Meiko Lyles not winning Mr. Basketball......

[DeConley1]

Is a complete disgrace of the entire award. Not only should have he won it this season, but should have won it last season, when they advanced to the state tournament. But this year averaging 27 ppg and 10 rebs a game and advancing your team to the state championship game there should be no question. What a complete travesty. If you listened to the resumes of the finalists, it wasn't even close. It is embarrassing to the award and proves that whoever votes on this doesn't have a clue.

 

I'm not aware of any other player that has been a finalist 2x and not won at least once.

 

This might be worse than Joe Jackson not winning last season.

[yankees8589]

Meiko Lyles would have gotten my vote.

[BigENS]

Who has the final vote for this award? I was there to watch the girls game following the USN v St. G and saw the award being given. When they called the Tarwater kid he looked shocked. Everybody in the gym was shocked. Something seriously went wrong with this vote!

[beavo5]

Is a complete disgrace of the entire award. Not only should have he won it this season, but should have won it last season, when they advanced to the state tournament. But this year averaging 27 ppg and 10 rebs a game and advancing your team to the state championship game there should be no question. What a complete travesty. If you listened to the resumes of the finalists, it wasn't even close. It is embarrassing to the award and proves that whoever votes on this doesn't have a clue.

 

I'm not aware of any other player that has been a finalist 2x and not won at least once.

 

This might be worse than Joe Jackson not winning last season.

Justin Blake was a finalist twice and didn't win it. (06-07 & 07-08)

 

Mr. Basketball awards are "SUPPOSE" to go to the best player in the state in that division. Recently, this has just turned into a popularity contest. The media guys/girls have turned this award into a HUGE JOKE. How does Chris Crawford not make the finalists list?? Did any of these media guys/girls even watch every player? The answer would be no you can't, but seriously when a guy is ranked in the top 100 in the NATION. I think you are more than worthy of making the finalists and/or winning the award especially when the other finalists aren't even ranked in the top 250.... HUHMM.... Something smells FISHY with this "Award".

 

Spreadoption, it doesn't even compare to Joe Jackson not winning last year.

[movinonup]

I still say Asa Toney from St. George's should have been in the mix. Oh well, guess he will have to settle for a team State Championship and Tournament MVP honor.

[Southeast21]

Is a complete disgrace of the entire award. Not only should have he won it this season, but should have won it last season, when they advanced to the state tournament. But this year averaging 27 ppg and 10 rebs a game and advancing your team to the state championship game there should be no question. What a complete travesty. If you listened to the resumes of the finalists, it wasn't even close. It is embarrassing to the award and proves that whoever votes on this doesn't have a clue.

 

I'm not aware of any other player that has been a finalist 2x and not won at least once.

 

This might be worse than Joe Jackson not winning last season.

Justin Blake was a finalist twice and didn't win it. (06-07 & 07-08)

 

Mr. Basketball awards are "SUPPOSE" to go to the best player in the state in that division. Recently, this has just turned into a popularity contest. The media guys/girls have turned this award into a HUGE JOKE. How does Chris Crawford not make the finalists list?? Did any of these media guys/girls even watch every player? The answer would be no you can't, but seriously when a guy is ranked in the top 100 in the NATION. I think you are more than worthy of making the finalists and/or winning the award especially when the other finalists aren't even ranked in the top 250.... HUHMM.... Something smells FISHY with this "Award".

 

Spreadoption, it doesn't even compare to Joe Jackson not winning last year.

LOL, being top 100 is absolutely HORRIBLE reasoning, Chris Crawford is good and did deserve to be nominated. But its not called the "who is ranked the highest award", just like in the NBA the MVP doesnt have to have the most ppg,apg,rpg,etc. I mean Michael Bradley committed to Connecticut, but I dont see ANYONE making an argument for him. I've seen plenty of top 100 players who weren't that good to begin with. Again, not saying Crawford isnt good, but just simply saying "he's ranked top 100, he should be mr.basketball" isnt a very substantial statement.

[Southeast21]

But as far as being Mr.Basketball I think your totally right Beavo.

But im just saying, break down the skills of each inidvidual(shooting,handling,etc.)

or stats, or what there team would be without them. You feel me?

Because I could sit here and give you a list of guys in the top 100 who never turned out to be any good, but i'd be here FOREVER.

[beavo5]

Is a complete disgrace of the entire award. Not only should have he won it this season, but should have won it last season, when they advanced to the state tournament. But this year averaging 27 ppg and 10 rebs a game and advancing your team to the state championship game there should be no question. What a complete travesty. If you listened to the resumes of the finalists, it wasn't even close. It is embarrassing to the award and proves that whoever votes on this doesn't have a clue.

 

I'm not aware of any other player that has been a finalist 2x and not won at least once.

 

This might be worse than Joe Jackson not winning last season.

Justin Blake was a finalist twice and didn't win it. (06-07 & 07-08)

 

Mr. Basketball awards are "SUPPOSE" to go to the best player in the state in that division. Recently, this has just turned into a popularity contest. The media guys/girls have turned this award into a HUGE JOKE. How does Chris Crawford not make the finalists list?? Did any of these media guys/girls even watch every player? The answer would be no you can't, but seriously when a guy is ranked in the top 100 in the NATION. I think you are more than worthy of making the finalists and/or winning the award especially when the other finalists aren't even ranked in the top 250.... HUHMM.... Something smells FISHY with this "Award".

 

Spreadoption, it doesn't even compare to Joe Jackson not winning last year.

LOL, being top 100 is absolutely HORRIBLE reasoning, Chris Crawford is good and did deserve to be nominated. But its not called the "who is ranked the highest award", just like in the NBA the MVP doesnt have to have the most ppg,apg,rpg,etc. I mean Michael Bradley committed to Connecticut, but I dont see ANYONE making an argument for him. I've seen plenty of top 100 players who weren't that good to begin with. Again, not saying Crawford isnt good, but just simply saying "he's ranked top 100, he should be mr.basketball" isnt a very substantial statement.

You took what I said to mean that Chris Crawford is ranked and put him in the finalist because of that reason. Not what I meant. I saw Chris Crawford play and I saw Steele play and I believed without any doubt that these 2 would be in contention for the Mr. Basketball award and when the finalists were announced and Crawford wasn't on the list... I looked at his recruiting, Crawford is ranked in the top 100 in the NATION, and that's when I thought to myself... WHAT THE .... you can be in the top 100 in the NATION and not be nominated for Mr. Basketball in your state.... Just an observation of how this so called "AWARD" is just a popularity contest of the media guys/girls. I feel you Southeast21. I don't judge players by rankings I judge them by their play after a couple of games of watching them.

[mookie1]

Meiko was the best player in D-IIA. I was surprised not to hear his name when they announced it on Sat. Any idea of where Meiko is going to play next year?

[yankees8589]

While it's true the national player rankings are an inexact science IT'S ALSO TRUE THEY DON'T JUST MAKE THEM UP OUT OF NOTHING. The rankings are based on AAU performance against the top players in the country competing against each other. These people have staff and travel all over the country watching these kids ever spring summer and summer and they also have contacts in just about every stater they can get reliable information from about a kid. Most of the kids have been evaluated at least 2 or 3 years. These ranking aren't a bunch of garbage.....while it's true there will be some misses every now IT'S ALSO TRUE MORE TIMES THAN NOT THE RANKINGS are a fair indication of a kids talent.

 

What people need to understand is that being top 100 to 150 doesn't mean a kid is going to be a star all conference player. It simply means the kid has the ability to contribute and eventually be a starter at the high major level if not a starter right away. Key word is contribute....not be the next Lebron James.

 

Let me break it down because it some clearly don't understand how the college system and recruiting works.

 

Not every school in a big 6 conference recruits the high major top 1 to 150 type kids.

The number of schools that consistently compete for these typ of players...and clearly some schools can get more than others.

The Big 10 has 9 schools

The Big 12 has 8

The SEC has 10

The ACC has 10

The Big East has 10

The Pack 10 has 7

 

Then you could through in a handfull of others like Memphis, Xavier, and Gonzaga that consistently recruit the higher end type players.

 

That's basically 47 schools and you could probably just as easily say 50 because there are allways some here and there that get lucky every season and snag a recruit or 2 that they normally wouldn't get.

 

Anyway that's 50 schools with an athletic scholarship limit of 13 per school for D1 basketball. So basically that's 600 to 650 spots taken each season (sometimes a team doesn't carry the full limt and may hold 1 for the next class so the coach can add a recruit then that me may not need now and so on).

 

A good stable program will normally not have anymore than 5 to 6 open each season because you have to have the right mix of under classman and upper classman...you normally want about the same amount coming in as the number of Sophs, Juniors, and Seniors on the next seasons team. You never want it to get much out of balance.

 

Anyway you take 650 spots and then trim off about a hundred more because even the best schools 12 and 13th man on scholarship is usually not a high major talen but a good player with local or state ties that just loves the school. You know fans love that type of stuff and it's helps the programs in the respective states..even if a kid may not see much court time. Keep in mind nobody has a 13 man rotation...not even the best of the best.

 

So now we are down to 550 spots but I'm not done yet. Keep in mind a team on average will only have around 5 to 6 open scholarships each season to burn which brings you down to roughly 250 to 300 open scholarship combined for these 50 or so schools. So now we are down to what basically amounts to 50 teams competing for 150 kids to fill spots for upper level talent and the close out the roster with the next level type kids who are very good but might be somewhat under recruited but are still high major talents...... and it CAN GET VERY VERY VERY UGLY AND NASTY BEHIND THE SCENES WITH COACHES FROM BIG TIME PROGRAMS going after these kids. Anybody that thinks all kids are going to come in and have an instant IMPACT doesn't get it.....out of those 50 schools you only have a handful of blue bloods and a few other schools that can get the majority of the near can't miss prospects. College is just like anything else...you come in work and earn PT and as each season goes by a kid should get better....even at the high major level for 90 plus percent of players

 

The main services and ranking are pretty good and fairly accurate...but there are some that people have never heard of that sell recruiting to programs for thousands of dollars and are much more in depth..I know of one in Texas that basically has every program in the south and southwest that pay for his services and evaluations because coaches and there staffs are limited with the amount of contact they can have with a recruit.....they have to get the so called blue print of the kid from someone else and then they kinda take it from there and start there on process of evaluating and getting to know a kid and his AAU HANDLERS and HIGH SCHOOL COACHES on there own.

 

 

Last point....keep in mind a coach can never know the unknowns once a kid gets to college.....like work ethic, can he be taught, attitude and things like that. Many times some players flame out because of those kind of issues...they may have the talent but they don't have the right mental makeup. It happens. I've always believed the top mid major guys are the best evaluators of talent because have have to mine and uncover the hidden gems (AND THERE ARE PLENTY OUT THERE) because they don't have the school name and unlimited resources the top schools in the big 6 have. Alot of these these hidden gems turn out to be really good and in the rare case great college players but not really NBA potential guys although there are a few out there but not many in the overall scope of things. That's one of the very reasons I believe some of the big 6 programs go after these coaches so much because they have proven they can win and know how to evaluate talent and you simply cannot win without good players. Once some of these up and coming coaches step up to bigger programs with the resources the can really turn it on.

 

Quick example and I'm done.....Anthony Grant and the Maynard kid he had at VCU. Maynard may not have been ranked coming out of high school but it isn't because of the services....he most likely simply didn't get the exposure alot of other kids got or some were scared off because of his size...THAT HAPPENS ALOT YOU KNOW.

 

And BTW...once all the top kids are gone they just go after the next level of players that the top mid majors go after. And don't get mid major and low major confused....mid major is like A10, CUSA, Mountain West, and MVC type schools...the ones at the mid to upper end of their conferences....Don't confuse the OVC and Sunbelt types with Mid Majors...they are low major but also have SOME VERY VERY GOOD PROGRAMS.

[BigENS]

Can we get a re-count???? Some serious ####.

[yankees8589]

It's got to be those hanging and dimpled chads...no other reason I can think of.