Blackburn

Hey gomer, to reiterate Gomab's assertion, the Indiana Elite team the 17U travelers team beat in Hoosier Shootout was the 16U Indiana Elite One playing up a dvision so lets get the facts straight on that point. I also agree that the pools at any major event are loaded and especially the super pools at Kingwood. TOC is ridiculously hard as weel and is invitation only. Our 16s this year at TOC had DC Assault, Team Final and the Rising Stars-JG in pool play. This the same Team Final team that beat the TN Tigers by 16pts at Super Showcase. I know that Midstate had loaded pools as well. It is certainly fair to say that there are good teams and tough schedules at Nike events but to state that the Nike circuit is clearly the best is certainly not by any means an absolute. There are just as many tough schedules in the other major non-Nike tourneys. As gomab stated, the Adidas Super 64 Super Pools have some brutal pools as well. People can talk about how large Kingwood is, but I will tell you that the Super Pools there are as good as it gets. The event is no comparison to the Eddie Ford event the Tn Tigers went to that same weekend and had maybe 12 teams participating. The bottom line is that there are no absolutes in this deal and to say otherwise isnt fair or accurate. Everyone out there plays a brutally hard schedule b/c if you attend any elite major events like your club does along with the Nashville Celtics, Midstate Ballerz, etc., you are, by definition, playing elite teams.

I realize your trying to promote your program, but the reason Nike teams won the majority of the pools in Orlando was b/c the field there is mostly Nike teams. All the premier Adidas and Reebok teams are in Las Vegas and a substantial amount of other Nike teams in the Main Event. To say your club and the Tigers have clearly played the toughest competition in the state is highly misleading. You guys have played a nice schedule, but so have several other teams in the state. The Ballerz and the Celtics have played just as tough a schedule or tougher playing in the Adidas and Reebok events. This is an open forum so everyone is welcome to promote their program or team but lets not exaggerate things to try to embellish the benefits of a Nike program vs. any other program, whether it be unsponsored, Adidas or Reebok, especially when the facts certainly dont lean that way. You can argue that Real Deal on the Hill (Reebok Event) is better than Boo Williams and you can definitely argue that Bob Gibbons TOC is better than Memorial Day. Again, fine to promote your club and congrats on a nice pool play run, but lets not get overboard with hyperbole regarding the "Nike circuit".

There are definitely a lot of teams at this age group that can compete. No question, but it certainly isnt just the Tigers and Ballerz when you really look at what the teams have done respectively. I would expect all the Tennesse teams to do quite well in AAU Nationals as well. Given that only a few of the top teams nationally around will be there, SYF Players, ARK Wings, All-Ohio Red, Jackson Tigers are pretty strong, etc., this thing should be wide open and should be a great chance for a lot of teams to do really well

Very insightful response. Love to hear why you think so. An argument can easily be made for the Tigers, Ballerz, Celtics and Travelers in this age group.

Pretty sure this isnt just a two team race for the top spot.

But Ballerz Elite 16s are always good and certainly the Tn Tigers have been good for a long time at that group. Good point by Gomab that chemistry is a big issue early on in the travel season. Drew Kelly will play both 16s and 17s for the Celtics who apparently cant compete nationally b/c "they never do". Good stuff.

I agree. There are certain circumstances where I dont mind it; i.e. if grades are an issue and they need to prep one year, and their age fits into appropriate category but it is a case by case basis for sure.

How can Harper play since he is signed? Or has he signed?

I am positive b/c of what our guys in Atlanta said. But I know it is a pretty recent move so it is relatively under the radar still although not surprising. Coleman and Wilkes are with the AL branch group or at least so I understand. 15s will be in Riverdale, 16s and 17s will not. We are just finally getting everyone together after spring breaks and state tourney, etc and we have some conflicts with coaches schedules over the weekend so we felt it a better use of our time to practice this weekend instead. Who all is in Riverdale, didnt know if you guys would be there this year either.

FYI....to Gomab and whomever b/c I think you mentioned it in your post about memphis celtics....the Memphis Celtics are now the SE Elite

Who is Team Chaos then, isnt it m33M? Though Williams, Bowers and Jarvis Jones and those guys were playing on that team. Always hard to tell down there who is playing where each weekend. Love to hear your thoughts. Wells is playing with Travs by the way. Until kids show up at an event with a team's jersey on, who knows who is on what team.

Georgia, UT, Missouri, Clemson, Kentucky, Virginia, etc....whole slew of programs like that have given legitimate interest meaning calls, not just letters and that stuff which doesnt really mean too much. But he is also a high major football recruit as well at WR. Often times the most valuable high school players dont project to that next level for a variety of reasons. Like I said, all the guys are great high school players but the award generally goes to best player on best team. That's why Juwan Long will win AA over Gerald Robinson I would think. I like Long a lot but Robinson is a ridiculous talent but it comes down to the leader on the best team and hard to argue against Juwan Long as his team is great and he is a great player as well.

DeMario is the only high major D-1 recruit of the three. He was injured a lot of the year so that will probably hurt his chances to win. He is definitely the most well-rounded of the three when you talk about scoring, assists, rebs, stls and defense in general. That being said, I suspect Skogen will win. All three are good players and deserve the accolades.

Where is this tourney gonna be played?