Prepextra Top 10

[what_a_game]

Don't see how you have Powell ranked up there above Pigeon Forge. They've lost to a bad Clinton team and were outplayed/hustled by an average at best Catholic team. Pigeon Forge is talented, deep and very well coached. They return most of their players from last years Sub-State team and have added Harper who gives them a nice lift inside. If we're counting Bradley Central as a PrepXtra team, I think if you've seen both Bradley Central and Fulton, you'd have to go with BC. Fulton would struggle to stop BC's post play and Oglesby. Bearden doesn't have the guard play needed and are too inconsistent in the post despite having 2 of the area's top young posts. Conner is playing as well as anyone in Knoxville right now but he isn't getting consistent help. They are a 3 player team at best.

 

1. Bradley Central * Giving them the benefit of being in the PrepXtra

2. Oak Ridge

3. Maryville

4. Fulton

5. Greeneville

6. Farragut

7. Pigeon Forge

8. Austin East

9. Bearden

10. Halls

10. Claiborne County * if Bradley dropped off

Not sure of the final score, but didn't Greeneville beat Bradley Central by about 20 points? And they also beat Bearden by over 20? Has anyone else on your list accomplished this? May want to rethink your #1 team.

[dontknowmuch]

Don't see how you have Powell ranked up there above Pigeon Forge. They've lost to a bad Clinton team and were outplayed/hustled by an average at best Catholic team. Pigeon Forge is talented, deep and very well coached. They return most of their players from last years Sub-State team and have added Harper who gives them a nice lift inside. If we're counting Bradley Central as a PrepXtra team, I think if you've seen both Bradley Central and Fulton, you'd have to go with BC. Fulton would struggle to stop BC's post play and Oglesby. Bearden doesn't have the guard play needed and are too inconsistent in the post despite having 2 of the area's top young posts. Conner is playing as well as anyone in Knoxville right now but he isn't getting consistent help. They are a 3 player team at best.

 

1. Bradley Central * Giving them the benefit of being in the PrepXtra

2. Oak Ridge

3. Maryville

4. Fulton

5. Greeneville

6. Farragut

7. Pigeon Forge

8. Austin East

9. Bearden

10. Halls

10. Claiborne County * if Bradley dropped off

 

Based on peformance to date, I'd suggest the following:

 

1. Greenville (14-0) Not the strongest competition, but undefeated and beat BC

2. Bradley Central (Strong posts to go with Oglesby)

3. Fulton (Undefeated and has beaten Farragut, Bearden and Maryville)

3. Oak Ridge (similar to Fulton, bigger team, don't shoot the ball as well)

5. Farragut

6. Maryville (still ranking on potential- could be the 1 - time will tell)

7. Pigeon Forge

8. Halls (guard play is much better than Bearden and they are a tough team)

9. Bearden (still too early to tell - if young guys improve could be dangerous)

10.Austin East

10.Claibourne County

Edited December 20, 2006 by dontknowmuch

[defender25]

Over the last 7 years Catholic has had 3 transfers, Dustin Sidell from Farragut in 2001, Tony Fox from Notre Dame in 2003 and Daniel Hood this year from Kingsport. Everyone else comes from their feeder schools of St. Joseph, St. John Nueman and Sacred Heart. If Catholic is recruiting then their recuiter should be fired! Just kidding. I guess since Catholic's record over the last 7 years (including this year) is 136-47 with three state tournaments appearance, it must be because they recruit, not because their coaches and players work their butts off to get better!

Good post If they're recruiting, their recruiter should be fired! 'Cause 3 in 7 years isn't exactly rollin' 'em in

[QSouth89]

That's not exactly accurate. If you look at the current team, Ryan Walden came from Cedar Bluff, Matt Crawford came from West Valley, Mark Olberding came from Karns, Daniel Hood from Kigsport and they have all started at some point this year.

 

Winston Cruze came from Bearden as a transfer and started year before last. You could also throw John Abraham from Farragut onto that list. If he had stayed at Catholic, 4 of the starters this year would not have come from Catholic feeder schools. That is not to say that the work ethic, will to win, and coaching weren't the keys to their success. Over the last 5 years, I would put our record up against anybody's. These players haven't been actively recruited to Catholic but have certainly had an impact on the team even though most came directly from middle school to Catholic so they technically weren't transfers.

 

When you look at almost everyone of the schools in the Top Ten list that was started, almost all have players that could have conceivably ended up at other schools. Just in the Junior class, you could pick out several top players/starters who haven't ended up where they were initially zoned. Aaron Douglas -Maryville, Brian Sommers-Alcoa, Ryan Walden-Catholic, Will Bryant-Fulton, Michael White- Anderson County, Josh Gregory-Oak Ridge, Riley Hunley-Farragut, John Abraham-Farragut to name a few. It's not anything that hasn't gone on among all the schools both public and private. The transfer issue shouldn't come into play as we debate the merits of the Top 10 teams.

I was talking about kids who transfered into Catholic. Walden's mom teaches at Catholic, Crawford didn't play at West Valley and I'm not sure if Olberding played at Karns (probably did) they all came in as freshman. I did forget about Cruze.

Edited December 20, 2006 by ScottA11

[Turtle]

Fulton is a team filled with GUARDS this year. They will not be able to keep up with a team with post players cough cough AE. I've seen them play 2 times this year and one was against Farragut, I must say that was one heckuva game. Especially by Shannon Hollingsworth. THat boy was just a pain in all of Farragut's players. He stoled the show in OT...

 

But the point of this post is to say AE should be ranked higher than what you guys have them... Fulton yes they can sit at the top as of now but Jan. 5th at Jody Wright's Gymnasium, Fulton will go down...

Edited December 22, 2006 by Turtle

[IrishBBall]

Powell beat Halls, so how is powell below them

Powell isn't better than Halls in spite of 1 win. Using your logic, I should have Catholic ranked in there since they beat Powell. Cameron was in foul trouble for much of the game from what I heard and it was at Powell. Catholic beat Powell twice in the Fall League at Karns in addition to winning Saturday and lost to Halls this summer. I've probably got Greeeneville ranked too low. I thought Bradley won the LandAir tourney instead of Greeneville. But I heard Oglesby spent alot of the game on the bench in foul trouble. I don't know much about Greeneville other than Wiggins so I'm guessing a bit but the top 3 above them are all tough. I think in the end Bradley will be at the top of the list. There aren't many teams in this area with 3 D-1 signees much less 2 very good posts to go along with a great offensive player. I'm also assuming Maryville's football players will provide a huge lift for them soon.

[IrishBBall]

I was talking about kids who transfered into Catholic. Walden's mom teaches at Catholic, Crawford didn't play at West Valley and I'm not sure if Olberding played at Karns (probably did) they all came in as freshman. I did forget about Cruze.

I was addressing the fact that you said there weren't any recruits and "EVERYONE" had come from Sacred Heart, St. John Neumann or St. Josephs. I pointed out that several had come from Public schools even as Freshman(not transfers) and made huge impacts. West Valley and Cedar Bluff have both been kind to Catholic. Didn't Catholic offer Walden's mom the job to get him there? (Just kidding Coach)

Edited December 21, 2006 by IrishBBall

[PowellFan]

Cameron Didnt play for about 3 min, in that game, Powell looked a lot better than them, Maybe you should watch games before you start ranking the teams.

[IrishBBall]

Powell[/url]Fan' post='826310576' date='Dec 20 2006 - 10:31 PM']

Cameron Didnt play for about 3 min, in that game, Powell looked a lot better than them, Maybe you should watch games before you start ranking the teams.

Can't watch them all as much as I'd like to, but I bet I've seen most of these teams play several times more than you between their fall league games, AAU games (where I've seen the majority of these guys on combined teams), team camps in the summer, and scouting.

 

If Cameron sat 3 minutes and he scored 8 points in the last 22 seconds....Halls mathematically lost the potential for 70 more points right LOL! Didn't Powell blow big leads late to both Halls and Catholic by turning the ball over repeatedly and missing FT's?????? I still strongly maintain that Halls puts 5 better players on the floor than Powell but Conner makes up alot of the difference.

 

Let's not even mention the loss to Clinton which just lost to Campbell County's intramural team that had to piece together uniforms just to play!

 

How many times do you think true pollsters see the teams they rank in the college polls play? I've seen every team I ranked play either last year, this summer in team camp, fall league or this season. Can you say the same?

Edited December 21, 2006 by IrishBBall

[PowellFan]

Last year Powell beat halls by 35 points (minus lee smith) with the other for starters the same,

 

Powell will be hallls at halls again, YOu cant go by AAU, Also, if you want to get down to it, Hargis had a very bad wrist that was taped up heavely and caused him to miss some shots, But thats fine, I like it better when everyone says they will lose.

[QSouth89]

I was addressing the fact that you said there weren't any recruits and "EVERYONE" had come from Sacred Heart, St. John Neumann or St. Josephs. I pointed out that several had come from Public schools even as Freshman(not transfers) and made huge impacts. West Valley and Cedar Bluff have both been kind to Catholic. Didn't Catholic offer Walden's mom the job to get him there? (Just kidding Coach)

 

I knew that Ryan and Matt came from Knox County Schools, I just assumed everyone else came from the 3 feeder programs. I don't watch any middle school games. So forgive my comments. However, I still hold firm and defend the fact that Catholic doesn't recruit like everyone likes to believe.

[Know Nothing]

Can't watch them all as much as I'd like to, but I bet I've seen most of these teams play several times more than you between their fall league games, AAU games (where I've seen the majority of these guys on combined teams), team camps in the summer, and scouting.

 

If Cameron sat 3 minutes and he scored 8 points in the last 22 seconds....Halls mathematically lost the potential for 70 more points right LOL! Didn't Powell blow big leads late to both Halls and Catholic by turning the ball over repeatedly and missing FT's?????? I still strongly maintain that Halls puts 5 better players on the floor than Powell but Conner makes up alot of the difference.

 

Let's not even mention the loss to Clinton which just lost to Campbell County's intramural team that had to piece together uniforms just to play!

 

How many times do you think true pollsters see the teams they rank in the college polls play? I've seen every team I ranked play either last year, this summer in team camp, fall league or this season. Can you say the same?

 

You are selling Powell a little bit short, IrishBball. Conner and Hargis are neither one even close to 100%. Conner has a bad knee and ankle. Hargis has a minor, but very painful, hand injury that is clearly hampering his play. In spite of that, they are 8-3, with two of those losses coming by a combined two points, Clinton and Catholic. Give Clinton and Catholic credit for winning those games, but don't be surprised if Powell makes it back to substate or better this year when (if) everyone is healthy. And not to make excuses, but the Catholic game was the night after a very emotional win. Powell's m.o. lately has been to build large leads and surrender them late in games. That is a mental problem more than a talent problem. When (if) that is corrected, I think you will see that Powell starts winning most of their games convincingly. Powell is easily one of the most talented teams is the region.

 

On an unrelated note, do you know why every single year, Powell plays at Catholic. To my knowledge, Catholic has NEVER come to Powell. Why are all those games played at Catholic?