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Memphis area boys basketball: Preseason Dandy Dozen

John Varlas, USA TODAY NETWORK – TennesseePublished 10:00 p.m. CT Nov. 22, 2017
     
east hoops

(Photo: Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

 

Here is the preseason boys basketball Dandy Dozen.

1. East

Coach: Penny Hardaway

Last year: 36-3 (won the Class AAA championship)

The rundown:Even without Ryan Boyce and James Wiseman, the Mustangs can win AAA for the third year in a row. Wichita State signee Alex Lomax is the two-time defending Mr. Basketball winner and he'll be joined in the backcourt by promising freshman Jaylen Brown. Chandler Lawson (6-10) and Malcolm Dandridge (6-8) are high-major caliber prospects while 6-6 freshman Johnathan Lawson scored 14 in his debut against Mitchell.

 

2. Olive Branch

Coach: Eric Rombaugh

Last year: 25-7 (lost to Brandon in the MHSAA 6A quarterfinals)

The rundown: Rombaugh has assembled a strong team led by 6-foot-8 D.J. Jeffries, a top-15 recruit in the Class of 2019. He averaged 23 points and 11 rebounds. Guards Kelvin Allen (son of the former Memphis Tiger) and Joe Cooper form a potent backcourt.

D.J. Jeffries of Olive Branch is one of the area's--and nation's--most sought-after prospects.

D.J. Jeffries of Olive Branch is one of the area's--and nation's--most sought-after prospects. (Photo: Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

 

3. Southwind 

Coach: Paul Edwards

Last year: 32-7 (lost to East in Class AAA championship)

The rundown: Some key contributors have departed, but Edwards' team will be formidable again. Senior point guard Mark Freeman is headed to LIU-Brooklyn. He'll get help in the backcourt from Houston transfer Jaylin Clay and 3-point threat Quentin Williams. Kameron Jones (6-8) averaged a double-double as a sophomore.

4. Whitehaven

Coach: Faragi Phillips

Last year: 21-8 (lost to Soutwhind in the Region 8-AAA semifinals)

The rundown: Junior guard Matthew Murrell — who is drawing a ton of college interest — hit 9 of 10 shots (5 of 5 3s) in a Hall of Champions game last week. Cameron Jones (6-8) signed with Jacksonsville State and averaged 15.3 points as a junior. 

 

5. Hamilton 

Coach: Will Smith

Last year: 10-12 (lost to Central in first round of the Region 16-AAA tournament)

The rundown: The Wildcats have dropped down from AAA. Martrell Brooks (17.8 ppg) is two-time All-Metro pick and he'll pair nicely in the backcourt again with Kevon McMahon. Jordan Johnson transfers in after averaging 17 ppg for Central while Nick London (MASE) joins the school where his father, Paris, starred.

6. Lausanne

Coach: Marvis Davis

Last year: 23-8 (won Division II-A championship)

The rundown: With several players also on the football team, the Lynx could start slowly. Sky Forrest (6-5 junior) was MVP of the state tournament and will be joined by point guard Ashton Smith and Cameron Sims, one of the state's top defensive players.

Cordova's Tyler Harris led the city in free-throw shooting percentage last year.

Cordova's Tyler Harris led the city in free-throw shooting percentage last year. (Photo: Mark Weber/The Commercial Appeal)

7. Cordova

Coach: Terrance Scales

Last year: 24-8 (lost to Southwind in the Class AAA sectionals)

 

The rundown: Tyler Harris returns for his senior season after averaging 23.8 points and shooting 90.5 percent from the foul line. Harris can win games on his own, but Scales would prefer returnees like Marquis Wagner, Derrick Craig and Kobe Powell and newcomers Cameron Ball, Tristan Bowen and Julian Hibbler carry out their roles.

8. Ridgeway

Coach: Wes Henning

Last year: 25-8 (lost to East in Region 8-AAA semifinals)

The rundown: Jalen Crutcher's long-range shooting will be hard to replace, but Henning is one of the most accomplished coaches around and he'll make certain his guys have it figured out come playoff time. Key returnees are Antwan Beans, Antonio Thomas and Tyler Haynes.

 

9. CBHS

Coach: Bubba Luckett

Last year: 25-4 (lost to MBA in Division II-AA semifinals)

The rundown: CBHS' success requires a collective effort, and Luckett will get the most out of players like Wes Kraker (5-9, junior); Jack Herring (6-7, junior); Andy Oswald (6-4, senior) and Zach Hamlet (6-1, senior). Freshman Reese McMullan is the top newcomer.

10. Brighton

Coach: Stan Gatlin

Last year: 20-13 (lost to East in Class AAA sectionals)

The rundown: The Cardinals will be looking to build upon a solid campaign behind star point guard Taelyr Gatlin. The 6-3 senior (and son of the coach) signed with  Denver. Zachary Lewis (6-3, senior) joins him in the backcourt while 6-5 Aaron Alston adds size and experience.

Andre Turner's Mitchell Tigers have moved up to Class AA this season but will still be extremely competitive.

Andre Turner's Mitchell Tigers have moved up to Class AA this season but will still be extremely competitive. (Photo: Caitie McMekin/Knoxville News-Sentinel)

 

11. Mitchell 

Coach: Andre Turner

Last year: 27-8 (lost to Harriman in the Class A quarterfinals)

The rundown: The Tigers will have their fans rubbing their eyes. Mitchell has two sets of twins —  guards Michael and Mikell Rice and 6-5 interior players DeVante and DeAnte Longwood. Mitchell is back in Class AA and will challenge for a trip to state.

12. MASE

Coach: Marcus Moody

Last year: 20-8 (lost to Middleton in the Region 8-A semifinals)

The rundown: After advancing to the region tournament for the first time, the Engineers look like the team to beat in Class A. Arecko Gipson (6-6, senior) is one of the top 10 players in the city. Martez Cathey is a veteran point guard while 6-8 transfer Karl Johnson will make a big impact.

 

Reach John Varlas at [email protected] or on Twitter @johnvarlas.

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1 hour ago, kwc said:

Seems SCS showed some teeth as well. This will be interesting.

Does anyone else have a problem with the amount of money that will be spent by the TSSAA (who is always broke right?) and Shelby County Schools (an institution of public education)?

This fight isn't cheap and could go on for a while. Get ready for SCIAA schools tickets to go from $8 to $12 and the TSSAA playoff and Championship tickets to be $30+.

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14 minutes ago, warmachine7954 said:

Does anyone else have a problem with the amount of money that will be spent by the TSSAA (who is always broke right?) and Shelby County Schools (an institution of public education)?

This fight isn't cheap and could go on for a while. Get ready for SCIAA schools tickets to go from $8 to $12 and the TSSAA playoff and Championship tickets to be $30+.

Both have attorneys on the ready. The cost isn't going to affect ticket prices at all. At some point, you have to address a governing body that does things arbitrarily. You can't make rules behind closed doors and then tell folks, we made our decisions, now live with it. I, for one, am glad this is happening. Bring it all out in the open. Quite frankly, the TSSAAs position looks weak to me. Their attorney is going to have to bring more to the table then "If he (Penny) didn't contribute finacially, then he did in some other way" argument with some evidence to back up their claim ... or it's curtains on the defense of their decision.

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1 hour ago, kwc said:

Both have attorneys on the ready. The cost isn't going to affect ticket prices at all. At some point, you have to address a governing body that does things arbitrarily. You can't make rules behind closed doors and then tell folks, we made our decisions, now live with it. I, for one, am glad this is happening. Bring it all out in the open. Quite frankly, the TSSAAs position looks weak to me. Their attorney is going to have to bring more to the table then "If he (Penny) didn't contribute finacially, then he did in some other way" argument with some evidence to back up their claim ... or it's curtains on the defense of their decision.

Nothing is free. Court costs and travel will get expensive quick. 

I agree that the TSSAA should have been addressed a long time ago. I don't like them or the "rules" they enforce. However, SCS has bigger fish to fry for 1000s of students. Less than a year ago the TSSAA let the whole state down by not letting East and Riverdale play in the Dick's Tournament in New York. Now, we're going to court over 2 players? If these two players weren't national level players would they be doing it? The TSSAA denies transfers often. How many of those does SCS go to court over? There are kids all over this year that skirted by the transfer rules and others that didn't. Shouldn't players that transferred were denied under behind a closed door be in this case as well?

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3 minutes ago, warmachine7954 said:

Nothing is free. Court costs and travel will get expensive quick. 

I agree that the TSSAA should have been addressed a long time ago. I don't like them or the "rules" they enforce. However, SCS has bigger fish to fry for 1000s of students. Less than a year ago the TSSAA let the whole state down by not letting East and Riverdale play in the Dick's Tournament in New York. Now, we're going to court over 2 players? If these two players weren't national level players would they be doing it? The TSSAA denies transfers often. How many of those does SCS go to court over? There are kids all over this year that skirted by the transfer rules and others that didn't. Shouldn't players that transferred were denied under behind a closed door be in this case as well?

I agree, nothing is free. But the cost isn't going to escalate to the point it affects admission into games. However, I get your point.

Sure, SCS could drag other cases into this one. But that's not going to happen here. This about East building a super team and the TSSAA trying to stop the proliferation of talented athletes from one school to another.  This coaching link thing is going to be difficult for the TSSAA to actually prove. Let's see what they do now that the SCS has challenged their ruling and got the courts involved. I'm interested to see how far the TSSAA is willing to go with this. The SCS doesn't seem to be backing down one iota.

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TSSAA has a tendency to be vague with guidelines. In this case, the argument will come down to what a "coaching link" is. It seems pretty clear to me there is a link there... the kids actually played for his organization. But if the standard is higher than just the appearance of a relationship, then SCS has a shot.

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12 hours ago, Osage said:

TSSAA has a tendency to be vague with guidelines. In this case, the argument will come down to what a "coaching link" is. It seems pretty clear to me there is a link there... the kids actually played for his organization. But if the standard is higher than just the appearance of a relationship, then SCS has a shot.

I think the argument is while the AAU team bears his name he isn’t involved with it anymore. It is a known fact that he doesn’t coach the team. His peripheral level of involvement is going to be hard to determine.

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Hence the word "link". It's a Rorschach word, you could read whatever you want into it, as befits your point of view.

Mine is... well, mine is uniformed. So feel free to dsimiss it. But from the information I have, I don't doubt that Penny wasn't part of adding these guys to his AAU program, nor do I actually believe he had no interaction or involvement during their time playing in the Spring / Summer circuits. Whether he was The Coach of that time is immaterial. So from that standpoint, it seems the ruling is completely justified.

On the other hand... at some point, the TSSAA needs to be called to accountability on the vagueness of their regulations. I don't know if they were intentionally vague here... if so, well played on their part. I think it is more likely that they were simply lazy, sloppy, and didn't think this through. If they are forced to be more precise on these things going forward, that's a win for all of us.

Back to East... they are still plenty good enough to win AAA without these kids. And the players themselves don't need the 2017-8 high school season to get where they are going. I'm not crying for Penny, Todd Day, or the East program, regardless of how this turns out.

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4 hours ago, Osage said:

Hence the word "link". It's a Rorschach word, you could read whatever you want into it, as befits your point of view.

Mine is... well, mine is uniformed. So feel free to dsimiss it. But from the information I have, I don't doubt that Penny wasn't part of adding these guys to his AAU program, nor do I actually believe he had no interaction or involvement during their time playing in the Spring / Summer circuits. Whether he was The Coach of that time is immaterial. So from that standpoint, it seems the ruling is completely justified.

On the other hand... at some point, the TSSAA needs to be called to accountability on the vagueness of their regulations. I don't know if they were intentionally vague here... if so, well played on their part. I think it is more likely that they were simply lazy, sloppy, and didn't think this through. If they are forced to be more precise on these things going forward, that's a win for all of us.

Back to East... they are still plenty good enough to win AAA without these kids. And the players themselves don't need the 2017-8 high school season to get where they are going. I'm not crying for Penny, Todd Day, or the East program, regardless of how this turns out.

That's going to be the issue. Vaugness won't cut it. They (TSSAA) were specific in their allegations though. They  stated that Penny was a SPONSOR to the AAU team. The fact that he isn't the coach of the AAU team wasn't their point of emphasis. The sponsorship isuue is where they placed all of their eggs. The attorney tried to justify that stance by stating later that "If he wasn't a sponsor moniterily, then he sponsored in another manner" (Paraphrasing)

Well, SCS just shot down the sponsorship issue by determining that Nike is the sponsor of the team ... not Penny. So, TSSAA is now left with the task of giving more definition and meaning to the word 'Sponsor' in this case. It's what they tied their cart to. They are going to have to show that Penny, is sponsoring those AAU players in a non monitary way. THAT is going to be TOUGH!

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On 12/1/2017 at 3:31 PM, kwc said:

They are going to have to show that Penny, is sponsoring those AAU players in a non monitary way. THAT is going to be TOUGH!

I think the TSSAA is getting what they want here. They WANT that argument to be a difficult one. This serves them in 2 ways... first, the longer this drags out, the closer they are to coming across like they got what they wanted (IE, they enforced their rule, poorly written though it was). Second, if they prevail (and by your logic, they won't, but if they do...) then the umbrella of circumstances in which "coaching link" applies will grow.

But playing under the banner "Team Penny" or... who is the other Memphis group... Mike Miller? Or Dontae Jones, or Jahlil Okafor, or... (insert some current or former NBA player)... simply playing under the player's name confers something, don't you think?

What is the next step? Is there a hearing date set for whatever is supposed to happen next?

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