie is going to be fine! I hope they don't settle for a coach. They're going to be okay!

3 minutes ago, Waker said:

Frost is the name I’ve heard today.

Pushing hard for him to leave Riverside? Haha

As a fan, I wouldn’t want to see her leave. She can arguably win 2 more state titles and 2 more Miss Basketball award. When it’s all said and done, she could be the best athlete (both boys and girls) ever to come through West Tennessee. 

5 hours ago, RexKwonDo said:

If you know anything about how teacher retirement pay works it is not that hard to figure this move out. A substantial pay raise for a few years boosts your retirement. He is not that far away from 30 years. Congrats to him he has earned it.

Same reason why Ken Northcut took the North Side girls basketball job. From that perspective, I understand.

Why? Why would you leave everything that you have in McKenzie to go to.....Milan?

Does anybody have any clue on why there was a technical foul on Dyersburg? It occurred late in the game, and it was on a player. I was watching the game on TV and struggled to figure it out.

5 fouls called in like :33 seconds. Lol

I didn’t watch the game, just glad to see there hasn’t been a controversial call that changed a game throughout the tournament (correct me if I’m wrong). Just seen some chatter over social media about bench warnings. 
With that being said, my biggest knock on the officiating is their mechanics. The mechanics are too robotic, and they seem to be more worried about making sure their mechanics are crisp and clear, rather than getting the call right.

Congratulations to the Gibson County Lady Pioneers! It’s been a while since the last time they’ve won a title, and I’m proud to see what Coach Wilkins has done to those ladies! All of the Wilkins’ can coach, but they’re also seem to be doing a great job off the court! Safe travels back to Dyer!

4 hours ago, ItsAlwaysSunnyInAtwood said:

Not going to pretend I'm Adam Schefter or anything but the people I've talked to about it pretty much said the opposite of Reitz comment as well.  

Soo. What happened? Don’t mind messaging me if you can 

2 hours ago, cbg said:

It’s easier to control both practice and the games and not teach.  Part of teaching is allowing people to learn from their mistakes

True, but that’s not the world we live in today. If I was a coach, I would let my catchers call the game. If he/she (for softball) is willing to put on the gear day in and day out to frame pitches and take a beating, then I’m going to give him/her the benefit of the doubt to call pitches. It’s their game, not mine. 
 

Regardless, this whole “electronic device” stuff is stupid. It’s just a carry on effect that we’re seeing at the college level, and will tricker down. If a team has any suspicion that someone is stealing signs, then they’re responsible for coming up with signs that are more difficult for the opposing team to steal. Even if that means to add a dummy sign in. 

16 hours ago, cbg said:

At some point you need to cut the umbilical cord and teach in practice and allow the players to play the game.  I see the same thing at the D1 level with coaches wanting to control the whole game and not allowing the players to learn and play.

Because some coaches are a little bit too selfish to give up control. 

51 minutes ago, west10EZ said:

You do realize they want their name out more times than not right ? You do realize that reports come out everyday on ESPN from every where around the world about coaches, players, ownerships … high school sports is no different. Once they put in for a job …. they know their name is going to be out there and that comes with the territory and choice they made to apply . We can all agree to disagree I guess but there’s nothing un-ethical about his reporting no matter how you slice it. They are public employees, mostly anyway. 

They know their name is going to be rumored around Tiptonville, but not expecting to be on a message board of which their current players and fans would probably look at. You're comparing a million dollar business in college football where coaches make millions dollars off rumors (example: Mike Norvell rumored to leave Florida State for Alabama. FSU gave him a well deserved pay raise.)

You're saying "they want their name out more times than not right" is pure speculation. I can't imagine Derek Carr's name to be rumored for the Lexington job on a message board. Thankfully, it appears that Lexington did a good enough job to try to keep that as privately as they could.

There's not a Jimmy Sexton in High School football. Ripley isn't going to give Cruise a pay raise just because he "interviewed" at a 1A school..