7-AAA State Championship Dominance Since 2010

[WarriorFan]

I was looking at the final AP Poll for TN AAA girls basketball this morning, and noted that out of 114 AAA teams, 4 of the top 10 teams in the state are from District 7-AAA. http://www.dnj.com/story/sports/high-school/2016/02/15/final-tennessee-associated-press-girls-basketball-poll/80415678/ . Also, 4 of the top 10 teams overall in the Mid State are from 7-AAA. http://usatodayhss.com/2016/the-tennessean-midstate-girls-basketball-top-10-7 Every 7-AAA team this year has a District loss, and no team has a perfect record by far. All teams have at least three losses overall.

 

There has been a 7-AAA representative every year since 2010 in the Championship game, and 7-AAA has won 5 of the last 6 State Championships. Last year, the State Champ (Blackman) beat the State Runner Up (Oakland) for a repeat of the District Championship game in double OT 58-54. There are also two M A X P R E P S National Champions in the last three years from 7-AAA, being Riverdale and Blackman.

 

It appears 7-AAA is poised to make a run at another state title. Is there a team outside of 7-AAA this year that will give them a true run for their money outside one of their own District teams? Who could be the spoilers?

[summit]

7aaa loads up every year . Recuiting war . It's a joke . 

[WarriorFan]

7aaa loads up every year . Recuiting war . It's a joke .

I detect jealousy...wish I knew who the recruits are you are referring to. All kids I know in different schools live in zone. Most were raised in RuCo/Boro and went to the zoned feeder schools in Middle school. Have you ever thought maybe there are just really good athletes in the Boro and parents are really dedicated to helping their kids to get them in the hands of great trainers/coaches early? Maybe kids really love basketball and dream of playing at their zoned high schools and have high expectations. Have you ever looked at the success of the RuCo Middle Schools? They are contenders for Middle School State titles, and win. Their tourneys are on the radio just like high school. The atmosphere here is like no other. Big games have thousands packed in the stands with coaches like Holly Warlick and Dawn Staley in the crowd. That is normal here. Just a high concentration of athletes here. It has been that way for as long as I can remember. Huge tradition in many sports.

 

As for kids who have come in to programs from other areas, it is part of life. Parents get transferred, parents buy homes, parents divorce and kids go with a parent, parents move to help their kids get to the next level, kids move to the boro bc of natural disasters like hurricane katrina (true story of Riverdale great Olivia Jones), kids get rezoned... As long as everything is done legally who cares how kids get to the schools. RuCo is very much a blue collar county with lots of industrial plants. That makes the county highly transient in itself with people moving in and out. I can assure you White CO has been the beneficiary of kids moving in to their area over the years as well. Unless you can prove recruiting and not just hearsay, best to leave that out of conversation.

[85warrior]

I detect jealousy...wish I knew who the recruits are you are referring to. All kids I know in different schools live in zone. Most were raised in RuCo/Boro and went to the zoned feeder schools in Middle school. Have you ever thought maybe there are just really good athletes in the Boro and parents are really dedicated to helping their kids to get them in the hands of great trainers/coaches early? Maybe kids really love basketball and dream of playing at their zoned high schools and have high expectations. Have you ever looked at the success of the RuCo Middle Schools? They are contenders for Middle School State titles, and win. Their tourneys are on the radio just like high school. The atmosphere here is like no other. Big games have thousands packed in the stands with coaches like Holly Warlick and Dawn Staley in the crowd. That is normal here. Just a high concentration of athletes here. It has been that way for as long as I can remember. Huge tradition in many sports.

 

As for kids who have come in to programs from other areas, it is part of life. Parents get transferred, parents buy homes, parents divorce and kids go with a parent, parents move to help their kids get to the next level, kids move to the boro bc of natural disasters like hurricane katrina (true story of Riverdale great Olivia Jones), kids get rezoned... As long as everything is done legally who cares how kids get to the schools. RuCo is very much a blue collar county with lots of industrial plants. That makes the county highly transient in itself with people moving in and out. I can assure you White CO has been the beneficiary of kids moving in to their area over the years as well. Unless you can prove recruiting and not just hearsay, best to leave that out of conversation.

I can assure you boro schools have been the beneficiary of girls moving into their 100 to 1 over White County. Nobody moves here. Lol. Sad really.

[85warrior]

I did like it when we were in that District. White County dominated. ðŸ‘

[WarriorFan]

I did like it when we were in that District. White County dominated. ðŸ‘

White CO has a solid program over the years. Coach Dodgen is a wonderful coach and I believe you guys will continue winning with him at the helm.

[WilsonCoFan]

Shelby Gibson - Wilson County

Anastasia Hayes - Nashville/Hendersonville

Abby Wright - Wilson County

Alison Mahew - Wilson County

Jazz Bond - Mid Tn Christian, Christiana, Blackman

Paris Lawson - siegel, Lancaster, Oakland

Meme Jackson - Nashville, Mt Juliet, Blackman

 

Just to name a few. Not stating that anything illegal has occurred, but this is not all home grown talent.

 

Crystal Dangerfield - home grown

Ansley Eubank - home grown

Twins at Riverdale - home grown

 

Theses additional kids are what makes the district so strong.

 

Riverdale is a great team that I believe can win a championship this year, BUT if you take Hayes off that team, that tasks becomes much much harder.

 

Parents moving to provide there kids a "better" basketball opportunity is not illegal, but that does not create a level playing field. This is not a complaint regarding that but PLEASE stop with the idea that Murfreesboro just "creates" better girls basketball players.

[WarriorFan]

Shelby Gibson - Wilson County

Anastasia Hayes - Nashville/Hendersonville

Abby Wright - Wilson County

Alison Mahew - Wilson County

Jazz Bond - Mid Tn Christian, Christiana, Blackman

Paris Lawson - siegel, Lancaster, Oakland

Meme Jackson - Nashville, Mt Juliet, Blackman

 

Just to name a few. Not stating that anything illegal has occurred, but this is not all home grown talent.

 

Crystal Dangerfield - home grown

Ansley Eubank - home grown

Twins at Riverdale - home grown

 

Theses additional kids are what makes the district so strong.

 

Riverdale is a great team that I believe can win a championship this year, BUT if you take Hayes off that team, that tasks becomes much much harder.

 

Parents moving to provide there kids a "better" basketball opportunity is not illegal, but that does not create a level playing field. This is not a complaint regarding that but PLEASE stop with the idea that Murfreesboro just "creates" better girls basketball players.

You named three players that have graduated and are no longer in high school. As you showed but put them into the list of out of area kids, Jazz (MTCS, Christiana, Blackman) and Paris (Siegel, Lancaster and Oakland) have been in RuCo schools and are not out of area. Abby Wright also went to Lancaster in RuCo before Oakland. People come and people go out of cities for different reasons. As long as it is above the table and done legally, who cares. Parents are free to move for whatever reason they want.

 

Most every kid you mentioned grew up in the Tennessee Pride AAU program out of Smyrna and was on National Championship teams. This is what brought RuCo high school ball to the forefront in the mid to late 2000s. AAU ball is taken very serious in RuCo, and most any given weekend during the season, I can go to Riverdale or another high school to see a tournament going on or kids taking skills lessons or AAU practice that are as young as grade school. The parents have bought in to the system, and that is why you see great ball in 7-AAA bc they start them young. I also see this in youth football. The kids wear jerseys like the high schools which makes the kids prideful of their community.

 

Riverdale is 10-12 deep and not one dimensional depending on one player at all. Does it help having a player as good as Hayes...of course, but if she got injured there would be an adjustment and they would continue on. They play as a team and dont depend on a sole individual. Coach Coffman typically plays at least 10 kids a game, even in tight games.

 

I detect sour grapes on your part bc 4 kids parents moved out of Wilson CO and put their kids in RuCo schools over a 5-6 year period and you are majoring on a minor. Wilson CO has had some great teams over the years with Wilson Central and Mt Juliet. Lebanon is also on its way up and some great things are going on right now in that program. Just bc 4 kids moved in the past 5-6 years out of Wilson to RuCo should not be total devastation to your whole county schools programs.

 

I would invite you to look up and down the benches of Riverdale, Blackman, Oakland, Smyrna and Stewart's Creek. If you get into the truth, you will see the overwhelming majority went to Middle School in RuCo as well as elementary school. The middle school teams have also won their share of State Championships. Do the teams have kids that have moved in? Of course. I am sure if I checked the rosters of Wilson CO schools, I would find kids that have moved into the area there as well that are on their teams and play. You guys have some great coaches in Wilson CO, two being ex Riverdale coaches who won state championships in Wild and Barrett. I am sure we will see Wilson Central at the state. They are a really good team.

[coachinhoops]

It's great basketball for sure. Everyone is chasing 7AAA.

[WilsonCoFan]

I love it. Anytime someone mentions that the RuCo schools recruit, WarriorFan is there to tell us it is "sour grapes".

 

It is a fact that Shelby Gibson was recruited by Oakland and several other schools. It is a fact that Abby Wright was recruited by several schools when she left Lancaster. Yes - I mentioned kids from last year to reference the dominance you speak of. Oakland is not in the finals last year without these 2 kids. This is not a complaint. I don't care where someone decides to go play basketball. Shelby and Abby are great kids and I am happy for their success.

 

In girls basketball, 1 elite player makes the difference between a team making the Region or the State. A D1 player going from siegel to Oakland or MTCS to Blackman can change a team dramatically.

 

All kids are changing schools legally, all the moves by parents are within the rules. No sour grapes as it is within the rules. You are correct the success is due to the strong AAU program. Flight and Pride bring kids in from all over the mid-state area and some decide to move to Murfreesboro to continue playing with AAU teammates.

 

You act like their is some system in place in RuCo that creates this dominance. The system results in high quality basketball, the dominance you speak of comes from the additional D1 kids that move in and the subtle movement from 1 zone to another to load up a team.

 

Let me guess, you believe that Shelbyville's dominance back in the day was because they just grew better basketball players. Parents wanted their kids to play for Insell and they moved and did what was necessary to make it happen. Not illegal but also not due to some "system" in Shelbyville that developed young talent.

 

Lastly, 100% of current players on Wilson Central and MJ came up through middle school ranks. Last year, MJ had the Degray twins that moved in from Cane Ridge. This is why MJ has dipped because most schools/zones have natural cycles where talent naturally goes up and down.

 

I am happy the championships stay in middle Tennessee,but this is not the "pure" high school experience of kids growing up in the same community.

[WarriorFan]

WilsonCoFan, any time you go down the road of saying a whole COUNTY recruits (which is laughable in itself) without one ounce of proof to back it up, that is sour grapes. You talk out of both sides of your mouth. You specifically name kids (which is wrong in itself on a negative subject like recruiting) and say they were recruited, and then you say they it was all done legally. Recruiting is not legal. I believe you get your info thru hearsay of bitter people who think they are in the know. If you can legitimately show that a kid was "recruited" like you say, by an actual coach and not by a parent suggesting to a family to have their kid come play at a school, OR by a kids parent that contacted the school/coach first before a coach talked to them, please turn that school in to the TSSAA. A kid isn't "recruited" if a parent approaches a school or coach FIRST and expresses interest. Most coaches of good programs know they are being watched heavily bc of folks spreading things like yourself, and wont talk to a kid or parents about their program unless the parent approaches school administration first, or at least has a parent who approaches the coach. Some coaches wont even talk to a kid until the kid is enrolled in the school. I don't believe there is a coach in 7-AAA in modern day basketball that would be that stupid to risk their job to "recruit" a player. There is no money made as the coach of a public DI school in TN. Most coaches make under $60k bc they are teachers first and foremost with a small stipend. The risk of recruiting isnt worth the reward. I believe that the parents start the ball rolling first.

 

BTW..the "system" is that kids start at a young age playing basketball and get heavilly involved in AAU. The expectation is to get better, and kids grow up wanting to play for their schools. There is an abundance of kids that try out, and you dont see the schools struggling to fill squads. Most teams are 15-20 deep with varsity and JV. Every county has kids move in and out. Do some kids move here for the sport? Definitely. You cannot fault kids and parents who sees a county that has that many schools with great programs and wants their kid to play there. If that is a kids talent, I commend the parents for sacrificing and getting their kid to where they can excel. Rutherford County is exploding with people moving here bc of jobs and housing...not bc of parents moving here so their kid can play ball. It is a good lifestyle here. It is one of the fastest growing counties in the country. There is close to 300,000 people in the county, so the odds are there are a few basketball players. Stewart's Creek just added this year a tremendous coach who has shocked lots of people in what she has gotten her girls to do. They are a 3 year old program who beat both top 20 nationally ranked Blackman and Riverdale in one week. She is building something great over there, but shouldn't be a surprise, as she took her team to a state championship win last year at MLK in Nashville.

[WarriorFan]

This has gotten off topic. Yall can go start a recruiting topic if you want but lets keep to the subject. What teams can potentially be spoilers in the Gold Ball hunt this year? What teams can potentially knock out the 7-AAA teams?