BBallExtreme

Nina Davis of Memphis Central and Odegua Oigbokie of Ridgeway.

We'll have the pleasure of watching girls from Memphis and Shelby County Class of 2009 playing for the University of Georgia, University of Arkansas, Texas A&M, Southeastern Louisiana, MTSU, Arkansas State, Furman, UTC, Tennessee State, just to name a few. And the best part is, if we can't make the game we can probably watch it on tv! Now THAT'S D1!

Which teams have you seen play? Memphis has some great teams and players. I'd put Memphis' best up against any others from West Tennessee any day. Just look at the 2009 D1 commits from Tennessee and you'll see that Memphis holds down the west when it comes to D1 scholarships! As for how Tennessee compares with the rest of the country, I'd say that, based on population, we're were we should be. In the South, only Georgia may be stronger.

I wouldn't pretend to be able to do this, I just wish others who say they can wouldn't pretend they could either. If I did, I surely couldn't completely omit ESPN's 44th ranked player in the nation from a list of Tennessee's supposed best.

How could so much talent be overlooked? Seniors hoping to play in the Sun Belt or Ohio Valley conference are ranked, but sophomores and Juniors with SEC and ACC offers don't rank at all. Not enough AAA players at all. Jasmine Robinson from Overton doesn't rank? Pleeaaze! This "bogus" ranking just highlights the importance of players getting out in front of coaches during this July evaluation period and not relying on local press and pundits to determine which players are deserving of attention.

Muhammad, Ridgeway (2011)--holding offers from SEC and U of M Daniels, SBA (2011)--holding offers from SEC and ACC

What the mandate does is attempt to make Tennessee students more prepared to compete in a global economy (since only a miniscule few will be professional athletes). India, with over a billion people, has more honors students than America has students and we're complaining that STUDENTS may not get to practice during the school day--Amazing!

Way to go 3 in a row! /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Way to go! I know she'll represent TN well!

Mackenzie was there and looked great. Bashaara was missed, I hope all is well.

Now THAT is a legitimate question. Our team (15u) did go on the Nationals last year, but we have been told that we "probably won't" this year because of exposure conflicts. We plan to play in the state tournament. But our team is an exception, it's not a true "exposure team", meaning that all our girls are local (Memphis and Jackson) and while they are all great players, the team is not exclusively D1 prospect players pulled from other AAU teams--the core of our team has been together for at least four years. We didn't just decide to leave the AAU side, some of us were dragged away kicking and screaming but we knew exposure was the better choice for our players at their age. These girls have been playing AAU since age nine, so the prospect of winning a state or national championship is a bit addictive for the players and parents! Winning Deep South last year was great, but there's something special about AAU Nationals and I guess we just want to keep the door open to attending this year.

I guess the "other stuff" you're referring to are the 40 girls from each region who receive the honor of being selected, because for THEM it's about being recognized for hard work and having the opportunity to improve with some of the best trainers in the country. Nike will sell shoes regardless. And...it makes us look really small when we belittle someone else's accomplishments. /mad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":angry:" border="0" alt="mad.gif" /> Oh yeah, congratulations to Aliyah Whiteside, she'll be there! /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

That's awesome, Bashaara is a great player. Congratulations!

Which girls from Tennessee are attending the Nike Skills camp in Norcross (Atlanta) April 25th and 26th? Here are the two I'm aware of: Danielle Ballard, Central Hasina Muhammad, Ridgeway

Whoa there, Rob. AAU was a great experience for us and continues to be for thousands of other families, especially at the younger age groups. All I'm saying is that it may no longer meet the needs of SOME players and/or teams. For the vast majority of players AAU provides enough competition and exposure to make for meaningful participation. I'm just saying don't blame parents for wanting to put their daughter in the best possible situation. Our team's assistant coach who was head coach for an older team can boast of having ten of his eleven players signed to play college ball. He now feels that he could have benefited his players by having them play exposure tournaments earlier rather than later. Although his girls have signed, several missed opportunities to play for more desirable teams. Parents have to be savvy and realistic about their daughter's goals and abilities and trust people with experience. Hopefully AAU will evolve to meet the needs of more players and their families, if it doesn't, does it even deserve to survive?

No doubt about it, Bri. And now it's even hard on the college programs. Colleges don't have unlimited funds to spend on recruiting these days. Coaches are now trying to coordinate their scouting schedules with exposure coaches to find out which teams are playing where so they can get more bang for their buck! After speaking with several other AAU coaches from around the region that we have competed against over the years, our coach informed us that many highly competetive teams won't be at AAU nationals in our age group because of conflicts with recruiting windows and exposure events. So we won't be either. Does anyone honestly think that a bunch of college coaches are going to be watching sub par competition at AAU nationals when they already know players with D1 aspirations won't be there?

No, I'm on the right thread, still talking 15u! An organization paying for a teams exposure expenses is not uncommon at all. Sometimes it's a larger AAU organization using general funds--raised through fundraising, hosting tournaments, charitable contributions, etc.--to sponsor teams with a certain level of talent and D1 interest. Sometimes it is a shoe company that sponsors the team. Sometimes it's an exposure tournament sponsor who wants to guarantee the highest level of competition at his tournaments, whatever. In any case the teams' expenses are met by some entity other than the parents. Now of course parents have to pay for their own travel and expenses if they want to see their daughter play, but that's their choice. Believe it or not, some teams even pay for the parents' travel and meals, but I won't name names! /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

Apparently we aren't talking about the same "shoe company" teams. The teams that I am familiar with pay all player expenses (uniform, shoes, tournament fees, travel, hotel--and some even pay for meals), there is no player fee at all. These teams want the best players and are willing to pay. If you are paying for a player to pay on a shoe company team with promises of grandeur on the back end then you're probably better off sticking with AAU. You are right in the respect that these teams want the players who are already competing at the highest level--not players that they will have to develop themselves. If they expect the parents to pay for everything they don't think the player is worth it. Find a good coach whose ablility you trust and he will place his players in the best possible situation, both financially and career-wise.

Hey, as long as P.F. Flyers is paying tournament fees, and travel and hotel expenses, and making sure D1 coaches are watching our players we just might join you! /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" /> In all seriousness, the shoe company teams are successful because they are willing to bear the financial burden that parents themselves endure under AAU. Also AAU may not be the best venue for exposure once teams reach 13u or so. We have been invlolved with AAU since our daughter was ten and had a great time. When we played up (14u) in our very first "exposure" tournament--reluctantly, I might add-- several of our girls received their very first recruitment letters from prominent D1 schools (they probably thought they were high school freshmen). Now those opening ceremony balloon tosses are great, but our players opening those letters and having their hard work validated by someone other than their coach or parents was priceless. Needless to say, we probably won't be playing in AAU Nationals this year, it conflicts with a major exposure event. It all comes down to the parents and the choices they make for their daughter. We didn't select an organization, we chose a coach whom we trust and whose opinions and knowledge we respect--and other parents should do the same.

Who are the best girls high jumpers? How high?

I certainly am not opposed to home schooled students using those FACILITIES, but they need to provide their own teams and coaches. If there are a limited number of positions on a basketball team--and there are--then those positions and the coach that student's enrollment in the school pays for should be the beneficiaries. If a student is not enrolled in the school then her parents are paying taxes into the general fund, but NOT for the school in which they want their child to participate in athletics. Those tax dollars are funneled elsewhere. It's not about wanting to prevent any student from participation or use of facilities. It's about fairness and equity. Just today at my school we were informed that two teachers and one guidance counselor would be surplussed next year "because enrollment is down". I can't speak for privates, but in public schools the demand for non-club athletics among public school students already exceeds the supply.

Which teams and players are favored this year? Are more AAU teams doing more exposure than AAU? What's up? Can't wait to get started already! /popcorneater.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":popcorneater:" border="0" alt="popcorneater.gif" />

My experience in the Shelby Metro area is that there isn't a lot of complaining about fairness either way. In Memphis City Schools the "Optional" schools are open to all students who meet certain academic standards, these are the schools most in demand within MCS. Memphis Central happens to be an Optional school which means that students from any where in the city who meet those standards can attend (even students outside of the city who qualify can pay tuition and attend). I know that there are girls on the Central team that are Optional students and there are girls that aren't. At White Station, another Memphis Optional, most (all?) of the varsity girls are also in the Optional program. Does Optional status give certain schools an advantage? Of course, but there are some great inner city schools that have a long tradition of athletic excellence and tons booster and community support and can compete with any school in the area, public or private--particularly on the boys side (ie. BTW, Manassas, Melrose). With girls it seems that the best players play year round, and with fewer girls' team being sponsored it's more expensive for girls to do AAU than boys, so family income plays a larger role in girls' success. This is a generalization, of course there are exceptions! Curious to know how this plays out in other cities in the state.

Agreed. It's hard not to over simplify with such limited space to share one's wisdom! /laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":lol:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />

Great honest assessment. However I'm going to add the elephant in the room..... 3. An end to white flight. I work and teach in a school in an upper middle class area (based on home values). Very few of our white neighbors send their children to the local public school, but all of our black neighbors do. How that plays out in the school is like this: More nonwhites move into an area and those whites who can move, those who can't stay, but send their children to private schools or elect to home school. The nonwhites usually have two working parents (or sometimes one parent working two jobs) which translates into less parental involvement overall. Parental involvement correlates highly with academic performance, and predictably test scores fall. Decreased enrollment means more "openings" for students from outside the district. These students are usually less advantaged than the students who live in the district and are often from poorly performing schools, further lowering test scores. Because their parents live farther away and have even less work flexibility there is even less parental involvement. You see how this becomes perpetuating and sadly athletics is the least of what's wrong with this picture.