Last time the Tigers had a winning season was in 2008
when nationally ranked
Nathan Garth
(New Mexico
St. commit - Steve Alford first year at the school)
from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas moved to Memphis
and enrolled at Hamilton and
Coach Lawson's last year at
the school and winning season. Coach Keelon
Lawson is back at the high school where
the enrollment is back in high numbers at 1,200 students where he went
undefeated in 2006 at a 39-0 mark. Only the second time
in Memphis history a team went undefeated the entire
season. Coach
Lawson
brings a major boost to a school
that has a lot of basketball tradition in his
nationally ranked kids in K.J. Lawson
and Deadrick
Lawson. Hamilton is back in the mix and a top
three contender for 16-AAA where I definitely had
had them at the bottom of District 16-AAA. At the same
time the wildcats have only two seniors on the roster
and are the youngest team in the city respectively.
Sophomore
K.J. Lawson(6'7
- 195 lbs.,rivals
#21) is going to be very
special kid with his great ball handling skills, court
vision, and plays all positions with great skill set. He
is just an all around player who everyone in Memphis
will hear about all season long in the toughest district
in the state hands down (District 16-AAA).
His brother freshman
Deadrick Lawson(6'8.5
- 205 lbs.,rivals
#8) is right behind the
older brother and will contribute tremendously all
season long with his great all around game with solid
inside post moves and good rebounding respectively.
Junior
Chris Sean Brown(6'1
- 180 lbs.,rivals
#) will play at the 1 spot
and should be able to handle all defenses that will
brought against him from district counterparts.
Other
freshmen that will make their debut early in the season
is Romero
Hill(6'3
- 185 lbs.,rivals
#) is a good spot up
shooter from all over the court and also can hit the boards
in strong fashion while playing the guard position at
times in many ball games.
Demonte Pearson(6'0
- 185 lbs.,rivals
#) is going to play the
combo guard in different situations relentlessly with
Pearson playing
the guard position also. That is going to be the
million dollar question with
Hamilton
is they going to be able to handle the guard turnover
ratio in their favor all season long.
Hamilton will play in the MLK Tournament
that will probably be at Hamilton High School this year
if the school can host the event accordingly and if not
they will play in the
Ridgeway Classic. December 1st
they will travel to Little Rock, Arkansas and play
Little Rock Hall who has #18 ranked and University of
Arkansas commit 6'10 Bobby Portis. They will participate
in the 5th Annual Memphis - Atlanta Classic that has
turned into one of the top holiday events in the country
that draws college coaches from all over the country to
our city. The wildcats will travel to Starkville,
Mississippi and play in the Travis Outlaw Slam Dunk
Tournament. December 31st they will play
Southwind at
Southwind in a classic type of environment.
Two seniors that will get plenty of opportunities and
their time will increase as the season moves along with
their experience are
Chris Burks(6'2
- 185 lbs.,rivals
#) whose athletic and
stocky build who will play the 2 & 3 positions. The
other senior is
Josh Crutcher(6'3
- 190 lbs.,rivals
#) whose slashes to the
goal are as good as anyone in the city and can play
multiple positions in accord.
College
Coaches:>Diamond in the Rough Team with legitimate off the
radar prospects,
(college coaches click here).
Recap 9-15-2012
Winning MLK Tournament at Melrose and start of their undefeated season 39-0
and TSSAA State AAA championship
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.
Taking 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.
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.
