elitebball

In Friday night's games, the 10u FCA Lady Eagles defeated the West Tn Lady Tigers and will face the Memphis Glory Saturday morning. In the much anticipated game between the 13u Memphis Elite and the West Tn Lady Tigers/Memphis Elite, the Lady Tigers won to claim the sub-state championship. This game featured a ton of talent and both coaches have much to be proud of. These teams will represent Memphis and West Tn. proudly in the state tournament. I will post other results tomorrow as the games are played.

Whatever you say Sam.... I really thought this was over with and we could move on. Be sure to come up and introduce yourself to me at this weekend's substates. I'm sure you'll be there with all of your interest in the Memphis Elite and Glory. And maybe then I can ask you about your interest in Coach Jackson's son and daughter who go to Briarcrest and are featured in many of your other posts on other message boards. For the record, none of my posts have been against anyone or anything except to clarify the mistruths that were posted by you as Spree 1024 last month and subsequent comments regarding the Elite organization and the Glory. I have no ax to grind with the Glory. I have the utmost respect for Dennis Colley and what he and the others achieved with the Memphis Waves. The decision was made to disband the Waves and certain Waves coaches and board members, including Dennis, decided to form the Glory. This organization will be judged on its success on the court, not by this message board, the past success of the Waves, or your or my opinion. I view it as another opportunity for young girls to play basketball and get quality instruction. There is nothing wrong with the exchange of information about these organizations and people are entitled to their opinions. You don't mind stating yours on many of these message boards and it appears you are challenged on them quite often. At least I'm not hiding behind a phantom name to start something and then posting as someone else to try and defuse the issue. I sincerely hope this foolishness will end and we can debate something constructive. Or better yet, just enjoy some basketball.

Thanks for the info raiderray

Any news on the games last weekend in the 12u east substates? How did KGC Lady Pride do against the Trotters?

My understanding is it will be held at Christian Brothers High School and American Way middle school. The tournament is being hosted by the West Tn Lady Tigers and their President, Andre Pruitt, can be reached at 901-870-1224. I would recommend staying either at the Hampton Inn Walnut Grove or any of the hotels we are using for the 11u state, which can be seen on the state aau site.

I will do so in the future and ask the same consideration of you. I didn't choose this forum to start with and I agree it is inappropriate and pointless to air dirty laundry here. But I would also caution anyone who chooses to post accusations and misleading comments here or anywhere that it is only fair that the affected party will state its side of the issue. Let's move on...

I made the same offer to you weeks ago when you were posting rumors and opinions about our organization as Spree 1024. It is obvious from the history of posts that you and Spree 1024 are either the same person or family(or both). My purpose in posting is nothing more than to defend our organization against false accusations, and to correct where misleading information is being put out. I agree this dialogue is pointless to continue and consider the discussion closed on my end. I thought a message board was to debate opinions and share information. Best of luck in your tournament this weekend and the upcoming sub-states.

There are plenty of good teams to play for in Memphis and I don't believe that this began as an attempt to say Memphis was lacking talent or teams. If you disagree, then watch the states. A Memphis team will win the 10U, 2nd in 11U, 2nd or 3rd in 12U, win 13U. These are projections, but just watch. That would be great and beats the heck out of feuding with each other. Good luck to your club.....

Not boasting, just stating facts and accomplishments about our organization and the Glory (yours). The Glory should earn their own accolades, not live off the accomplishments of the Waves organization that chose not to continue. Yes, many of our girls and coaches started in the Waves program. I imagine it would be true that many of the Waves teams and coaches originated from the Celtics, but you didn't see fit to give them the credit for Waves accomplishments. Keep in mind there were players and coaches jumping off the Waves ship before the Waves pulled the plug. There are plenty of girls and coaches being developed in the Elite organization. You will be introduced to some of them very soon. To the repeated charge of recruitment, it's not recruiting when kids, coaches, and parents want to go a different route than they have been taking. It's simply that they want to try something different that they feel might be better for them. So let's drop the bickering and play ball....and may the best teams win. Good luck Coach ....

I am obviously miscalculating because I only remember 2 players going elsewhere to play, with one other backing out of her commitment before the season and playing for the Elite State Champion 13u team and one getting hurt during middle school ball and not able to play AAU. As to the Glory/Elite analysis, there appear to be several opportunities for Elite teams to face off against Glory teams in the upcoming substates, so I guess we will just wait and see where these organizations stack up against each other. But I'm "intrigued" how an Elite organization who last year placed 2nd in the state in 10u, has the core of the Waves team who finished 3rd in 11u (not key reserves), won the state in 12u and placed 9th in nationals, co-sponsors the West Tn Tigers/Elite 13u who won the Shelbyville SRT and whose 12u team placed 5th in nationals last year (and is considered the favorite to win this year's 13u state), and whose 13u team last year was state runner-up can be considered up and coming in relation to the Glory, a new organization with 4 teams, all new, with no accomplishments except the other half of the Waves 11u team. But we'll see how it plays out. Best of luck to everyone in their sub-states......

Our 11u team finished 2nd in the state last year (as 10 u) to the West Tn Lady Tigers. Our 12u team did play last weekend in Shelbyville. This team is a combination of last year's girls from the Waves and Elite as well as some girls new to aau

No offense taken, just wanted to clarify the issue. The reality of the girls leaving Memphis was an original plan for 4 girls from Memphis to play with the Tennessee Elite and unite with some girls from the Lady Bulls to build a super team. However it never really came together and only 2 girls came from Memphis. They eventually ended up in Shelbyville, with only the one returning this year. It should also be pointed out one of the Shelbyville players on their 13 and under team used to come to Memphis to play with the Waves so the road travels both ways. I will take your word on the Blackhawks girls as I do not know the history there. Regarding the Glory, my understanding is they have a 10 under and 11 under team which were not Waves teams last year. Their 12 and under team is coached by Tom Jackson who has coached these girls for at least the last 2 years. However half of last year's team now plays for the Elite so in many ways it is a new team. They also have a 15 under team which is a combination of 14 and 15 year olds.

Actually the 2 players who played for Shelbyville started the year at Tennessee Elite and then moved on to Shelbyville so we're only talking about 2 players total. I will take your word for it that kids have played for Team Pride before. My point is it is the rare exception when a Memphis player chooses to leave Memphis to play somewhere else is the state. And I think even the parent of the child still playing at Shelbyville would not have made the initial decision to play for the Tennessee Elite if he had known what the options were going to be with the Memphis Elite. As has been well documented, the other player is back playing in Memphis. As to the Glory, yes they are based out of the same framework of the Waves, but to say it has most of the same board members and almost all of the coaches is not accurate. 2 head coaches and 1 assistant remain from the Waves. And as I stated earlier, while some Waves players remain on these 2 teams, the bulk have been incorporated into the Memphis Elite. I'm sure Buster will confirm that for you....

Interestingly the sub-states have been split between Memphis and Dyersburg for the past few years, which would seem to be a better overall geographical situation, but nevertheless the decline in teams continues. This will be the first year I am aware of where all sub-state age groups will be in Memphis, mainly I am assuming because of the small number of overall teams. These sub-states are hosted by the Memphis Glory, who will do a great job in organizing and putting the tournaments on. Most of the points raised to explain the declining numbers are very valid, as many teams feel that division 2 along with YBOA and MAYB is a better path than having to try to qualify for States against the big organizations. Just to clarify one of the points in an earlier post, while the Memphis Glory are headed up by some of the Waves core board members and coaches and did retain some players, it is not accurate to portray them as the Waves with a different name. Most of the former Waves players across the age groups are on Memphis Elite teams, along with some of their former coaches. And to the reference to Memphis girls going to other parts of the state, this has mainly been limited to a few girls with Briarcrest connections going to Shelbyville. I think it is safe to say a quality player in Memphis has got plenty of options for competitive ball without going somewhere across the state

Then I will update you. It was a very deep and talented group in this age group. KGC Lady Pride won the championship over Cutter Construction, who defeated the Top Guns in the semi's. Our Elite team faced both the KGC and the Top Guns. Both of these clubs are strong and we look forward to seeing them again in the States.

Thanks for the update? Was it a close game?

We'll be there with our 12's and 13's. Any results on the 12u's from this weekend?

Hey ptguard 12 Any word on the 12 and under eesults from shelbyville srt?

Can someone update us on who played for the championship in 12 and under and the results

Don't sell the other Memphis Elite team short, which finished 9th in the country last year. While some of those girls are playing on the combined Tigers/Elite team, many of the players remain with very talented new players added to the roster. Since these 2 teams are the only ones in the sub-state, they will represent the West in the states.

Spree 1024 I've just recently become aware of your posts regarding the Memphis Lady Elite, and as President of the organization would be happy to answer any questions or concerns you have. I would welcome the opportunity to clarify what you have heard and let you make your own judgements based on the facts. You may e-mail me privately if you prefer at gordon@memphisladyelite.org