Division 2
will be pretty strong this year with
Briarcrest,
CBHS,
MUS,
and ECS
all going to make serious noise this year enroute to
state title hopes. Hoopers staff gives the edge to the
Saints in Division 2 with Memphis signee
Nichols
leading the way handily. Players like
Nicholscome in
cycles and we are presently in the middle of one right
now.
With eight
seniors going off to college from last years ball club
that won over 20+ games respectively. Five players went
to school with basketball scholarships in (DeMar
Richardson
and
Sean Tuohy
to Loyola/Maryland,
Chris Jones
to Paris College in Texas,
Nelson Ollie
to Three Rivers College,
and two other players heading to school with baseball
scholarships in (Bennett
Hill
and
Michael Sillyman
to
Memphis).
The
Saints
are back with Coach
John Harrington
in his 11th year at the helm and with hands down the
best overall player in senior Austin Nichols
(6'8 - 200 lbs.
espn #12-
Memphis commit).
Nichols
in a short period of time has transformed into a serious
comparison in the Hoopers eyes as an national elite
level type of player accordingly, with some added weight
to an already sturdy body frame the sky is the limit.
When
Nichols
masters the jump shot from
long range he will garner skills overall as he already
best all other skill sets in accordance with great
dominance and follow thru.
Senior
Donovan Spolls
(6'1 - 175 lbs.
rivals #)
who came on in the second half of the season in strong
fashion after an early season injury is an very athletic
player who will contribute major minutes this year at
the guard spot accordingly. Senior sharp shooter
Chris Hodges
(6'1 - 175 lbs.
rivals #)
will provide solid good outside shooting from all over
the court while capitalizing on double teams directed at Nichols
with the open shot that will be available on numerous
occassions. Senior
Nelson Jones
(6'1 - 175 lbs.
rivals #)
"the best defender on the team", stated by
Coach Harrington
will garner valuable minutes all
season long with his high intensity on the teams best
offensive player. court and is very aggressive at all
times.
Senior
Austin Powell
(6'5 - 195 lbs.
rivals #)
will back up Austin Nichols
in the middle as a very good
rebounder and positions well on the boards at the same
time. Another senior is Andre Admas
(6'2 - 175 lbs.
rivals #)
who will be a very solid role
player all season long in different situations. Junior
transfer from South Dakota Austin Powell
(6'3 - 185 lbs.
rivals #)
will automatically jump into the foray with his solid
outside shooting abilities and will platoon at the guard
position accountably.
When
you have a marquee player like
Nichols
your high school team will travel
all over the country traditionally. The Saints start off
major and will travel to the nationally heralded early
season high school event The
Marshall County Hoopfest
in Benton County, Kentucky
November 30-December 1, 2012.
Briarcrest
will play against Number 1 player in the country in Andre Wiggins
(6'7 - 195 lbs., espn
#1)
of Huntington Prep, West
Virginia. Then they travel across the country to
Gilbert, Arizona for the 2nd Annual Christian Cup
December 5-9, 2012. Last major trip of the holiday
season is The Mater Dei Christmas Tournament.
in Brees, Illinois for the 52nd Annual tournament that
runs from Dec. 26-30, 2012. In January they stay home
with the ARS/Penny Hardaway
Classic
January 10-12 with the first two games at
Dyer County
at White Station
High School. They also participate in the
Hot Bed Classic
in New Albany, Mississippi in January to go along with a
matchup against White
Station
High School also in the month of January.
Sophomore
Adam Pike
(6'1 - 175 lbs.
rivals #)
will get opportunities at the guard spot in certain
slots during the season. Freshman
Mycha Thomas
(6'5 - 185 lbs.
rivals #)
will get
opportunities early in the season with his great overall
basketball play and before it's over will be a great
player in the makings. Another freshman
Maseo Wooddard
(6'5 - 180 lbs.
rivals #)
brings a bright future for the Saints as
Wooddardwill help with good
outside shooting for a formidable freshman class. The
Saints after this year will be a very young team on the
horizon to mettle with.
College
Coaches:Diamond in the Rough Team with
legitimate off the radar prospects, (college coaches click here).
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.