Halifax basketball returning Thursday against GW
- Thread starter jkirkland
- Start date
What are the prerequisites for the tournament? Who’s in, who’s out? I have struggled keeping up this year. How is it seeded? What are the teams’ records?
From what I have read anyone is eligible for the tournament as long as the region lets them in. From talking with Halifax AD they are in the regional tournament starting Monday. As for how they will seed them I am not sure. Halifax will have only played two games entering the tournament. Mike McCall with VHSL said that as long as the only requirement for state tournament play is that the region send their champion.
Also...GW with the win over Halifax 58 - 55. Good job to the Eagles, everything is even when there's no real home court advantage this season.
I understand that it’s the kids’ first games but damn that was hard to watch. The Danville area has to have a Summer League for the high schools like they used to have at Blairs in the mid 2000s. The skill level is way down. As good as the GW 2019 team was, I don’t see any Nyreek Wheelers or Shunta Wilson’s in the area and there won’t be for a while. I say this because I watch a lot of high school ball in the 757 and 804. Their localities canceled but the coaches have been getting sponsors and playing against teams out of NoVA, 757 and 804. I’m sure I’ll get called a hater, but being Danville to the death of me, it’s tough seeing other areas progress, while our area digress. Dan River and Tunstall were both going to be good this year, neither team played in any of these events I’ve spoke of. GW and Halifax played a combined 4 games, none of their kids got the opportunity to play against the best.
Interesting take. Halifax was one of the preseason favorites to win it. But didn't the Ferrell guard, the big sophomore, D. Howard from GW and Dixon from GW play in the AAU circuit this past summer? They touched Rock Hill SC and other places if I remember correctly. It may not have been BWSL, but...BWSL is exclusive. May be that it's geographical. Easier to get to BWSL from the 804/757.
Also to your point, AD's and head coaches of these area schools have to collaborate for that to happen. Working by themselves won't bring that kind of thing together. There has to be more training skills in the off-season too. Compare the trainers in 804/757 to the area you speak of...no comparison. I can name 5 easy off the top of my head. Ganon Baker doesn't rest his head in the Southside.
I think it all comes in waves. Just in the past decade, titles have been won in all area codes. No area has held dominance in 4A. Just looking at the past two years, 434 and then the 757 won titles. Both 434 and 757 were in the final four. I don't know what qualifiers we're looking at, but it's just different.
And...GW wins again. Play for the third time on Monday for the first round of regionals.
Halifax was one of the favorites, I’ve said it many times before. I believed they’d come out of the West had we played a normal season. I also believe that Halifax believed the hype. Those guys you speak of did have a great summer. If you watched the game last night (I didn’t catch the game tonight) you’d see that there is still a lot of work to do in their games.. Not knit picking them, I’m speaking in terms of competing against the King’s Fork’s/Woodrow Wilson’s/Monacan’s/Smithfield’s. You look at a kid right now on a “state contender” like Quentin Livingston at King’s Fork or Jamais Werts at Monacan, you can see the amount of work they’ve put into their game over the summer by how polished they are and how their games evolved. I will say that Dixon looks really really good. He’s a kid that if you took him to the inner city to hoop, he’d hold his own. If he was 6’, he’d definitely be a D1 prospect.
These 757/804 teams I speak of were business sponsored. King’s Fork had a team, John Marshall, all of the public school teams in Henrico and some 757 coaches teamed up to run a few teams together. Heck John Marshall took the best high school players from the 757 and 804 and they been playing DeMatha, Burlington Christian and Lake Norman (Mikey William’s team). My point is, these kids are playing, competing and getting better while our players in Danville/SoBo/Martinsville haven’t really done anything other than the guys you mentioned earlier and that was during the summer.
Our area can do the same thing Boo Williams does with the summer/fall public school league. All of the best public school teams from the 75 and 804 goes there to compete. Keeps the kids out of trouble, gives them organized basketball reps (unless it’s high level AAU ball, AAU is glorified playground ball/kids trying to dunk or make spectacular play for likes), and it’s a good way for kids to be coached up and programs to compete and see what they need to do to improve going into the new season. I know you know your stuff and if you’re watching ball in our area, you can count on 2 and a half hands how many kids are actually used to playing organized ball. I think the Piedmont would be a lot more competitive and you’d see more kids from our area playing ball at the next level whether it’s JuCo, NAIA or NCAA, talent is there, just need more resources to compete with everyone else.
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For all it’s worth, I believe GW is 3rd favorite to win it all after Monacan and Smithfield. GW will go as far as Kobe Dixon takes them. He has the potential to be really special.
So maybe I'm getting your point to be get everyone together to play big games in NC? Have businesses sponsor teams to play in big time tournaments, but combine the best from the area? I think Travis Fitzgerald out at Chatham is doing just that with kids from Gretna, Chatham, GW, Tunstall, and Dan River. Did the same thing this past summer.
Also I bet those players you speak of from the 757/804 had some dynamite almost pro-level one on one training. Gym sessions full of workouts and skills. Again, who is doing that in the 434 these days? Which speaks to the point of resources you mentioned.
Organized ball with coaching. Player development. All huge in sustaining competitive programs. You can’t end the season in February, have a few open gyms here and there, let them learn bad habits playing low level AAU ball and then expect kids to be ready to compete in November. That’s a HUGE trend in the 434/276. Travis is a family/moral man and he’s great for the area. He’s teaching the kids Xs and Os. Hopefully more coaches get involved. Dixon (GW), Kam Roberts (Halifax), D’dric Rogers (Tunstall), Emanuel White (Dan River) and the freshman PG at Chatham are premier players in our area..Imagine if they had the training and the reps the kids in the 757 and 804 are getting.. D’dric’s father has him everywhere balling and the kid is special.. If he was in the 757 or even down in Durham/Gboro/Winston, he’d already have 4-5 offers.
Not necessarily pro level or trainers at all. Just a bunch of gym rats that love hooping. Competing and going head to head. College players/former college players from the area, coming home to play against them and teaching them the game. Don’t see that in our area. I will say that Bo Dean has done an amazing job in our area. Jarod Williams, Ahmad Thomas, CJ Barksdale, Trey Edmunds, Darren White.. Just a few elite guys that went in and learned from Bo.
Who's the next crop though? Bo Dean is getting up in age and has been. Those guys you mentioned are almost 10 years out of high school or more. There are tons of Bo Deans in the 804 and 757. I agree you can't do a few open gyms and that's it...but that's exactly what is going on. The Tunstall kid, how does it translate during his off-season and in season? Playing against teams in his own area, does he dominate? If he's everywhere and special, why not the offers? Is the area the hold up?
Player development is definitely a part of any successful program, but it is a small part of what is happening. No longer is the high school season being seen as the way to get recruited. The AAU circuit is, but unless kids are getting into the big ones, I agree with you...it ain't happening. If the same players aren't tearing up their own district, region, and their team doesn't have a high profile... they're not likely to get seen either.
Last point and I think I said this earlier, if coaches are uncomfortable with letting their players play for other coaches, the 434 should combine all the stars and all the area coaches could form a staff for the summer. Every week skill develop at an area high school or gym. Gotta check egos and get the job done for the sake of kids. Might start making noise then and maybe compete in the 804/757.
I definitely believe that whoever wins the GW/Halifax game will make States. The exclusion of Glass and JF are huge, and (based on last year alone) I only see Salem as a threat. It’s a shame that neither of these teams could reach their full potential. If this was a normal season I could definitely see Halifax going the farthest they’ve been since losing to Petersburg in the State Championship back in the 70s. Tunstall was on the rise to give the Big 3 in the Piedmont a run for their money this year. I’ve been talking to Kam Roberts and not practicing for a month straight then playing your biggest rival isn’t a good look. It isn’t an excuse, as this is the situation for most of the state, but it’s disappointing nonetheless. I’m pretty sure a Halifax basketball team has never gone winless in our teams history, and the fact that it could happen Monday is mind-boggling.
This was the team that was going to win it all. Bringing back almost every starter, etc. GW went through the same things Halifax did. I would have thought they looked better than they have. It was such a rush to get sports back going and then you don't get to practice, only play 2 or 3 games...what was the point.
All these talking heads on here have no idea what its like to get a team ready for a season. Conditioning alone takes weeks. "Would have thought they looked better" give me a break you are clueless!! anyone who watched that game the other night saw what its like when teams have no offseason workout programs. So Halifax has one practice in a year and you criticize them?? Proves your ignorance towards sports
Which is why they should’ve been playing in the team events in Richmond. If I know my team is going to be a top 3 team in the state, have multiple college prospects and the potential to win a state championship, I’m entering them into ASSIST fall/winter series or the CBG..There were many of opportunities available to help them prepare for this season of uncertainty. Sterling is my guy but let’s not make excuses. Halifax should be dominating the remaining field with their size and athleticism. Parker’s tallest guy is 6’2 and Worm Poole (may be 5’10, 225 football player) is pushing those bigger/more athletic Halifax boys around. That ain’t conditioning! GW is mostly football guys, Halifax may have 1-2 football guys on their team. Something isn’t adding up.
Team events in Richmond lol. Ask coach Parker if Danville City will pay for fuel and a bus driver two days a week in the month of June to travel 2+ hours away in a pandemic!!!! Or ask Williams at Halifax if their school would do the same and bus kids to 3+ hrs to Va Beach for their fall league? Listen to yourself.... Henry county not sure about Halifax didn't allow any team activities at all until the fall and then they were non contact. If Williams is your guy you don't think he was trying to prepare his team??? These coaches hands have been tied by administration and you guys just throw shade. I will say it again all I read on here are babbling mouths with no substance pretending to be knowledgeable!!!
Man none of the other schools who participated in those events posted above took a school bus to any events. Another excuse. Suffolk, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Newport News, and Hampton shut it down for winter.. So did Henrico and Richmond shut everything down for the school year. You think their administration’s provided them transportation to events for their guys to compete? Heck no! Excuses only satisfy those who make them. Why not travel 2 hours up 360 in a church van if it means your guys can get exposure? There were D2 offers given galore in the ASSIST and CBG. College coaches lined up to watch those events online. In normal times, no, it doesn’t make sense to travel 3 hours to Hampton for Fall League every week, that’s why the area should have their own. Too many good programs within an 90 mile radius of all of the Piedmont teams not to. Magna Vista hosted a summer tournament with Dudley, Halifax, Chatham and Morehead in summer 2019. It can be done and you bet that your Winston Salem Prep’s, Cave Spring’s, Person County’s and South Granville’s, etc would compete there. I get it was a pandemic year, but it was a year wasted for all of those teams back in the Piedmont. I hope Ferrell at Halifax and Niblett at Martinsville gets the opportunity to prep at a post grad program next year.
I am very knowledgeable and I hold a lot back so I don’t come across as throwing off or downing anyone. I hear adults in the area throwing the word “youth” around but if you look around, what’s really being done? Danville is a complete joke, SoBo/Hali I’m not as familiar with and Martinsville and Henry County has some great programs but not a lot as far as athletics go. People in the area have to stop making excuses and start finding solutions to the problems. They will never be progressive in a mindset based on pity and excuses.
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You must not know who I am or what I'm about. It's fine if you don't. I'd love to compare resumes and bodies of work. To your point and to your feelings...you don't need a gym to condition. I've seen high schoolers working on skills by themselves. Running outside, push ups in their rooms, etc. I see this because I remind them. They send video proof. I motivate them. Coach doesn't have to tell you to do that or you don't have to schedule practice for that. As much as I've seen people here talk about how much they've returned and how they were on the title path...yep, I still say I would have thought they looked better. That's the sports truth.
I know of the GW kids, they were in those summer events. Didn't take a school bus either. Played with Fitzgerald, an area coach, and they got work. About 7 players from GW got that time on the court. Worm is seen daily working out. They found a way. Worked out together (socially distanced and masked up) when there wasn't practice. Even when Coach Parker had to shut it down, he told those boys don't stay stagnant...and they didn't. Kept putting the work in. If you want it...you want it.
Danville has 1300 casino jobs on the way and quite a bit of local tax revenue. Downtown is a hot bed of historic tax credit rehab projects. I am some what surprised about the economic activity in Danville. Even the hospital seems to be somewhat better. Crime has gone down.
Danville is far from perfect but it is far from dead.
Danville is far from perfect but it is far from dead.
There's still ways to go, but I appreciate you seeing the progress. People want the best for the city, families, and the students. So much negativity thrown on these communities. Comeback City is really a mantra here.
One reason play is down is that there are coaches who discourage their players from participating in aau ball in the summer . Telling the kids they will be unprepared for the season an or college . I can’t make this stuff up . Smh
No doubt there are some strides. I grew up in North Danville and attended Woodberry Hills and Westwood. Danville is a huge part of me and I want to see it prosper. I’ll include @deuce2hublue cause he knows his stuff as well. Let me ask this..With that 15 million dollar left over for the Casino.. How much is going to be invested to improve DPS? Building rec centers in Danville? Grants for more programs in Danville Public Schools? More job training at the vocational center and DCC? Danville can bring in as many jobs as they want but families will continue to send their kids to the County because the city has put education on the back burner. It’s mind blowing the money they’ve paid the superintendent and the crappy state that DPS is in. Forest Hills and Galileo are the only schools accredited. Danville is far behind. The school board and city council talk a big game but at the end of the day, they haven’t accomplished anything in a really long time other than the casino. Danville was once the city of churches, it’s sad times when a casino is what they look for to revitalize the city. Yes, crime is down, the River District is beautiful and growing, but what’s in it for our kids?
Much respect to you bro. I appreciate your conversation on here and you without question know your stuff. Keep on doing what you do!
Can’t agree more with your second point.
Rogers has a lot of potential and was extremely polished for a freshman. Had a really good showing for the Durham Hurricanes. I think he’s a Garner Road or possibly even CP3 candidate moving forward. You don’t really find that in our area that frequently. I think his main problem was the coaches at Tunstall did not let him be a freshman, take his bumps and bruises, and didn’t develop him. Morrison knows the game of basketball and will be good for D’dric. Last year, the staff really hurt his confidence as they’d take him out after every little mistake and harshly critiqued his game. Can’t do that.. Think if Cormany had done that to QMR at Radford, Coach Carter and Pass (RIP to both of them) did that to Breon Pass at Reidsville, Jason Nelson and AJ Williams when they started out at Varina, or Jayden Epps when he started at Norview... Those coaches let them play, take their lumps, taught them from those lumps and most importantly, developed those guys into high caliber basketball players. Rogers has that same potential. To answer your question, with the right coaching, yes he will dominate our area. He put up 20+ 5 times last year including Dan River and Martinsville. He blocked shots and led Tunstall in steals. His dad has him training with the best of the best and he’s in the gym everyday. I think he’s going to be a star. I’d personally like to see him at a Greensboro Day, Burlington Christian or Piedmont Classical during his senior year
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Schools up Roanoke an Lynchburg area are totally different the kids have access to the gym before school they have kids getting up shots snow days kids are there getting up shots . Here gum is locked if school not going on that’s one reason they are ahead . Also the ad’s an principals in this area have to support basketball like they do baseball an football .
Danville puts more resources in the schools than the County. Probably not as much discipline. I will say Nick Anderson's players are better behaved on the sidelines than we were 73-75. Today's players have to pass more subjects than we did. There was more leeway to get a grade "looked at again" or a friendly intervention with an unplanned trip to the office.
You too brother. We have the heart for it. Takes all of us.
That is correct. Or don't provide an alternative. The only valid concern I have heard is of players getting hurt. However, players can get hurt hooping at the Y. Skills translate no matter where you play. The correct way to box out, post, screen, and shoot...is transferrable.
That's why all area coaches have to come together if they feel cautious. Or...go see them play if they are on a team.
Gotta cut in on this one. Not sure how much is going towards the schools, but I know city council has allocated funds. The recreation programs are non-existent. As far as education is concerned: Forest Hills and Galileo serves a different population rather than the majority of students that look like me and you. Galileo is built towards gifted students, and Forest Hills' population is more white. Just the truth. Other schools are accredited with conditions, meaning they have one or two areas to improve. It has to take a concerted effort to serve black students, and this means schools and families together. Reading levels are way down nationally, but they are even lower in Danville. Can't pass those tests if you are reading below grade level.
This is where family and parent involvement is a main concern. Ask any teacher and they will say this is the main issue to improvement. It is a shame when parents curse out teachers and other staff members just for voicing concerns about their child and how to improve their struggles both academically and socially. Won't meet to improve student performance, but sitting up front cheering and hollering at a football or basketball game. Priorities are not in place. The goal should be the same...to get students towards success. So that can affect the teachers' relationship with the family in order to get that student to succeed. It's systemic. We all have things to work on.
Can't throw money and add more programs, gotta work the ones that are researched for best practices and implement them. It didn't used to always be like this I heard...hopefully it won't take too long to get back.
Coaches definitely set the tone for that discipline. There are many programs in place, but parents are different than they were back then too. The teacher and coach was seen as someone whose professional opinion was held in high regard and the child was chastised. Not now. Child is the one who is always right. It's everyone else's problem but not looking at the source. I can go with many situations and stories where there's proof, and excuses still happen.
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