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Tennessee Rush Basketball will hold tryouts for its' girls teams on February 16, 2019 at Cookeville High School!! The tryout is for 3rd-8th grade girls and the times are listed below: 3rd Girls: 11:30- 1 PM WEST GYM 4th Girls: 11:30- 1 PM EAST GYM 5th Girls: 10-11:30 AM WEST GYM 6th Girls: 10-11:30 AM EAST GYM 7th Girls: 10- 11:30 AM MAIN GYM 8th Girls: 11:30- 1 PM MAIN GYM Please contact Matt Ferrell at 931-510-8835 or sign up online at www.tennesseerush.com!

HUGE next couple of weeks for District 6A!! How does everyone see the district playing out? Preseason picks were: 1. Clarkrange 2. Clay 3. Pickett 4. RBS 5. Trousdale Is that how everyone sees it playing out down the stretch? As of right now, there is a 3 way tie for first between those top 3. Pickett has to go to Clay, Clay has to go to Clarkrange, and Clarkrange has to go to Pickett. I think Clarkrange wins at home over Clay, Pickett/Clarkrange at Pickett is a toss up imo, and Pickett wins at home over Clay. Good luck to everyone as we head down the home stretch toward tourney time!

Yeah and I guess Love and cunningham don't count since neither of them were from ATMS? Get educated before you try to argue....

My bad. Didn't realize it was 1 on 1 we were talking about. I would be willing to bet that one of the Dunaway twins could guard one of them. And they couldn't stop them in middle school...seriously...you mean when CHS talent was divided among 3 schools....GREAT ARGUMENT!! Hurst and Crouch are both good players. Very good players. The fact that the only college committed kid on EITHER team didn't impress you doesn't really blow my mind considering the argument that you're trying to make. However, I am certain it is clear that you know more than most college coaches...so let's just go with what you think. Upperman would definitely win should they meet.....so let's hope they reach out to CHS about scheduling that game next year. OF COURSE we all know that will NEVER happen....FOR OBVIOUS reasons. Kinda hard to convince people Upperman should be their choice when Cookeville beats them...only way to keep that from happening isssss.........you guessed it. Don't schedule...

Upperman wouldn't play Cookeville within single digits this year and that's a fact. They have NO ONE on their team that can guard CG Savage. She would score at will on them. I also think drastically underestimated the guards at Cookeville. They may not score as much as Hurst and Crouch do typically, but they could defend them. I have 0 doubts in my mind about that. Lets just cross reference common opponents for fun. Cookeville beat LA by 30. Upperman by 20. (+10 Cookeville)--by the way this game was 30 at the half. Gillies made a 3 at the buzzer to put it to 30. Was never EVER a contest and the entire bench played the second half. Cookeville beat Cannon by 3. Upperman beat Cannon by 9. (Upperman +6) Hm. Interesting fact. Two schools, sitting within 10 miles of each other only play two common opponents. Wonder why Upperman doesn't play...Cookeville, White County, Lebanon, Clarkrange......I could go on. Bottom line is THIS YEAR (not years past, current)....THIS YEAR, Cookeville is the better team. Some strong koolaid has been drank to think otherwise.

TN Rush will be hosting their 5th annual Rush 2 Gold Tournament in Cookeville, TN on March 29-31. The tournament will be held at Cookeville High School and surrounding gyms. All gyms are within 10 minutes of each other and competition is expected to be good as always. Please contact Matt Ferrell at 931-510-8835 or tennesseerush@gmail.com for more information. Great multi-team for several teams in same organization!

I had a key word in my post. GOOD HS and MS coaches. lol....secondly as long as there are coaches in aau, there will be recruiting? There was recruiting a long time before AAU became relevant. There will be a long time after it's gone. The more these kids get to interact with technology, the more they recruit each other and plant those seeds. A lot of times, the coach doesn't have to say anything. Also, let it be known the Insell machine that ran through Shelbyville was a recruiting monster....recruiting will happen. Transfers will happen. Those are facts. No reason to penalize the kids and take GOOD coaches out of the game.

All these are opinions, but does this not penalize the kids? IMO the black market that has been created in the AAU game is in large part due to high school organizations such as TSSAA, etc keeping the coaches that coach high schools, etc from coaching in AAU also. What I mean by that is this. It takes the guys out that are genuinely wanting to coach basketball for the right reasons. It fills their places with people who are personal trainers or knowledgeable about the game, but most of the time really just want to make money doing it. So, it seems it would be better to have a middle ground some other way. Don't take the best teachers of the game (good HS and MS coaches) and remove them from the AAU game so that they can be replaced with people who want to cash in on the kids. Just seems counterproductive in every way IF the desired outcome is kids that are better basketball players and people.

The majority of the people at Macon that think boys basketball is a train wreck there don't know basketball clearly. I know Coach Owens and Coach Welch well. Both do a great job. To insinuate that Coach Welch hasnt performed more times than not at Macon is somewhat laughable. Can anyone give the statistics on this? How many times has he been to the state tournament? Twice I believe? Just curious as to how many times Macon boys have been to the state tournament in total?

Cookeville is going to be the surprise of this district IMO. I think they shock people and win the district. Stone second, White, Rhea and Warren. I honestly don't know that Warren can beat anyone in this district this year, even with a senior laden group that has played a bunch. Stone is going to have the most overall talent probably, but the speed at which they have to play due to their size will be a tough thing to overcome if Cookeville or White can ever get the lead on them. Rhea will be competitive most always too as they showed recently witht heir win over EH.

How does everyone see Pickett/LA game tonight going? Also what about the Dekalb/York game Friday night? I am anxious to see how that one plays out!

Game was not played. No referees showed up for the game and it was cancelled about thirty minutes after it was supposed to start.

Laughable. I know her name. Know the family and have known them for quite some time. If you think anything on coachT is promotional then I’ll stop the conversation here. None of these kids get any promotion off being listed by a bunch of people on a message board hiding behind a screen name lol however, as far as differing opinions, yeah their are plenty of opinions out there. And you can have yours. My assessment has 0 to do with who plays travel ball where. I’ve probably watched these kids as a collective group, district wide, more than anyone else in this thread. So, my opinion was given on what I’ve seen over I dunno, 7-10 years of watching these kids. No only their high school years which is what most of you guys have seen.

If you are confused, maybe you should poll the coaches? Macon's Carter is #1. No question right now in anyone's mind I don't believe. I would love to know who the other coaches would take over Harli Smith and Haylee Johnson besides Carter...........From conversations with many of them, my bet is NO ONE.

8AA will be fun to watch this year week in and week out. Here is my prediction and reasoning: 1. Macon County- someone above said their bench is weak....??? Their bench has kids on it that would start at every other school in this district. Gregory, Carter, Shoulders, King (posts name I believe), Ashburn (most underrated player on the team imo), Mix (possibly the best straight 3 point shooter in the district). IMO Macon county is going to be a handful for anyone in this district to handle. 2. Upperman- I actually think York has the wheels to be better than Upperman this year, but until that is proven on the floor, I am sticking with U at #2. Hurst, Crouch, Levy are really good guards. Brooks is a shooter, Maynard is solid, Shrum is solid...they have the pieces to compete, but a lot of holes to fill from a year ago. I see some nights where they struggle a lot more than they have in recent memory, but they have the talent to figure it out. 3. York- could easily be in the conversation for 2nd. I actually think they have the most pieces to make a run at Macon County if the game plan is right. Night to night, that is what is yet to be seen. Can they adjust in game and pregame for opponents that are equally as talented as them and continue to perform down the stretch AFTER teams (specifically coaches) have got a couple looks at them. That is the MAIN unanswered question with them. Haylee Johnson and Harli Smith are two of the top 3/4 players in this district and some of the best players in the area. There is NO reason this team isn't top 3, and really making a run at those top two IMO. 4. Dekalb County- gonna be much improved with the addition of Kennedy Agee and Kadee Ferrell to go along with Emme Colwell and the crew they already had coming back. This team is going to be much better at scoring the basketball, as well as more competitive defensively, bball IQ AND as far as just the competitive spirit they bring to the floor. Ferrell and Agee have done a whole lot of winning in their careers thus far and bring that mentality to the floor at DC and that may make up the difference. 5. Cannon County- only ranked this high because of the talent level they have. IMO they have the talent to be 4, possible even compete with the 2/3, but they had that for the most part last year and laid egg after egg....so until we see that talent translate to wins...I can not include them in the teams that could make the regional tournament. 6. Smith County- Bibb will have this team looking 1,000% differently than it did a year ago. The talent level will be slightly better as long as Alyssa West makes a full recovery and is cleared to go 100%. Anna Vining and Emma Enoch are set to make immediate impacts on this team and for the next four years. They are both super talented and understand how to play the game. Couple that with Coach Bibb's ability to teach defensive basketball and game plan to take away other people's best options and this is a team that will muddy it up, make it nasty, and be in some dog fights with a chance to win. Every team needs to beat them the first time they play, because by the time they get to late January, early February when it matters, they will be a much better team than the one you will see in late November/early December. Whoever gets them in the go home district tournament game will NOT have an easy out is my prediction. 7. LA- It has been a long, long time since Livingston has been picked this far down the list. Although with Coach Riddle leading their charge, I can definitely see them finishing as high as 4/5th (would be an outstanding coaching job to finish there IMO). Bottom line, there is just too many question marks to rank them higher. A couple key kids coming off significant knee injuries, no true GO TO scorer coming back, and loss of their best 3 players off a very VERY mediocre team a year ago could spell a LONG year for LA. Keaton Webb is a freshman that if played much, could make an immediate impact. LA's best bet for the future may be to play young and learn by the seat of their pants this year in preparation for better times on the horizon. 8. Watertown- I know less about this team than any other. They have really struggled since coming to AA and with a coaching change to boot, it is just too early to tell where they may be. Can't wait to see some great basketball in this district in 2018-2019.

Way, way early....top 4 in this district are leaps and bounds above the next 4. The top 3 being Clay, Clarkrange and Pickett...two of those three will be in the state tournament, no question about it. Whoever finishes second in the district tournament will be sitting pretty. 1/3 will be in a dog fight in the go home game in the region semis! It will be an interesting year. My prediction.... 1/2: Clarkrange and Pickett- Both win at home, either could be defeated by Clay. I could easily see a 3 way tie for 1st with all 3 of the top 3 holding serve during home games. 3. Clay 4. RBS (could give people some trouble late in the year) 5. Trousdale 6. Monterey 7. Gordonsville 8. Jackson County

Smith and Dekalb will both be muchhhhhhh improved from a year ago. 1. Macon 2. Upperman 3. York 4-7 will be nasty depending on the night. I think Dekalb, Cannon, Smith, LA but it could be exactly the opposite. So much youth will be relied on at Dekalb and Smith. Smith County will also be dependent on the level of play of Alyssa West. How she responds from injury will be a key to their year imo. 8. Watertown

Moore County being AT HOME is huge in this game. Had it been at Motlow, completely different scenario. At Lynchburg, with that atmosphere, Clay has to figure out a way to survive! Limit runs, control the tempo and not let the atmosphere get out of hand. If Moore County gets rolling and gets some momentum, WATCH OUT!!! Clay has to make sure they keep their emotions in check and maintain control. First time in this atmosphere vs a seasoned team from MC may be the difference. Strong and Arms have both been playing lights out though....so if they continue to do that, it could be a big time upset brewing for Clay County.

When will everyone know for sure if the game is being played tonight? and is tip time 6 pm?

Game being held at Moore County HS instead of Motlow is a significant increase in the chances of Moore winning. That is going to be a packed house. No clue where they're going to put all the people that will want to come watch that game. Good luck to Moore and Clay...should be a heck of a ball game! Huntland drew a tough matchup having to come to Byrdstown. Really going to be a hard atmosphere to have a chance to win in.

Unfortunate that any of the 4 teams in our district had to go home last night. That was two of the best basketball games on the same night that I have seen played in a really long time. A whole bunch of really great players and coaches, laying it all on the line for their teams. Thankful PC escaped with a victory, but sad to see Jackson and Clarkrange seniors seasons end like that. They left it all out there and they have had fantastic careers at those two prestigious programs.

Anyone else notice his comment. "OUR BOYS" being the key word there. If you just flip over to that girls roster, lets see how many were born and raised in SOUTH Fentress......if you need some help checking, I can send you a pretty lengthy list of the ones that were NOT in the last few years. Point being...if you're sitting in a glass house, I sure wouldn't be tossing stones. Honestly if you think about it, Monterey would have to rob Cookeville and Livingston for about 25-30 years to catch up to the level of the CR girls now wouldn't they??

Tennessee Rush AAU Tryouts have been posted on the website at www.tennesseerush.com. Anyone interested in trying out, please go to the website and sign up. Dates and times are listed on the homepage.

They cannot play until after their high school season ends. It would make the athlete ineligible for the reminder of the school year.

Who does everyone see as THE 8 teams that make the State Tournament a few weeks from now? I will start with my prediction first. Clarkrange Pickett County (Although whoever has to go on the road to Moore County will have a tough one) Unaka Sunbright **I do not think either of the teams coming from East Tennessee have a legitimate shot this year from what I can tell** Summertown Huntingdon Greenfield Gibson County