Memphis Central

[HoopMD]

How many gyms are they playing in?

 

 

3 maybe 4. Riverdale, Rockvale Middle, Buchanan Middle and maybe Christiana Middle. All relatively close. Rockvale and Buchanan are new facilities. Loks to be some great pre-season bball.

[PHargis]

There is definitely nothing wrong in asking about the program. What would be wrong is mentioning that most of the high schools in Memphis were contacting Middle school players trying trying to get them to go to their school which were out of their zone. There must be some variance for that to be done or a program that allows it. The way you are explaining it does explain the way it works in Memphis and it is planned. It is not just being done. Maybe someone would like to post in some other part of the State the same is being done. Sounds like a good program. It works in conjunction with a group of Magnet schools MC being one of them. And a large number of Basketball players wind up at the same school. Are most of the players on the same AAU team, BBEX and is it yours? Is the tuition being paid by the parents or what is this foundation that is involved?

Edited October 2, 2010 by PHargis

[BBallExtreme]

There is definitely nothing wrong in asking about the program. What would be wrong is mentioning that most of the high schools in Memphis were contacting Middle school players trying trying to get them to go to their school which were out of their zone. There must be some variance for that to be done or a program that allows it. The way you are explaining it does explain the way it works in Memphis and it is planned. It is not just being done. Maybe someone would like to post in some other part of the State the same is being done. Sounds like a good program. It works in conjunction with a group of Magnet schools MC being one of them. And a large number of Basketball players wind up at the same school. Are most of the players on the same AAU team, BBEX and is it yours? Is the tuition being paid by the parents or what is this foundation that is involved?

 

The previous poster stated that there were coaches that contacted her family regarding her daughter, she did not say that "most" did. Yeah, there was "A" coach who contacted my daughter directly...I know that as unethical as that is it happens all over the state, not just in Memphis! It seems that half the threads on Coach T every season are about some shady happenings and they are rarely in Memphis.

My daughter does not play for Central, but I feel compelled to defend a coach and program against attacks based soley on ingnorance and innuendo. My daughter did play on the same AAU team as one girl from Central. She also played with two girls at White Station, another optional school. There are only two girls at Central who play on the same AAU team. I don't have an AAU team, I'm a parent. If a county student attends an optional school, of course it would be up to the parents to pay the tuition, just as they would at a private. Believe me, there are enough talented girls who live within the city, no Memphis City School coach has to scrape up tuition for county girls to play for their team!

Now can we get to the original question, who can beat Central this year?

Edited October 3, 2010 by BBallExtreme

[PHargis]

Since my daughter graduated from Memphis Central and is now playing at a D1 school, I feel compelled to comment on this particular dialogue, especially because I want to defend Coach Nikki Bray and MC.

 

My daughter was in the optional program at her middle school, which was one of the many feeder programs for MC. When word of her talent got around the city, there were many high school coaches who crossed the line to RECRUIT her. They called my house, approached me and her father at games, etc. The only coach who did not do this was Coach Bray. In fact, we watched other teams play all the time; my daughter was impressed with the way Coach Bray interacted with her students; she loved the testimony of the other girls who played there and loved the curriculum. The exposure that Coach Bray planned was a bonus; sponsors who believed in the school stood up and the girls themselves raised funds by washing cars, selling candy, etc. Coach Bray works hard to keep her program clean and she earnestly goes out of her way to instill that philosophy in her players.

 

While I must confess that she hit some adolescent bumps and did not continue in optional programs after her first year at MC, my daughter kept her GPA up, we (her parents, Coach Bray, her instructors, and the awesome staff under principal McCullough) stressed that without that foundation, she could not play. But it was the integrity of that program at MC that impressed us the most. I know that Memphis does not have a good reputation in its own state; sometimes it is deserved. There are those of us who try to live above the pettinesss by constantly proving our naysayers wrong. Excellence is the answer.

 

There are surely enough athletic shenanigans going on in any high school in the state; why pick on Memphis and MC? I'm sure you have your reasons sir. However, I am afraid of what those reasons are.

BBE, nothing says "A" and you replyed and had to read the post. What I got from this post, as was posted, is "Many" and that is because it is the system and Memphis is trying to make the system be like private schools, Magnet schools, and some want all of the good players or AAU Teams want all of their players to go to the same school. Now thats all right with many of us but don't post or make out that its not being done and post it on here because of lot of those same students and players read these posts and know what is happening and you as an adult are saying, its all right to go around the system whether its legal or not. Its legal or the Memphis Athletic Director of Schools and the TSSAA would have called someones hand. But the rest of the State is looking at what Memphis is doing and how these foundations work, etc. It is acknowledged that the education system there needs some motivation and help. For something to be written that all school districts have major shenanigans going on is not right and tho justify something because of that is not right either. the Dragonmaster, a recent educator, knows that and posted the same on this site.

To do things to improve the educational system and GPA's or other things is all right and say what it is, and you have posted some of that. You have mostly been a very straightforward poster. But something seems not straightforward when some of the rules are bent and use athletics for students to take trips to Hawaii because of Athletics. How about trips because of spelling bees? How about trips because of 3.75 and above GPA's. maybe you will post back and say thats part of this but without athletics. And then the poster who started this post, at the bottom of it Said I think, something like "Why won't anyone play them". Give me a break. All of the State is for Memphis Schools doing better than they are doing and motivating their students. It is needed no question. Just tell us what is happening. How much is the tuition that has to be paid to take the option. This is done all over the state in special school districts and for good reasons as it it there. The cirruculum is better and the school system is better. IMO this is the reason there. Paying a tuition tells a student there are minimum gualifications they are going to have to meet to go to school there and if they don't they can't go. The thing many might like to know, where does this foundation come in? Sounds to me like a good idea. But like your example of Private Schools, where do all of these athletes come from in the same school? My first post has gotten me down to this point. Incentives work, no question about it. Tuitions have some benefits but others need to see what is working and traveling all over the United States and a foundation paying for tuitions, makes one wonder. but what works, works.

[mamaball]

BBE, nothing says "A" and you replyed and had to read the post. What I got from this post, as was posted, is "Many" and that is because it is the system and Memphis is trying to make the system be like private schools, Magnet schools, and some want all of the good players or AAU Teams want all of their players to go to the same school. Now thats all right with many of us but don't post or make out that its not being done and post it on here because of lot of those same students and players read these posts and know what is happening and you as an adult are saying, its all right to go around the system whether its legal or not. Its legal or the Memphis Athletic Director of Schools and the TSSAA would have called someones hand. But the rest of the State is looking at what Memphis is doing and how these foundations work, etc. It is acknowledged that the education system there needs some motivation and help. For something to be written that all school districts have major shenanigans going on is not right and tho justify something because of that is not right either. the Dragonmaster, a recent educator, knows that and posted the same on this site.

To do things to improve the educational system and GPA's or other things is all right and say what it is, and you have posted some of that. You have mostly been a very straightforward poster. But something seems not straightforward when some of the rules are bent and use athletics for students to take trips to Hawaii because of Athletics. How about trips because of spelling bees? How about trips because of 3.75 and above GPA's. maybe you will post back and say thats part of this but without athletics. And then the poster who started this post, at the bottom of it Said I think, something like "Why won't anyone play them". Give me a break. All of the State is for Memphis Schools doing better than they are doing and motivating their students. It is needed no question. Just tell us what is happening. How much is the tuition that has to be paid to take the option. This is done all over the state in special school districts and for good reasons as it it there. The cirruculum is better and the school system is better. IMO this is the reason there. Paying a tuition tells a student there are minimum gualifications they are going to have to meet to go to school there and if they don't they can't go. The thing many might like to know, where does this foundation come in? Sounds to me like a good idea. But like your example of Private Schools, where do all of these athletes come from in the same school? My first post has gotten me down to this point. Incentives work, no question about it. Tuitions have some benefits but others need to see what is working and traveling all over the United States and a foundation paying for tuitions, makes one wonder. but what works, works.

[mamaball]

There is no foundation paying for anything. The foundation I mentioned is the foundation of a solid education - grades, attendance, and other extracurriculars that make a well-rounded student. You seem to keep rehashing your points. Please move on. You can't solve or expose all your perceived issues about Memphis girls' basketball on CoachT. Some coaches are good. Some are not. Some coaches cheat. Some do not. What else is new? You can find those types of comparisons everywhere and in any area of work, school, or play. The only problem is that too many people tend to believe that Memphis is the only city in Tennessee that has those issues. It's just not true and I needed to defend what I know was wrong. By the way, other organizations do take trips to reward the students. The honor societies, the high school DECA clubs, etc. Enough.

[BBallExtreme]

I can't even respond to a post when I can't figure out exactly what the poster is saying. I will say this, if anyone read my original response to Phargis you will note that I said that "one" coach contacted my child and that mmball said there were "many" who contacted hers--neither one or many mean "most". Secondly, I stated that coaches contacting families about recruitment is "unethical". Period. I did not in anyway try to justify that behavior. I only pointed out that this is a problem all over the state, not just Memphis. As for students taking trips for academic reasons--well of course. I don't know of any Memphis City High schools whose students don't have opportunities to travel for academic purposes, in fact my children have opportunities to do so every year. What does that have to do with Central taking an athletic trip to Hawaii? It sounds like a bit of jealousy to me.

My posts on Coach T speak for me and my character. This isn't even my fight, as my daughter doesn't even attend Central. I should have taken another poster's advice and not even responded to someone many people on this board consider a joke anyway.

Edited October 4, 2010 by BBallExtreme

[PHargis]

I appreciate your attempt to explain how it works and why the program exists.

[Dragonmaster]

I appreciate your attempt to explain how it works and why the program exists.

 

So many things can be said and then you wish you had them back. I could delete my previous post but what is said is said. I stand by the fact that optional schools, magnet schools or what ever you want to call them, can and do create avenues to load schools with talent that otherwise would not be together. Good, bad, or indifferent, parents have the right for their child to have the most positive experience available. That is what generally occurs when we, meaning me say something about recruiting. I was simply stating in the previous post that to schedule tournaments out of state with the interest of getting adolescents to attend your school is not what we as professional educators should be about. The exposure of our student athletes to every possible avenue to further their education is a valid reason to travel to tournaments and camps.

[BBallExtreme]

So many things can be said and then you wish you had them back. I could delete my previous post but what is said is said. I stand by the fact that optional schools, magnet schools or what ever you want to call them, can and do create avenues to load schools with talent that otherwise would not be together. Good, bad, or indifferent, parents have the right for their child to have the most positive experience available. That is what generally occurs when we, meaning me say something about recruiting. I was simply stating in the previous post that to schedule tournaments out of state with the interest of getting adolescents to attend your school is not what we as professional educators should be about. The exposure of our student athletes to every possible avenue to further their education is a valid reason to travel to tournaments and camps.

Your post was well received DM. It's interesting that the major complaint I hear about "Optional" schools from an educator's standpoint is that they allow the best students to leave their neighborhood school. Some even believe that they were created so that "some" students would not have to attend school with an abundance of "other" students, I'm sure you know what I mean in the City of Memphis. It seems to me that the ability of athletes to, in effect, chose their schools is only a beneficial side effect for those student athletes who qualify for the program. Interestingly, this seems to affect the girls' side far more than the boys' side--female athletes tend to be better students than male athletes. I guess my thought is that if an athlete is also a good enough student to qualify for White Station, Central, or Ridgeway as an optional student they deserve to play for that school. Personally, I am a proponent of neighborhood schools for many reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with athletics. After all, it's really all about academics. But the system is what it is, and really Central is the only MCS that seems to be "stacked" because of that system.

And oh yeah DM...Ridgeway has to actually play against Central to make it out of the Region! Last year we lost by two. Who knows what can happen this year, we can complain or we can train!

[mamaball]

Bball and DM, I respect you both for your perspectives on this "issue." And I guess, in a way, it was good that PH expressed the perspectives held by many others who post and view these boards. As an educator, I vow to continue to train and I will work on not complaining. Hey, nobody's perfect!

[MTOWN21]

Bball and DM, I respect you both for your perspectives on this "issue." And I guess, in a way, it was good that PH expressed the perspectives held by many others who post and view these boards. As an educator, I vow to continue to train and I will work on not complaining. Hey, nobody's perfect!

 

AAAAAAAAAmen..................