How Do We Measure Against Other States.....

[gamespitter]

particularly against Kentucky and Mississippi in girls basketball. I recently moved back to TN after living in Texas for the past 9 years. Grant it I've only seen b-ball in TN since Jan and the girls b-ball in West TN seem to be a notch below what I've seen in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. This is not a knock, I am originally from Memphis and love TN. Just want to see where everone else see girls b-ball stack up compared to close neighbors. So please no go back to Texas post.

[jimbo44]

particularly against Kentucky and Mississippi in girls basketball. I recently moved back to TN after living in Texas for the past 9 years. Grant it I've only seen b-ball in TN since Jan and the girls b-ball in West TN seem to be a notch below what I've seen in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. This is not a knock, I am originally from Memphis and love TN. Just want to see where everone else see girls b-ball stack up compared to close neighbors. So please no go back to Texas post.

Check the AAU Girls BBALL web site. TN teams did well this year.

 

Last year, after the age group National tourneys were over, a midtn coach put together a mixture of 15s and 16s. They came in second in the AAU Jr. Olympics tourney.

 

The best girls Bball in West Tn is out in the thinly populated areas, A and AA. They put together some awsome teams.

[BBallExtreme]

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.

[GCPioneer]

Rural West TN has it's fair share of D1 players. Most of 'em just wind up at Union and win NAIA national championships. For instance; Kaitlin Dudley(Gibson Co.), Meredith Richardson(Bradford), and Kayla Hudson(Gleason) are definately all 3 D1 players. Ashley Hayes from Humboldt played her 4 years at Murray St. and finished as one of the top scorers in the conference last year and nearly made it to the WNBA. Chassidy Fussell from Obion Co. is headed to U of Texas. For rural West TN to have all these small schools and still have great talent is saying something about the level of competition around here as well as the coaching. In Single A and Double A, rural West TN dominates Memphis easily. Triple A is all Memphis as rural West TN has very few Triple A schools.

 

gamespitter, some of these small schools in the rural parts have some rich tradition inside them. Bradford has 6 or 7 state championships and has produced great players such as Michelle Street, Tonya Tuggles, Meredith Richardson etc. Gleason has 3 state championships and is always in the thick of things late into the post season every year. Gibson Co., Westview, Obion Co. and Trenton Peabody have put out some great players and great teams. There is some great talent up here. Just wait until the season cranks up and you hear about all these District rivalries going on etc... and then you'll understand what I'm saying.

[BBallExtreme]

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!

[sHarshaw]

the fact is you wont be able to produce the volume of incredible athletes out of the MUCH larger metropolitan areas of Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and others. TN has good players but not on the level numbers wise TX will have.

[rebelpower]

Its obvious we don't have the depth of talent as perhaps a heavily populated state like Texas, but I will say pound for pound TN basketball is strong from the west all the way to the east as any state in the union. This is evident by the various scholarship players from a smaller state.

[fuzby]

By height

[jimbo44]

By height

[OmahaVol]

Gamespitter, Tennessee is a very competitive state in girls bball. Not too many years ago Shelbyville was one of, if not, the best team in the nation. They are still a very good team. Oak Ridge is another team with rich tradition. They play in the Nike TOC every year, and usually do fairly well. They just always choke in their own state tournament. The AAA state tournament is one of the toughest state tournaments in the nation. So, I think they stack up pretty well. Even the likes of Dulles, Nimitz, and Summit would struggle in the AAA tournament.

[Indian]

Just a camp game which of course can be deceiving but the team here played the eventual Class AA state champ in Georgia, Buford, to an 8-point game yet couldn't get past McMinn Central and Upperman to make it to the state in Tennessee. Either of those, especially McMinn Central, could have played evenly with Buford in my opinion even though they had a post sign with Auburn and one of the top rated guards in the country in her class. Then McMinn Central, though very good, came up short in the state.