chattaauhoops

Please allow me to jump in here as the outsider. I respect your words here and there must be some validity to your assumption, but I don't see how more tournaments would not generate more money for TSSAA. Think about this: All of the good teams play in Christmas tournaments or preseason events.... Why? Because the host school makes money to assist in funding their season. At the risk of losing everyone's respect, I will go a step further and say that ALL of the AAU teams help fund their expenses by hosting tournaments. I would think that as a school team is winning, the fans would get behind them and 4, 5 or 6 state tournaments/ classifications would be a slam dunk financially for TSSAA. Where am I wrong here? I'm ready to be corrected.

I'll take HH as the overall best.

I like your list with Mo West added. They got a tough draw opening with R'dale last year. In another bracket they could have made things interesting. I did not see Houston this year but all of the others mentioned have their strongest players returning. Lots of these players are out making names for themselves on the AAU circuit. Good luck to all!

Proud of the Pounders and the boys from Brainerd!! Go Chatt!

No doubt Riverdale is the favorite. Tell you what, I'll take the field next year and give you Riverdale for $1000. Any takers?

Pounders can do it! Good luck fellas. Represent Chattanooga!

I saw this game and it was awesome! We should credit Harding for an unreal die hard spirit. Let's not shame FRA or their Coach for giving a great effort. Sometimes execution leaves us all as was the case for FRA but those kids had an amazing season. Kudos to both teams for all their hard work and a very entertaining state final.

Here are my thoughts: Do we give everybody a "gold ball" in football? It seems very rational to treat every sport/ athlete/ coach who work so hard at the sport they love the same. There are 39 more schools playing basketball than football. (382 vs. 343) Yet we have only 3 classes vs. 6 classes for football. Breakdown: Football Basketball A- 59 A- 121 AA- 53 AA- 109 AAA- 56 AAA- 113 AAAA 53 AAAAA 58 AAAAAA 32 DII - A 21 DII- A 28 DII- AA 11 DII- AA 11 121 class A schools for ONE gold ball....? School with 4X's the enrollment of others??? How about a STATE champion with only 11 schools like DII-A (that is smaller than ALL of the Basketball public school REGIONS and we give them a Gold Ball?) It seems to me that we reward and celebrate a STATE champ with 11 schools (private) and the KING of all KINGS in Football has 32 schools ALL of which have an automatic bid to the playoffs regardless of W-L record. Does anyone realize how hard it is to get to the Basketball STATE playoffs? If not, try matching up with Rutherford Co schools in AAA. By the DII A rationale, District 7AAA girls deserve their own STATE champion. (not really but see my point?) I can't see how anyone can look at this and say this is fair! "Give everyone a Gold Ball??" - Obviously - NOT in basketball......

The way other states do it is by % not by numbers. Ex: 5 classes with 20% of the schools in each class. That is the fairest way and travel is solved by using Saturday for the greatest travel games. To have 6 classes in football and 3 in all others disrespects the hard work of the kids and coaches that play something other than football.

Yes - we are all proud of you and your team! Congrats Lakelyn.

Please do show us the new gym. Will it resemble East Ham's?

Both points you make are true. Many Coaches would prefer more flexibility in scheduling though. Imagine more weekend tournaments where schools can find the right level of competition through these non district games. Maybe a really competitive A school could get games with the untouchable AAA's or the weaker AA's could line up with some A schools more often for the regular season months. In the end a 60 school state champion is very respectable and the greatest travel would resemble the current process which would be deeper in the playoffs. 6aaa has a great point - 2000+ schools vs barely 1000 is a massive gap.

So help me understand how our friends in Alabama can have 7 public school classifications and Georgia can have 6 public classes (each have additional private classes) and we just can't figure this out? 3 classes?? Really that is all that basketball, baseball, etc. deserves? GA and AL are more football focused than TN and they double or more the amount of state champions in all other sports than we do. Instead of approx 120 per class they have about 60 per class. More tournaments, more champions, more school spirit, more $ for the state. They have figured this out and we live in the dark ages. The travel is solved by the longer distant games played on Saturdays. (Approximately 10 Saturdays in a typical basketball season) More titles- More kids Win.

I like that pick. Pulling for all the Chatt area teams. Good luck fellas!

Pulling for all our local teams. Good luck ND, Signal, CCS and Sequatchie.

Or how about the state values all sports the same as football? 6 classes across the board.....Why have 6 in football and 3 in all others?? Many smaller schools can't even afford football yet it has a class with only 32 schools? Over 100 schools in each class for basketball... Why not balance it out?

Chattanooga Central.

1. Murfreesboro girls are a different level. The balance and parity is like no where else. How players end up at certain schools is debatable, but rarely do you see anyone whining about it.They seem to beat each other up and have respect for each other at the same time. By the way, all of the best programs are public schools. Warriorfan is a great example of a family who is thankful for the opportunity gained through a strong school and strong AAU program. Congrats on your signing and good luck at the next level. 2. Lynn's talent speaks for itself. She is a Ms Basketball nominee.She enrolled as a 9th grader at Central and never transferred from anywhere. She has been in the McMinn Fire program and is another that has benefited from strong school/ strong AAU program. Good luck in your title run. 3. Howard is very special. No question. She moved to Bradley County from Hamilton county and entered Bradley Central as a freshman and never transferred. Plays in the TN Xtreme program. Yet another who has benefited from a strong school/ strong AAU program. Good luck to her as she will play at the highest level. 4. HH is a non member that has impacted the area as far as players moving schools to play there, but has zero impact on standings and tournament play. Boys and Girls that play at HH are given incredible exposure and work hard toward their goals of playing at the next level. If they are non members, there are no rules being broken. Period. 5. As WarriorFan mentioned the other privates in Chattanooga have not done as well this year. The talent (other than Clemmons at Baylor) is just not as strong as usual. So we continue to have folk post years after these kids have physically moved, entered as 9th graders, been eligible for multiple years by state rules? East Hamilton puzzles me the most. They have a new coach who was voted coach of the year, who came over a year after Howard left, who has strong ties to AAU, has done a great job and turned around a dead program and constantly complaining on here.? Martian Man is right, "water under the bridge." Funniest to me is how classy Coach English and the boys program at EH has been. Few remember when Howard entered Bradley Central as 9th grader, Kenny Bunton transferred as an 11th grader to Walker Valley. Bunton is 6'6 was the leading scorer at EH and is a Div. I signee (Lipscomb) Mac Brower, EH's second leading scorer that year transferred to Ringold. 2 other good JV players transferred for a total of 4 players transferring after entering the 9th grade at EH. Coach English never complained, moved on and is doing a nice job with those that stayed at EH. Summary: Calling out kids, coaches and programs that have worked within state rules is weak. The best teams will always draw the best players and will be hated because of it. This is true in school ball and AAU ball. All of those who complain on here have most likely been the beneficiary of players moving into your school as well. There is an old saying about the Pot calling the Kettle black and life is too short to hate on kids or parents who are simply trying to give their kids the best opportunity at success. Good luck to all.

Well said and my two cents: Betsy, Mo West, Bearden, Bradley Central, Hamilton Heights, McMinn Central are all excellent teams that are well coached. (in no particular order) I personally don't believe HH can be excluded from the conversation, but others are free to disagree. Holly Warlick was at the HH game last night. Hopefully some of these girls on these teams can help get the Lady Vols going again in the future. As for your team, we may never see as talented of a set of sisters, even more impressive twins to make the impact that yours have the past 4 years. Good luck to you! I hope you and McMinn Central play for the gold ball. The most impressive thing to me as how hardly any of the teams mentioned in this thread have posters fighting for their spot in the conversation. It's those not recognized that scream the loudest. The best teams, coaches and fans are comfortable in their own skin. Winners Win, Whiners Whine. Following your advice, I will address the AAU and negativity toward the Chattanooga area in my next post. All are free to skip my next post as it does not stay on topic, but replies to those weighing in.

Central has dropped 3 straight, but look at who they are playing! This type of competition right here at tournament time will make them better and prepare them for a deep run. Put in the work guys!

Central still rising in the AP. #3 this week. McCallie at #5 HH cracks top 25 nationally. Congrats to all of these programs on representing the Chattanooga area.

All questions are fair. The outrage is 100% justified. The victims are 100% the young men (plural) who were violated and may have long term nightmares over this disaster. The answer to the latest questions are: 1. Head Coach took the young man to the hospital, stayed with the victim while the team continued to play. 2. The decision to continue to play in Gatlinburg and the next week here in Chattanooga was not up to the head coach. 3. All of the upper level Adminstration were notified almost immediately and all collectively decided to continue playing. My point is this: I know several of the involved personally and follow this area's teams closely. All of the involved are responsible in some way. From each Coach to the AD, to the Principal, to the Supt. all had the information and chose how to report, release information, answer questions and apply discipline. All of these individuals are responsible and permanently damaged (deservingly) for the rest of their career. My hope is we can move forward, blame all not one individual and understand that continuing this dialogue only prolongs the pain for all involved including the young men. Not everyone involved are bad people, but they have all made some very bad decisions. Let the justice system take it from here. Please.

Boggess and Lynn are excellent. To put up the numbers they did in a rivalry game with everyone trying to stop them speaks as to the talent these girls have. Congrats to both of them, their teammates, coaches and everyone for what appears to have been a great game.

Central rising in the AP polls. Currently #4. Congrats to the Pounders.

Good point. - Wisdom