TSSAA Regulation of Memphis

[bearmen]

gomab2, I think the point is if you can just get the best players out of 1/10 of memphis you have a real head start on everyone else!!! I don't know the population of memphis but it has to be over 1 million. I would think you could take the best players out of memphis each and every year and have a top 25 college basketball team. I know there are alot of high schools in memphis and your point is well taken but you must agree if you could ever get a strong hold on a section of memphis and the best players in that part of the city wanted to come to your school you could have something the rest of the state could not compare with just out of the sure population you could draw from.

[Opperman]

gomab2, I think the point is if you can just get the best players out of 1/10 of memphis you have a real head start on everyone else!!! I don't know the population of memphis but it has to be over 1 million. I would think you could take the best players out of memphis each and every year and have a top 25 college basketball team. I know there are alot of high schools in memphis and your point is well taken but you must agree if you could ever get a strong hold on a section of memphis and the best players in that part of the city wanted to come to your school you could have something the rest of the state could not compare with just out of the sure population you could draw from.

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650,000. 950,000 for the county, but the 300,000 outside the city are a different school system altogether.

 

There's two reasons Memphis basketball is so good. First, there's more pure athletes over here -- a lot of kids here grow up in tough situations and see sports as their way out...unfortunately, too many ignore grades in the process, but still.

 

But the second reason is that, by and large, Memphis-area kids don't get into football that much. This is a basketball city. Everywhere else in the south, most kids want to be football players. Here, aside from Orange Mound, Germantown, and Collierville, they want to be basketball players. The Grizzlies' slogan from last year put it best: we are round town.

 

Sure, people see the very top...but the DEPTH of talent is what's amazing here. Of the 12 or 13 schools I've seen this year, I can only recall one that doesn't have a legitimate Division I talent on the roster...and they probably would if they had a coach who cared even a little bit (it's a small AA public school that almost completely ignores athletics, which leads to nasty results like 6-year losing streaks in football and 0-fer seasons in basketball).

[Galilee]

Kareem,

 

Even before open enrollment memphis had dominated teams.

Melrose 78

Northside 79&80

Centrla 81-82

Melrose83

Kirby84

Whitehaven and Westwood 85 & 86

 

With or without o-e we were still dominant.

 

As for now, good players want to play for good programs. Allowing an athlete the oppurtunity to select his high school program after middle or jr, high school is only fair. When I first became AD here at Mitchell, we had athletic teams and not programs. The coaches were lazy and lacked disclipine. When I brought in new coaches who worked hard and demanded that our athletes become students first, our entire program turned around.

 

I would not want my child to play for a coach who does not work hard and stress academics. We have talented players here at Mitchell, but when parents bring their children to us they always mention our academic standards first. Our overall boys basketball team gpa is a 3.34, girls 3.41 and football 2.87. I woud want my child to be in a proram like that.

[fanfan]

650,000.  950,000 for the county, but the 300,000 outside the city are a different school system altogether.

 

There's two reasons Memphis basketball is so good.  First, there's more pure athletes over here -- a lot of kids here grow up in tough situations and see sports as their way out...unfortunately, too many ignore grades in the process, but still.

 

But the second reason is that, by and large, Memphis-area kids don't get into football that much.  This is a basketball city.  Everywhere else in the south, most kids want to be football players.  Here, aside from Orange Mound, Germantown, and Collierville, they want to be basketball players.  The Grizzlies' slogan from last year put it best: we are round town.

 

Sure, people see the very top...but the DEPTH of talent is what's amazing here.  Of the 12 or 13 schools I've seen this year, I can only recall one that doesn't have a legitimate Division I talent on the roster...and they probably would if they had a coach who cared even a little bit (it's a small AA public school that almost completely ignores athletics, which leads to nasty results like 6-year losing streaks in football and 0-fer seasons in basketball).

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Memphis, TN-AR-MS Population by Decades

 

Date Population Population

Change Annual

% Change

1900 251,811 - -

1910 296,732 44,921 1.7

1920 338,641 41,909 1.3

1930 428,026 89,385 2.4

1940 485,744 57,718 1.3

1950 611,493 125,749 2.3

1960 751,615 140,122 2.1

1970 856,698 105,083 1.3

1980 938,777 82,079 0.9

1990 1,007,306 68,529 0.7

2000 1,135,614 128,308 1.2

 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Census

[NWTennSports]

Well, goodness knows I've had my share of complaints about Memphis schools, but I'm not buying this recruiting thing in Memphis and how it keeps other teams from winning state championships. .... Union City High School, in a tiny town inside a tiny county in a rural section of the state, beat Memphis schools three times in substate play on the way to state championships in the 1990s. In 1997, UC beat Memphis Melrose in the state tournament. That Melrose team had players who went on UT on football schlarships. .... You play with what you have. Instead of moaning about Memphis teams and talent, you should look at playing a Memphis team as an opportunity. Relish the challenge, don't run from it.

[tnwareagle]

I'm from Bradley, and I am not complaining. I see nothing wrong with open enrollment. Students should be allowed to go to the school they want to, and play for a good team. That's not recruiting. That is having a good coach who attracts the best players. Bradley does have players not zoned for Bradley. In fact, four of last year's starters were not zoned for the school. They chose Bradley so that they could play on a great team. Nothing wrong with that.I would hate to see them take away open enrollment here. People choose schools based on academics, band, or other reasons, why not athletics. Bradley has always been able to compete and beat Memphis teams, the exception being White Station, whom we did beat last year in the Arby's. Year before last we beat Hamilton to advance to the finals. You have to beat the best to be the best. For years, people who can't get past Shelbyville girls have yelled, "illegal recruiting." Nothing wrong, immoral, nor illegal about a girl or boy choosing to play for a great coach and a great team. Maybe Nashville and Chattanooga should try the open enrollement thing. Athlete or non-athlete, students should choose where they want to go to school. I enjoyed playing the Memphis teams the past three years. It made for great games against great athletes. The only thing I would say, is that if every team has a D-1 prospect, then someone needs to be doing a better job of preparing those guys for the academic college world, because so many of the so-called D-1 players never go D-1 due to academics. I just wish so many people would quit crying about recruiting in both the girls and the boys. Believe me, we hear it over here from local teams too. Good coaches and good programs don't have to recruit. They ATTRACT!!!! I will leave it at that. BTW: If my family had lived in Memphis, we would have found a way to get to White Station!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Opperman]

Memphis, TN-AR-MS Population by Decades

 

Date Population Population

Change Annual

% Change

1900  251,811 - -

1910  296,732 44,921 1.7

1920  338,641 41,909 1.3

1930  428,026 89,385 2.4

1940  485,744 57,718 1.3

1950  611,493 125,749 2.3

1960  751,615 140,122 2.1

1970  856,698 105,083 1.3

1980  938,777 82,079 0.9

1990  1,007,306 68,529 0.7

2000  1,135,614 128,308 1.2

 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Census

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Right, that's the metro area, including Tipton County, Fayette County, and several in Arkansas and Mississippi. But people aren't complaining about Munford, Fayette-Ware, Southaven, or West Memphis.

 

City limits is 650k, Shelby County is 950k, metro area is now 1.2 million (they redefined the Memphis metro to add three counties from eastern Arkansas and north Mississippi last year).

[Pantherbert]

I'm from Bradley, and I am not complaining. I see nothing wrong with open enrollment. Students should be allowed to go to the school they want to, and play for a good team. That's not recruiting. That is having a good coach who attracts the best players. Bradley does have players not zoned for Bradley.  In fact, four of last year's starters were not zoned for the school. They chose Bradley so that they could play on a great team. Nothing wrong with that.I would hate to see them take away open enrollment here. People choose schools based on academics, band, or other reasons, why not athletics. Bradley has always been able to compete and beat Memphis teams, the exception being White Station, whom we did beat last year in the Arby's. Year before last we beat Hamilton to advance to the finals. You have to beat the best to be the best.  For years, people who can't get past Shelbyville girls have yelled, "illegal recruiting."  Nothing wrong, immoral, nor illegal about a girl or boy choosing to play for a great coach and a great team. Maybe Nashville and Chattanooga should try the open enrollement thing.  Athlete or non-athlete, students should choose where they want to go to school. I enjoyed playing the Memphis teams the past three years. It made for great games against great athletes.  The only thing I would say, is that if every team has a D-1 prospect, then someone needs to be doing a better job of preparing those guys for the academic college world, because so many of the so-called D-1 players never go D-1 due to academics. I just wish so many people would quit crying about recruiting in both the girls and the boys. Believe me, we hear it over here from local teams too.  Good coaches and good programs don't have to recruit. They ATTRACT!!!! I will leave it at that.  BTW: If my family had lived in Memphis, we would have found a way to get to White Station!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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That post should be required reading for newcomers to this board :justwrestle: . Good post tnwareagle.

Edited January 9, 2005 by Pantherbert

[gomab2]

Great post!

[Wimpy]

gomab2, I think the point is if you can just get the best players out of 1/10 of memphis you have a real head start on everyone else!!! I don't know the population of memphis but it has to be over 1 million. I would think you could take the best players out of memphis each and every year and have a top 25 college basketball team. I know there are alot of high schools in memphis and your point is well taken but you must agree if you could ever get a strong hold on a section of memphis and the best players in that part of the city wanted to come to your school you could have something the rest of the state could not compare with just out of the sure population you could draw from.

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[Wimpy]

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Would someone share this information with Coach Calipari?

[Wimpy]

Would someone share this information with Coach Calipari?

825511942[/snapback]

All the basketball talent leaving Memphis to play their college basketball? They shouldn't have to! The University of Memphis should be considered home!!!!!!!