CCentralFan

That is true, but the fact that he had contact with them makes it very very suspicious. And it hurts the other schools. Could be avoided if district made them go to the school that they are zoned for. Let's just be honest Columbia Central has been very bad so why would those 8th graders want to go there, unless someone had a conversation with them. Word is that Coach is guaranteeing those girls that they are going to be playing in the state tournament in a couple years.

It happens every year, players are recruited to attend another high school and parents who think that the recruiting school will provide their daughters with the best opportunity to win and get a scholarship, send them to the recruiting school knowing that it is a violation. In Columbia, the top 8th grade players at Spring Hill Middle, Mt. Pleasant Middle, Culleoka Middle and Santa Fee Middle are headed to Columbia Central. Everyone knows that they were recruited, Coach Bugg was holding open gyms at Whitthorne middle in Columbia on Sundays and had contact with the players and their parents. Coach Bugg was turned in to the distract AD and he was called in for a meeting, but nothing changed. It was rumored that the district AD is a Columbia Central fan and has turned a blind eye to the obvious recruitment of the players. I don't know of anyone that would object to parents wanting the best for their daughter. But, how fair is it to the coaches, players, and fans that would miss out on having those players on their school team. These players are not moving into Columbia Central school boundaries they are just going to attend school to play basketball. Some coaches are very upset with Coach Bugg for his recruitment of the players. I think the players should be made to attend the school where they live or have to sit out a year and Coach Bugg should be reprimanded.

There is good & bad basketball in every state. AAU is not the problem, its just a way for a kid to get more exposure. The true problem is the lack of teaching fundamentals, When i am watching a girls game I can point out every players weakness and I relate that weakness to a lack of working on fundamentals by their H.S. coach. I've seen enough basketball boys and girls to know that a lot of coaches are not concerned with teaching more than they are concerned with winning. When you look at college basketball you can tell the players that have been taught fundamentals of the game, they are the girls that are starting as freshman or getting a lot of playing time. Another problem is the parents. some parents only want their child to play at a high level but they are not willing to make the sacrifices necessary for the child to play at that level. AAU is a problem only when it comes to the player going back to their H.S. team, does that player have the ability to make others around her better in most cases no, becasues she has played on an elite team where everyone is good she doesn't have to worry about making her teammates better or carrying the team. I don't care how many teams are ranked in TN I've seen better basketball. So what if there are 2 or 3 teams ranked in the top 25 if the rest of the teams are not very good.

The problem is that when those good players are still on the court when there team is up by 30 or 40 point, opponents may get upset and try to hurt that player. A player that has signed and has nothing to prove in a blow-out game should be on the bench cheering on those players that don't get much playing time.

Last good player was Makayla Timmons, she is currently playing at Old Dominion. From what I have observed they don't have much of a feeder system coming from the Middle Schools, girls basketball is not a high prior and the coaching is less the desirable.

When are they going to turn things around! Is it the coaching? Is it the lack of talent? What is it!