Division II A Predictions

[greenfan5]

FRA is a definite threat when speaking of DII A, but Ezell is 2-0 in the region, Davidson is 1-0, and DCA is 1-0 as well. There are many good teams, I think it will be a toss up.

[Bigkid2]

This is a brief observation from a perspective of someone whose team came from Div I AA to DivII A.

 

What an unfortunate thing to happen to all the girls’ teams that changed, including Knox-Webb that dropped down from DII AA. While I know the TSSAA and schools made decisions for various reasons it wasn't for the girls, at least the girls in transition. For at least one school it was FOOTBALL. For the TSSAA it was just to get rid of the private schools- and maybe they will go away.(Obviously my opinion)

 

Currently the top teams in DII A East/Middle are Davidson Academy and USN (DII A last year), Ezell Harding, DCA, FRA (Div I AA last year). Knox-Webb will end up competing with the return of their star. (btw- The Tennessean doesn't even list Knox-Webb as part of the Region....shows the lack of commitment of them to girls sports also-unless you are CPA, Ensworth or Brentwood)

 

I believe that after the regular season one of the teams that moved will be leading the region. Both USN and Davidson will be good but to date have not been tested on their schedules. They will be and may win but I think both are a year away.

 

The girls in transition (DCA,EH and FRA) will miss playing East Lit, CPA,MLK, Pearl Cohn, Hume Fogg, Goodpasture and David Lipscomb in conference play. (43-27) (61%) In contrast, the other schools in Div II A other than USN and Davidson have a record of about 40% and appear not to be competitive. And they are consistently beaten by 20 or more points.

 

As we all know, players improve when put in competitive games that require keen focus and attention. The girls coming from Div I AA have experienced that in the years past. They will experience it this year against each other but it does not appear that with the majority of the region there will be any significant competition. When you are winning (or losing) by 20 or more points the intensity level will drop, no matter how hard you try.

 

I hope I am wrong on my analysis. I want the girls to have the best competition at their level possible. For both ends. It is no fun to consistently or even occasionally be beaten by 20 points. The TSSAA did a disservice to all the teams in this region if their goal was to make them competitive……Ha (Just get rid of the private schools and everything will be ok is the TSSAA philosophy that I have seen.)

 

Best of luck to all the teams in Div II A. Let’s all show that we can compete.

[PHargis]

BK, yours is a reasonable and very good assessment of what happened except for one thing which I will respond to a little later. It, IMO, was a knee jerk reaction on a course that is good for no one. And I can't disagree with you that an obsession with football and a search for some mythical national championship which is now trying to find its way in other sports, will finally cause a demise of high school competition. Certainly the smaller the school group requires a search for competition from some place to fullfill a reason to exist. If a school is satisfied with competing not only in academics but in athletics, its hard to find the reasoning for change. And if football is satisfied, what other sport fullfills the need of that competition.

I don't read the situation as you do that the TSSAA just tries to get rid of private schools. Private schools make their own decisions to go whichever way they want and have done it. It was not the way public schools could operate. Evidently privates did not want to operate the way publics operate for a number of reasons, all of which seem to have some reason. Smaller private schools meet the needs of students better than larger schools, IMO.

Schools made the decision to move to DII. TSSAA likely did not use the criteria of competition in any decision. I read the news account of EH moving and the AD said it met his criteria and it was the schools decision. There were other reasons for the move. The president of Davidson laid out reorganization plans in the City Paper and it seemed to satisfy his needs but evidently not everyone.

Your last sentence of being able to compete is reasonable. You always have competed as with all who moved to DII. That is the character of the schools. You are competing now. You just have a snaller school base and as has been the reason for DII, all schools do not have the same reason for existance. Some special needs, some other reasons. The schools who left DI left a hole there. Those who played them feel the competitive difference also. Transition is always hard.

[Bigkid2]

PH, Thanks for the response.

 

While I realize it is"each schools decision" the reasons very. I believe that both EH and FRA because of their size would have been Div I A. Great girls basketball.

 

However the cost of tuition at a private school and the current downturn in the economy forced a temporary reality, kids enolled in EH and FRA (and others) needed money (Scholarships) to continue their education or not to go to the school. I am not talking about recruits, I am talking about kids that have been at the school for up to 11 years. Plus if these kids leave the school TSSAA rules they cannot play for 12 months (as you know). So it forces the schools and families to make a decision they may not have in other instances.

 

So a kid that plays on a varsity basketball team, whose father or mother may have lost a job (or any number of scenerios) and finances are extremely tight, can't change and play. Thanks TSSAA.

 

Yes it was the schools decision but the kids and families in transition are the ones hurt. Why not relax the rules for a Div II A school. There doesn't appear to be much if any recruiting. There could be with the money the Div II AA schools have. But few if any Div II A schools do.

 

Allow the kids the ability to go to a public school they are classified for and not penalize the kid. Make a set of rules that allows private school kids, who are paying public taxes, the right to opt back in, expecially those in transition.

 

I know that will never happen since I believe that the TSSAA really doesn't want much to do with private schools. But PH, that is a discussion for another day.

 

Have a very blessed holiday and hope to see you at the tournaments.

[PHargis]

PH, Thanks for the response.

 

While I realize it is"each schools decision" the reasons very. I believe that both EH and FRA because of their size would have been Div I A. Great girls basketball.

 

However the cost of tuition at a private school and the current downturn in the economy forced a temporary reality, kids enolled in EH and FRA (and others) needed money (Scholarships) to continue their education or not to go to the school. I am not talking about recruits, I am talking about kids that have been at the school for up to 11 years. Plus if these kids leave the school TSSAA rules they cannot play for 12 months (as you know). So it forces the schools and families to make a decision they may not have in other instances.

 

So a kid that plays on a varsity basketball team, whose father or mother may have lost a job (or any number of scenerios) and finances are extremely tight, can't change and play. Thanks TSSAA.

 

Yes it was the schools decision but the kids and families in transition are the ones hurt. Why not relax the rules for a Div II A school. There doesn't appear to be much if any recruiting. There could be with the money the Div II AA schools have. But few if any Div II A schools do.

 

Allow the kids the ability to go to a public school they are classified for and not penalize the kid. Make a set of rules that allows private school kids, who are paying public taxes, the right to opt back in, expecially those in transition.

 

I know that will never happen since I believe that the TSSAA really doesn't want much to do with private schools. But PH, that is a discussion for another day.

 

Have a very blessed holiday and hope to see you at the tournaments.

Now, I'm going to get crucified for the position I'm going to take and I consider it to be a compromise of approval but I think that could be done. Paying public taxes has really nothing to do with it. But to consider a waiver being considered as you have mentioned from DIIa to DIA or any other rules and a hearing on the transfer without losing eligability, in other words a hardship case, should be able to be considered before a board. It is my opinion that the reason the TSSAA gives you the opinion is why does anyone think the TSSAA would want to think about that with all of the negative opinions that have been expressed. Before you quote me, I don't give final opinions. i have heard of the circumstances mentioned. Now a question. How would you handle the issue of a school being very agresssive in signing up students, oversubscribing students, and having a history of students having to re-enter the public school system. Just wanted an opinion.

[Bigkid2]

Thanks PH. Great question that gets to the heart of the whole debacle. There is a relatively simple solution.

 

Your question: How would you handle the issue of a school being very aggressive in signing up students, oversubscribing students, and having a history of students having to re-enter the public school system.

 

The question is do you manage the process by treating everyone the same or do you mange the process by exception. TSSAA has chosen to lump the kids and manage the process the same for everyone. No exceptions.

 

How about a specific set of exceptions for a kid that has been at a private school more than 5 years (i.e. not jumping from school to school) and for certain reasons (e.g. economic, parent divorce or death) a transfer FROM a private school to a public school be allowed without loss of eligibility. In other words make the rules at the student level establishing a list of reasons why and how a student can change and not lose eligibility. This type of set could be established for public to public and public to private schools.

 

For those schools that become overly aggressive in “recruiting” a panel of peer schools should be called if a specific school seems to be overtly taking advantage of the rules. TSSAA, I believe, already has a mechanism for this. If proven “aggressive” then loss of tournament eligibility for a period would be appropriate.

 

JH, in short, look to the reason for the student transfer and establish a list for acceptable reasons to transfer without loss of eligibility. Don’t lump all reasons together.

[MTOWN21]

Team Overall Overall % Conference Conference %

Davidson Acad. 23-1 .958 12-0 1.000

FRA 23-3 .885 11-1 .917

Ezell-Harding 21-6 .778 9-3 .750

DCA 18-8 .692 9-3 .750

Knox Webb 12-11 .522 8-3 .727

USN 15-10 .600 7-5 .583

St. Cecilia 16-12 .571 6-6 .500

St. Andrew's-Sewanee 12-11 .522 6-7 .462

Webb School 8-17 .320 4-8 .333

Mt. Juliet Chr. 10-17 .370 2-11 .154

Riverside Chr. 4-15 .211 1-9 .100

Zion Chr. 4-16 .200 1-10 .091

King's Acad. 1-15 .063 1-10 .091

[fiftyfifty]

Team Overall Overall % Conference Conference %

Davidson Acad. 23-1 .958 12-0 1.000

FRA 23-3 .885 11-1 .917

Ezell-Harding 21-6 .778 9-3 .750

DCA 18-8 .692 9-3 .750

Knox Webb 12-11 .522 8-3 .727

USN 15-10 .600 7-5 .583

St. Cecilia 16-12 .571 6-6 .500

St. Andrew's-Sewanee 12-11 .522 6-7 .462

Webb School 8-17 .320 4-8 .333

Mt. Juliet Chr. 10-17 .370 2-11 .154

Riverside Chr. 4-15 .211 1-9 .100

Zion Chr. 4-16 .200 1-10 .091

King's Acad. 1-15 .063 1-10 .091

 

Knox Webb may make waves in the tournament. They probably have the best player in Div II A.

[fiftyfifty]

Knoxville Webb sends Davidson packing. Probably the eventual state title winner.

[movinonup]

Knoxville Webb sends Davidson packing. Probably the eventual state title winner.

 

 

Harding in the West looks pretty tough. I do not know how they compare to Knoxville Webb, but I was impressed with them.

[fourj]

What do the brackets look like? What are potential upsets.

[Trojan Fan]

Lausanne and Harding play tonight for #1 in the West. Fayette Academy and, I think, USJ are playing for 3rd place. If I'm not mistaken there are 4 from the East/Middle and 4 from the West so all 4 have clinched sub-state games w/ the top 2 hosting and the other 2 travelling eastward. I believe this was only Fayette's 2nd loss of the season though they don't play anywhere near the schedule that Lausanne does.

 

Fayette and Lausanne had a good, competitive game in one semi and Harding cruised easily over USJ in the other.

 

I did notice that Lauren Avant was not in the box score for any of the tournament games for Lausanne so they're winning without her at this point. Anybody know if she's out injured again and will she be back at all?