West Tn basketball

[Bobcats83]

West TN gets only 1 of 8 spots.  Rest of the state improving or is West TN down?

[jvaughan]

Both

[BelieveITorNot]

DOWN!!!

[tradertwo]

5 hours ago, Bobcats83 said:

West TN gets only 1 of 8 spots.  Rest of the state improving or is West TN down?

Can't say about the east, but the west is definitely down. A few years back my buddy and myself travelled all over the western division watching high level DI kids play. Year to year, there were three or four highly touted kids playing on a given night. Fast forward to now and there are some good kids playing, but not the same caliber anymore. Same with teams...usually Memphis has small classification teams that are competitive with the best 3A/4A teams in the state, but not so much now.

[Bobcats83]

On 3/22/2025 at 4:32 PM, tradertwo said:

Can't say about the east, but the west is definitely down. A few years back my buddy and myself travelled all over the western division watching high level DI kids play. Year to year, there were three or four highly touted kids playing on a given night. Fast forward to now and there are some good kids playing, but not the same caliber anymore. Same with teams...usually Memphis has small classification teams that are competitive with the best 3A/4A teams in the state, but not so much now.

Agreed. SS, NS, Bolivar, Liberty, West Carroll, Dyer county are just some of the schools I can remember had Division 1 and 2 players on the court and now it seems there aren’t any 

[TryNotToSuck]

To my knowledge, Casey Prather (North Side) and Robert Hobbs (Dyer County) are the last two players across West Tennessee that went to play SEC ball out of High School. Varnado (Haywood) played at Troy, he graduated high school 10 years ago. You also have Willie Kemp and Wayne Chism from Bolivar. 

I can't think of anyone else that went to play major college basketball as well, especially recently. 

When you think of Memphis players, there's not any elite NBA talent in the city. Kim Jones went to ECS and played at Marquette. Matthew Murrell is from Memphis and is playing at Ole Miss, but they're not NBA potential players.

It's just the talent is not there. Simple as that.

Edited March 24 by TryNotToSuck

[BelieveITorNot]

Kids are spending their time on social media.... I've seen so (too ) many highlight videos of simple plays,, nothing special. Everybody wants the shine but not putting in the grind..... 

[REBELRON]

I believe the whole state talent level is down. I remember going to the State Tournament in 1996,1997,2000,2002,2003,2004,2005 and 2007. I remember seeing TonyHarris,CJ Black,Shaun Marion,Trenton Hassell,Harris Walker,Jamont Gordon,Tyler Smith,Wayne Chism,Willie Kemp,JP Prince,Dane Bradshaw,Corey Brewer and Thadius Young. Haven't seen near as many talented players lately. 

[tradertwo]

On 3/24/2025 at 12:29 PM, REBELRON said:

I believe the whole state talent level is down. I remember going to the State Tournament in 1996,1997,2000,2002,2003,2004,2005 and 2007. I remember seeing TonyHarris,CJ Black,Shaun Marion,Trenton Hassell,Harris Walker,Jamont Gordon,Tyler Smith,Wayne Chism,Willie Kemp,JP Prince,Dane Bradshaw,Corey Brewer and Thadius Young. Haven't seen near as many talented players lately. 

Lots of familiar names on your list, but more that come to mind are Corrie Johnson, Cannon Whitby, Robert Hubbs, Tony Delk, and also Brian Lake and Olajauan Kemp from Bolivar that were as good as any now but not quite on top shelf.

[mas1821]

On 3/24/2025 at 12:29 PM, REBELRON said:

I believe the whole state talent level is down. I remember going to the State Tournament in 1996,1997,2000,2002,2003,2004,2005 and 2007. I remember seeing TonyHarris,CJ Black,Shaun Marion,Trenton Hassell,Harris Walker,Jamont Gordon,Tyler Smith,Wayne Chism,Willie Kemp,JP Prince,Dane Bradshaw,Corey Brewer and Thadius Young. Haven't seen near as many talented players lately. 

Brandon Wright was a baller too.  Similar timeframe to Kemp, Chism, Smith, and Young.

Also, Delk twins from JNS, believe they went to MS State.

Justin Hare from Bradley Central was a great talent as well.  Dude is a Brain Surgeon now.

Edited March 27 by mas1821

[CoachD33]

Many great players from the West over the years, outside Memphis. Highlighted by 1992 when it swept Mr. Basketball. Class A-Steve Hamer-Middleton and Class AA-Stanley Caldwell-Union City both went to Tennessee. Class AAA-Tony Delk-Haywood went north to Kentucky.

[BaBaBaBa]

Saw Peabody boys teaM this week! They look loaded again! Speed, shooters, defend, handle the ball well, some length and play hard! Saw them beat some decent teams. Coach Hart looks to have them pointed in the right direction again! Gonna keep an eye on them! Very tough district and region though with Westview, Ripley, UC and JCM! I’ll be looking for them to make another run towards substate and state tourn chance in 2A! Small school that can compete!