Pre Season Predictions will
be out September 1, 2014
Week 1 is
out (Nov.18, 2014 - Nov.25, 2014)
↓
Rankings are out, scroll down↓
Memphis high school basketball is always intriguing and
this year is no different. This year like past
preseason polls is dominated by
inner city Division AAA
schools
but a truly major change is in the works and definitely
the hardest to date preseason polls . With the
merger between
Memphis City Schools
into
Shelby County
Schools
now completed with
all schools under one umbrella, the old county schools
are making noise claiming three spots in the
MemphisHooper.com
Top Ten Poll. The poll has changed a little in
the last couple of weeks with transfers complete like
Ladarius Coleman
from
Craigmont
to White Station,
C.J. Anderson
from Whitehaven
back to Arlington.
The emergence of
Bolton with the
rising of Jalen
Fisher (espn
#23) respectively and a Team Thad 17's
summer circuit player.
Once mighty powerful (
16-AAA)
district and arguably the toughest district in the state
is presently on a down beat from the last 4 year run
garnering 3 of the
TSSAA
state championships in
White Station,
Melrose,
and
Memphis East
respectively.
Southwind
the other
Shelby County
Schools to win state
and defending their 2013 state championship
makes the poll at the No. 7 slot.. Division 16 - AAA still holds that claim but
barely with onlyMemphishoopers.com Preseason
Top Ten Number 1 White
Station and Preseason
Top Ten Number 2 Hamilton are
the only true contenders. Memphis
Central under second year Ricardo
Patton will battle to a point with East and
Melrose rebuilding. Whitehaven will
falter, maybe winning 17 games this year after their
best team last year since the Julius
Peppers days, going 24-12 last year. Whitehaven was
once a Number 7 fall to 9 in
Memphishoopers.com Preseason
Top Ten
with a probable Top 3 ranking until C.J.
Anderson (Team
Thad -
UMASS)
and other rising sophomores and juniors like Trey
Atkins (Catholic)
transfer on top of star point guard probable season long
hiatus.
The emergence of Charter schools/academies have had an adverse effect with the
"numbers game" trickling into future athletic aspects
conventionally.
Division AA will be off this year with
numerous schools changing their classifications from
historic levels. to
Division A from
Memphishoopers.com Preseason
Poll Number 4Mitchell,
Hillcrest,
Carver
on the south side of the city. The north side added
tangible
Craigmont
to Division AA from Division AAA and
Kingsbury went up to
Division AAA.
Memphishoopers.com Preseason
Top Ten
haveArlingtoncoming
in at
No. 3.
Arlington
and Houston (another
Memphishoopers.com Preseason
Top Ten at No. 6)
have legitimate chances of advancing far in postseason
action. Especially with once mighty powerful (16-AAA)
district the toughest district in the state on a down
beat. Don't forget Ridgeway(No.
8)
and
Southwind (No.
7)
to make noise and can beat any of these teams mentioned
accordingly. With Jerry
Johnson, Marlon
Hunter, and rising sophomore Justin
Benton coming to his own, Houston will
for the first time in school history should make it to
the Regionals and more.Arlington last
year losing to Munford in
the Regionals wouldn't of happened if Jonathan
Starks from Munford and
now starting point guard at Tulane said
otherwise. Munford had
a gift last year and better of enjoyed it becuae they
will be like years past, districtroundgo
homes. Remember two years ago when Brighton had
a Top 3 team in the state and lost to Bartlett on
a last second shot from Athlon
Bell (Arkansas)
then all their players went to otherschoolsand
the school hasn't won 5 games in two years since then.
This winning comes in cycles unless you are the big dogs
compadres and keeping the flavor is a test of time!!!!
Division AA is also off a
tidbit this year with No. 4Mitchell no longer
in that field, going down to
Division A. No. 5 Manassasresides in the north
division and will have a tougher road with upcoming
Douglass
High School who might just have the leading scorer in
SCIAA in
LeGerald Vick. Raleigh Egypt
will battle with big men
Fattod Lewis and Junior McGee respectively.
Trezevant had their best team in
years last year but is in rebuilding modethat group is
gone. went up in
classification
to Division AAA,
Trezevant had their best chance in years last
year and might go thru the last cycle to get in, 6 years
hiatus. Manassas
will be led by Rayford
Albright,
Courtney Smith and a host of newcomers
from one of the best incoming freshmen class in the city
MemphisHoopers.comTop
Ten Poll(Week
7 ) &Penny
Hardaway Classicresults have
the White
Station Spartans holding on
to theNumber
1spot
for all seven weeks respectively. TheSpartans participated
in the No. 1 Attended High School Basketball
Tournament in America in Springfield, Missouri
at theBass
Pro Shops Tournament of Champions.White
Stationin
the first game defeatedWesleyan
Christian ofHigh
Point, North Carolina 64-50 withNic
SmithandLadarius
Colemanat
16 points apiece,Leron
Blackat
12 pts. In the second gameLadarius
Colemanhad
a game high 24 points to lead theSpartans65-50
over the defending 2013Bass
Pro Champions Fairfax
Paul Vl Panthers.White
Stationranked
thenNumber
3inUSA
Todayshigh
school rankings lost in the championship game toNumber
1inUSA
Today'spoll Montverde
Academy from Florida. They beatSunrise
Christian AcademyrankedNumber
25on
a buzzer beater byLeron
Black56-55
on Thursday night (Jan. 23). Hamiltonmoves
up to the Number 2slotwith
wins 3 wins overDistrict
16-AAAopponentsEast,Melrose,
andOverton.
TheWildcatsfall
toOak
Hill AcademyFriday
night (Jan.24) 79-66 heading into a matchup
Saturday night (Jan.25) against district
counteratWhite
Station,
three times in 2 weeks will be a test for both
ball clubs respectively atDyer
CountyonESPNU.Arlingtonmoves
up toNumber
3with
solid wins over thenNumber
5Bolton,KingsburyandGermantownaccordingly.UMASSsigneeC.J.
AndersonofArlingtonhas
been on a tear averaging 21 points, and 8
rebounds during the stretch.
PICTURE
OF THE WEEK
Chris Crawford&Markell
Crawford(Memphis)watch
their old high schools play each other atSheffieldas
they beatMelrosehandily.
DefendingTSSAADivision
AAAstate
championsSouthwindcreep
into theNumber
4spot
with large margin wins over Craigmont and
Wooddale. TheJaguars slip
with a lost toRidgeway85-84
on a last second three byTerrance
Smithwho
scored a game high 31 points to compliment new
transferKhalil
Spencerwho
added 25 point and are positioning theirselves
for a post season run.Manassashad
a strong week with a 86-68 victory overRaleigh
EgyptandRayford
Albrightnotching
40 points and averaging 28 pts a game since his
return and move into theNumber
5position.Houston falls
toNumber
6after
losing to upcomingGermantownwithJake
Millerat
25 pts, andTim
Shawat
21 pts., but in return thumpKirby,then
the next night demolishWooddale by
27 points 87-55 withMarlon
Hunterhitting 31 points in the
win.
BTW keeps rolling thru
district play undefeated with solid double digit
wins that averaged 31 points overCarver, Middle
College&Kipp
Academy. Seniors JaMarcus
Franklin & Angelo
Smith, with sophomoreChance
Blakely are making noise inDivision
A. In theNumber
8slotDouglassimproves
their record to 18-3 with district wins over
Number 5Manassas andTrezevantand
are tied for first place in District 16-AA at
7-1.LaGerald
VickandFreddie
WilliamsofDouglassare
the best 6'5 overall combos in the city hands
down.
Onle private school in theHoopers
Top Tenand
overcoming a six year hiatus from the Top Ten
from theElliott
Williams&Lawrecne
Bowersdays.
For the second week in a row, the Gryphons have
moved up a slot to theNumber
9position
and St.
George's also
holdisthe
best overall record in the city at 19-1
respectively. They handledSacred
Heart of JesusandFayette
Academy handily.
Then in a tough battle withCBHSthey
beat the Purple Wave 74-65 withJustin
Wertnerscoring
25 points on accurate shooting from all over the
court. CoachJeff
Ruffinhas
done a great job early in the season with this
squad.
Penny Hardaway Classic Breakdownfrom
actual games Hoopers staff watched in person.White
Station defeatedHamilton76-71 on
national TV (ESPNU)
and play them Monday night (Jan.27) again
- 2 times in the next 2 weeks. A preview of
state tournament bound teams fromDistrict
16-AAA with the regular high
school basketball season coming around third
heading into district play.Leron
Blacknotched
a game high 25 points in an outstanding shooting
performance at 11-16 (69%).Mitchellis
one of those teams that you can't never forget
and won't go away. After a rough start to the
season, the Tigers have won 11 games in a row in
strong fashion. With 5 seconds left on the clock
againstJackson
South Side(who
will also battle forDivision
AAhonors), juniorNaba
Echolsnails
a three pointer and is fouled to make it a four
point play and the Tigers win 64-60. JuniorJaremiah
Martinled
all scorers at 22 points a clip. South Side had
two players at 20 apiece and are definitely
great ball players in seniorJalen
Braford&Chris
McNeal. Oak Hill Academy
clobbersHouston84-51
behind senior Cody
Martin's(N.C.
State) 17 points and 11
rebounds. Also MVP of the game, junior Terrance
Phillips(Brandon
Jenningslittle
brother) adds 12 points and 12 assists. With the
score at the half 30-25Oak
Hillup,
a 5 point third quarter and twoESPNthunderous
dunks kill the Mustangs demeanor & hope
immediately.
Definitely the surprise team of the early
season with a 13-2 clip. Jumped 6 spots to land
at Number 2 with district action starting this
week.
Last Week 8
Losses to Number 1
nationally ranked Highland Lone Peak and Long
Beach California but a sounding win over
Hamilton stops the fall accordingly.
Last
Week 1
Two losses at City of Palms
drop the Jaguars from the Number 1 slot. All
three losses are to Top 10 teams in the
country but you still need to beat one of
them.
Last
Week
1
Other
Teams of Interest:Catholic(0-10),
Fairley
(0-6), Frayser
(0-0), Hamilton
(2-6),
2012 Recap below
from might be the
hardest preseason poll to compile with so many regulars
on the rebuild. e 2012-2013 high school basketball
season will have some teams that have not been in the
rankings for 5 - 6 years accordingly. At the same time
the rankings willyears is dominated by Division AAA
schools miss some teams that are regulars such as
Craigmont
and
Memphis Central.
The first one is
Hamilton
coming in at number 6 respectively and there has only
been two teams in state history to go undefeated and Hamilton
did that feat in 2006 at a 39-0 mark. The same coach
(Coach
Keelon Lawson)
that accomplished the sensational act in 2006 is back
and with some great reinforcements in his awesome
children with three on the
Hamilton
roster starting withK.J. Lawson
(6'7 - 190 lbs.,
rivals #14).,
Dedric
Lawson
(6'7 - 190 lbs.,
rivals #),
and Conner Anderson, a transfer from
Germantown
supposedly.
Hoopers
staff debated extensively on who to put at the
Number 1
slot with two teams with players ranked in the Top 20
nationally. After careful consideration Hoopers staff
gave it to
Southwind
and with a lot of seniors on that ball club and their
best chance for a state title run from last couple of
years mishaps, a TSSAA state championship tournament
appearance will definitely be a major disappointment and
a state title a major gaffe. Leading
Southwind
will be lefty
Jonathan Williams
(6'9 - 210 lbs.,
rivals #27)
in the middle and
Jujuan Johnson
(6'4 - 180 lbs.,
rivals #82)
with his sharpshooting abilities. A young man that will
surprise mucho personas will be
Payton Hulsey
(6'4 - 190 lbs.,
rivals #)
and will be a strong combo/no.2 guard in the state. At
Number 2
comes in
White Station
and with a relatively young team at hand,
Coach Patino one of the better coaches in the state
knows how to handle the situation with no problem. The
addition of
Chris Chiozza
(6'0 - 160 lbs.,
rivals #15)
from
Bartlett
solidifies a very strong team with all the correct parts
at all positions and could easily win state themselves.
They already have a Top Ten player in the country in the
Hoopers staff eyes in
Leron Black
(6'8 - 215 lbs.,
rivals #18)
who is one the most nicest young man you could ever meet
but when he gets on that court he is a beast in
basketball terms hands down!!! At
Number 3
we have
Briarcrest
who garners the best
player in the state and region in
Austin Nichols
(6'8 - 215 lbs.,
rivals #43),
this kid can do it all and will dunk on you with his
aggressiveness at any time, just love this young
man.
Number 4
we have
Memphis East
the reigning Division AAA TSSAA
State Champions who return
Nic King
(6'8 - 200 lbs.,
rivals #23)
and sharpshooter
Matthew Butler
(6'3 - 180 lbs.,
rivals #).
If
Jalen Thompson
(6'0 - 210 lbs.,
rivals #)
can handle the guard spot in facilitating the team they
will go along way in postseason action.
Number 5
slot has probably the team you will have to watch all
season long that will make some serious noise in
Sheffield. The
Knights boast a very solid core from last years group
that made sub state and have one of the sharpest
basketball minds in the city in Coach Delamar. He will
have these young men very disciplined like no other! At
the same time he has major sleepers in
Jaylon Smith
(6'2 - 185 lbs.,
rivals #)
and one of the better left hand shooters
in the city. You can't forget the twins who are all
around ball players.
16-AAA
which is the toughest district in the state year
in and year out will produce another state contender and
winner. Hamilton
will try to answer that call and comes in at
Number 6 and just
might advance far in postseason action. Question is will
they have they have the guard position nailed down
accordingly.
Hoopers staff had
Ridgewayin a rebuilding mode
to a sense but with the development
of
Greg Pryor
(6'2 - 185 lbs.,
rivals #)
over the summer plus another strong in
Jonathan Burroughs
(6'1 - 170 lbs.,
rivals #)
who had a legitimate summer the Road Runners come in at
Number 7.
Hoopers staff had
Melrose
at the Number 1
slot during summer high school action which in the
Hoopers eyes never really means nada. Kids go here and
there for bettering themselves for the game. You
have to give it to Coach J.J. he does
it better than anyone in the city. After major
defections and serious injuries they come in at
Number 8.
Dyer County
comes in at
Number
9
and has highest ranking player in the state in
Robert Hubbs
(6'2 - 185 lbs.,
rivals #11)
but major question is about that supporting cast and
will this be the last time the Choctaws in rankings for
years to come.
Rounding
out the Top Ten is
Trezevant at
Number 10
and the last time they made the
Hoopers Top Ten was in 2006 when Arnette
Moultrie was present, see how long it can be
when a school has great success.
Division 2 had a nice run from 2003-2007 that ranks as
mediocre compared to Memphis standards. The private
school sector is definitely back on the rise after some
dismal years, with
Briarcrest,
CBHS
and
ECS
will contend with state honors and maybe Coach Tippett's
end to an illustrious career after
Skal Lebiesierre
(6'10 - 185 lbs.,
rivals #6)
leaves. Both of those ball clubs will lead the pack for
ball clubs, St. George's, MUS, and Lausanne will field
decent overall teams but this will not be their year. As
for Mississippi schools who knows who will run the
Northern section of Mississippi because they stumble
when it comes to playing the southern section of the
state in postseason action every year since Hoopers have
been doing this. This part of the story is easy because
the same thing happens every year and they seem fine
with the results. Simple answer to that question is play
more stronger teams from Memphis but then they get
intimidated that players will bolt for Memphis.
Therefore when they play Lanier, Provine, Murrah and the
other city teams from down south they always lose, CATCH
22 isn't it.
Hold up before anyone says anything, BCS, AP, ESPN all
have their rankings formulas depending on many variables
and strength of schedule is right at the top. That being
the point, can anyone blame the Hoopers staff.
If not, then everyone that reads
this article what about the Memphis Tigers. Do you think
they would of been ranked that high playing Southwest,
Northwest.
Okay done deal!!!!
Transitional
periods are always hard and conforming into policies
take time relating to basketball measures.
It was the best
of times, it was the worst of times. I think there is a
book that starts off that way, but I digress.
The anticipation of the upcoming AAU or summer campaign
was alive and kicking all over the country in May of
2005, especially in Memphis.
The expectations seemed enormous, having finished second
in the 17 and under nationals last season as 16's the
Memphis YOMCA seemed primed for the ultimate run.
Something happened on the way to the gym.
It was apparent the Bluff City faithful were not the
only parties interested in getting a piece of the star
studded squad.
Adidas wanted to get a foothold in the ever burgeoning
Memphis hoop scene and this seemed to be the initial
move to start this particular ball
rolling.
So the YOMCA was no longer in the loop and the Memphis
Pump-N-Run were officially born.
TTaking a peek at the roster one could not blame Adidas
for their bold move. Thaddeus Young, Willie Kemp, Wayne
Chism, Pierre Niles and Brandon Powell made up a nucleus
that would surely lead Team Memphis to the promised
land.
The summer campaign started with a most interesting
scenario as the "PNR" lost a game to the Mid-State
Ballerz, who ironically had Willie Kemp running the
show. This was an illusion that would soon change, as
Kemp
shortly thereafter joined the PNR.
With all their ducks in a row, the PNR set out to
establish themselves and put a benchmark on the national
attention that would follow.
The Real Deal on the Hill, the first major tournament of
the summer that coaches could attend. The pundits pined
for the impending matchup between Team Memphis and the
defending mythical goliath The Indy Spiece Heat. The
Heat were led by the consensus top player in the class
Greg Oden and numerous other high level prospects who
could actually match the
PNR with name recognition.br>
The reputation was established and the aura of the PNR
was created as the boys from Memphis soundly defeated
the Heat and made a huge cry across the land as the best
summer squad in existence.
Another funny thing happened on the way to their future
endeavors, nothing.
For some inexplicable reason the PNR did not suit up for
any of the Memorial Day festivities and was sparsely
seen until the Adidas Super 64 in Atlanta, following the
shoe camps.
The aforementioned players participated in various high
level exposure camps and the three major shoe camps and
kept their names on the tongues of coaches nationwide.
After achieving individual success at these various
camps, the boys got back together with the purpose of
putting the finishing touches on a grand and final run
through the top programs the country had to offer. They
added Ridgeway jumping jack Ernest Fields and ECS
powerhouse Tim Johnson to the fold and things looked
bright.
Once again a funny thing happened on the way to the gym.
The time off and the lack of continuity played havoc on
the chemistry of the PNR and they bowed out early in
Atlanta.
Heading to Las Vegas for the final big time event of the
summer, the PNR seemed poised and ready to achieve.
After dominating pool play the lack of chemistry once
again reared it's ugly head and some resentment among
the players seemed to end this summer campaign on a sour
note.
This team had the potential to be one of the best of all
time. It is truly unclear what precipitated these events
that grounded this team for much of the latter portion
of May and June, but it truly had it's effect on their
success.
None the less these kids are part of the best class of
seniors to dot the Tennessee landscape in many years.
The decision to completely disassociate themselves with
the
organization that they grew up playing for in retrospect
now seems like a mistake. The YOMCA will continue on
with quality younger teams and what to make of the
Adidas affiliation with the Bluff City at this juncture
is
unclear.