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Piedmont District shake up

BoKnowsSports

VaPreps Honorable Mention
Sep 19, 2021
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Heard some significant news today that will shake up not only the Piedmont, but Region D 😳
 
Bo, the coach has been chosen for Mavahi. Hasn't been announced yet so I'll let the school reveal it. Don't know why it hasn't been released yet.
 
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I heard about this last week. If my information was correct. Would love to know where the kid is planning to play next season. A loss but does not shake up the district that much I don't feel.
 
I heard about this last week. If my information was correct. Would love to know where the kid is planning to play next season. A loss but does not shake up the district that much I don't feel.
Very significant loss. Team won’t be the same.
 
Bo, the coach has been chosen for Mavahi. Hasn't been announced yet so I'll let the school reveal it. Don't know why it hasn't been released yet.
Praying you all have found someone to continue the tradition and success. Bulldogs will be very good this year.
 
Very significant loss. Team won’t be the same.
I would bet my last dollar on it that the team will be #1 in the Piedmont district no brainer in my eyes. Team may miss him come time in Region D but it does not shake up much within the Piedmont. Still a very good basketball team with little drop off depth wise. Seem to be getting a lot of Transfers.
 
IMO, if that team couldn’t win with him, they won’t win it without him. Best player out this way that doesn’t play with Cave Spring or Fleming. GW and Bassett will be your interchangeable 1 and 2. Really don’t know what to expect from Mecklenburg but Park View has been very good the past few seasons. That is huge loss no matter what transfers come.
 
I can't see Bassett being interchangeable with GW. Some rumors going around about who will be at Bassett after football season to play on the bball team. Ought to be an interesting year. I believe GW and Tunstall will be your frontrunners but I have to admit that I know nothing about Mecklenburg Co. Hopefully the Dogs can make a little noise this year.
 
I can't see Bassett being interchangeable with GW. Some rumors going around about who will be at Bassett after football season to play on the bball team. Ought to be an interesting year. I believe GW and Tunstall will be your frontrunners but I have to admit that I know nothing about Mecklenburg Co. Hopefully the Dogs can make a little noise this year.
If Bassett returns their team they will be in the top 3. They’ll go as Mattox goes. Can’t see him leaving Bassett and not being able to play football at Carlisle. Tunstall will be okay until region time. They struggled mightily without their best player on the court last year. Don’t just lose 18PPG, 8APG, and 2 SPG and be fine when there was a significant drop off when he was not in the game.
 
If Bassett returns their team they will be in the top 3. They’ll go as Mattox goes. Can’t see him leaving Bassett and not being able to play football at Carlisle. Tunstall will be okay until region time. They struggled mightily without their best player on the court last year. Don’t just lose 18PPG, 8APG, and 2 SPG and be fine when there was a significant drop off when he was not in the game.
Bassett will be Top 3 but Tunstall is the favorite. Tunstall press and shooting will keep them in games. Brown could have won player of the year in the district with the way his stats were last season. Like you said trouble in the region once you face some of those more pose teams that will not struggle the same as the teams in the area will.
 
Bassett will be Top 3 but Tunstall is the favorite. Tunstall press and shooting will keep them in games. Brown could have won player of the year in the district with the way his stats were last season. Like you said trouble in the region once you face some of those more pose teams that will not struggle the same as the teams in the area will.
Definitely will miss him tho very talented player really great decision maker and scores it on all 3 levels efficiently. Can’t wait to see how his hard work translate at the next level.
 
Bassett will be Top 3 but Tunstall is the favorite. Tunstall press and shooting will keep them in games. Brown could have won player of the year in the district with the way his stats were last season. Like you said trouble in the region once you face some of those more pose teams that will not struggle the same as the teams in the area will.
They are kids so I keep the harsh (even though they may be true) comments at minimum. Rogers was hands down the best player in the district and area. Been a while since Danville has had a talented guard like that. I’d argue that D, Owyn Dawyot and Stark Jones were the best players in all of Class 3 altogether. The kid from Martinsville, Spencer Jones, was next in line for POY followed by Xavier Walters from GW. GW had no business beating Tunstall last year and was able to blow them out and beat THS when it mattered. With GW getting two very good players in and upping their coaching staff, they’ll still be the team to beat in the Piedmont.

I’m also very disappointed in Tunstall only playing the county schools and district opponents this year. Can’t beat Cave Spring and Northside nor get exposure for your kids playing weak comp.
 
Bo, the Dogs have another difficult schedule for the year. Play Graham twice, Morehead and McMichael, Dan River, Staunton and a new game to start the season against Rocky River High from Charlotte NC. For a 2A school they really do try and test theirselves every year. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesnt.
 
If Bassett returns their team they will be in the top 3. They’ll go as Mattox goes. Can’t see him leaving Bassett and not being able to play football at Carlisle. Tunstall will be okay until region time. They struggled mightily without their best player on the court last year. Don’t just lose 18PPG, 8APG, and 2 SPG and be fine when there was a significant drop off when he was not in the game.
Facts, young core but a full year away
 
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They are kids so I keep the harsh (even though they may be true) comments at minimum. Rogers was hands down the best player in the district and area. Been a while since Danville has had a talented guard like that. I’d argue that D, Owyn Dawyot and Stark Jones were the best players in all of Class 3 altogether. The kid from Martinsville, Spencer Jones, was next in line for POY followed by Xavier Walters from GW. GW had no business beating Tunstall last year and was able to blow them out and beat THS when it mattered. With GW getting two very good players in and upping their coaching staff, they’ll still be the team to beat in the Piedmont.

I’m also very disappointed in Tunstall only playing the county schools and district opponents this year. Can’t beat Cave Spring and Northside nor get exposure for your kids playing weak comp.
The last Statement will be the reason the Brown Kid leaves next yr. I CAN SEE ALOT CHANGING. Senior yrs without any recruiting means leaving these days.
 
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Bo, the Dogs have another difficult schedule for the year. Play Graham twice, Morehead and McMichael, Dan River, Staunton and a new game to start the season against Rocky River High from Charlotte NC. For a 2A school they really do try and test theirselves every year. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesnt.
The Bulldogs will be prepared come district/region time. Always are. Morehead and Reidsville will be two elite teams in our area. Tunstall should be playing Cave Spring and Northside. Had all summer to play team camp against those schools but didn’t. Low level AAU ball does nothing for those kids.
 
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The last Statement will be the reason the Brown Kid leaves next yr. I CAN SEE ALOT CHANGING. Senior yrs without any recruiting means leaving these days.
I like Brown’s game. He’s a kid who would benefit from going prep and playing for a Team Loaded or Boo Williams these next two summers. He’s playing out of position as he’ll be a 3 at the next level. I know you remember Ty Outlaw Jr when he played at Person, but they had him playing out of position and it hurt his recruiting. Went to UNCG, transferred to Juco and had a great finish at Tech playing the 3. Brown has a similar game, frame and skill. If he was at a Burlington School or a Word of God, he’d be a HM player when it’s all said and done. He’s wasting his time playing Chatham and Gretna and playing bottom tier AAU ball. Harsh but real. GOTTA have that exposure.
 
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They are kids so I keep the harsh (even though they may be true) comments at minimum. Rogers was hands down the best player in the district and area. Been a while since Danville has had a talented guard like that. I’d argue that D, Owyn Dawyot and Stark Jones were the best players in all of Class 3 altogether. The kid from Martinsville, Spencer Jones, was next in line for POY followed by Xavier Walters from GW. GW had no business beating Tunstall last year and was able to blow them out and beat THS when it mattered. With GW getting two very good players in and upping their coaching staff, they’ll still be the team to beat in the Piedmont.

I’m also very disappointed in Tunstall only playing the county schools and district opponents this year. Can’t beat Cave Spring and Northside nor get exposure for your kids playing weak comp.
County schools make that schedule like that for the money. They don’t care about anything else.
 
County schools make that schedule like that for the money. They don’t care about anything else.
But each school has the autonomy to select their out of district schedule. Dan River is fine if you have to play a county school, but Tunstall gets nothing out of playing Chatham or Gretna. The Piedmont will be better this year, but nothing is preparing them for the big boys in their region. Cave Spring will likely be the best team in the state regardless of classification (that’s right, better than John Marshall, better than Varina). Northside won’t be too far off as they return 8+ players. With a top player like Rogers returning, an All State caliber player in Brown returning, Tunstall should be playing in at least the VA Preps challenge and playing a Northside/Cave Spring at least once. The schedule is pathetic and the young men suffer.
 
But each school has the autonomy to select their out of district schedule. Dan River is fine if you have to play a county school, but Tunstall gets nothing out of playing Chatham or Gretna. The Piedmont will be better this year, but nothing is preparing them for the big boys in their region. Cave Spring will likely be the best team in the state regardless of classification (that’s right, better than John Marshall, better than Varina). Northside won’t be too far off as they return 8+ players. With a top player like Rogers returning, an All State caliber player in Brown returning, Tunstall should be playing in at least the VA Preps challenge and playing a Northside/Cave Spring at least once. The schedule is pathetic and the young men suffer.
Tunstall is the only school at a disadvantage since it is not in the dogwood district so their out of conference and district schedule is full basically but switching to another Christmas tournament wouldn’t be out of the question. Depending on Tunstall administration and how they feel has to acknowledge what the coach is trying to do and accomplish.
 
I had the pleasure to see Cave Spring and Northside play in the Region championship. CS and Coach Gruse will be a strong contender for state champion again.

I think the Piedmont overall will be competitive. I know Edmunds' younger brother will be at Tunstall as a freshman after playing at DR his 8th grade year. Losing Rogers does hurt but Coach Morrison will have the Trojans playing tough and I've heard good things about Bassett's new coach. GW always field a competitive team while Mecklenburg will be interesting as the new team in the Piedmont (Dan River is playing them in non-district action). Halifax got hurt last year when one of their best players went to Hargrave, but they'll be tough too. Don't know much about Magna Vista This is Patrick County's swansong in the Piedmont as they will go to the Three Rivers District next season.
 
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I'm hearing that one of Bassett's starters that was formerly in Martinsville schools has returned to MHS. I'm also hearing that the Dogs have a transfer from North Carolina.

Also, just me speculating here, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Mattox play football at Bassett in the Fall and transfer to Carlisle before Christmas time.
 
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I'm hearing that one of Bassett's starters that was formerly in Martinsville schools has returned to MHS. I'm also hearing that the Dogs have a transfer from North Carolina.

Also, just me speculating here, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Mattox play football at Bassett in the Fall and transfer to Carlisle before Christmas time.
Only thing is he would not be able to keep transferring back and forth per VHSL rules so unless this would be his last year playing Football that would not make sense.
 
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Bassett had a really good team this past year. Young. It was a head scratcher to see Mattox leave Bassett for Carlisle of all places but that’s his business. With Bassett Football on the come up with Johnson and then you have another younger coach in Mattox, they could’ve done big things and turn Bassett into a powerhouse. Heard Mattox had a change of heart but it was already too late.
 
Only thing is he would not be able to keep transferring back and forth per VHSL rules so unless this would be his last year playing Football that would not make sense.

Oh yea, for sure. If he were to leave after football this season, then that would be it.

Not doubting that Coach Johnson isn't building a nice program at BHS, but my speculation is more because Ja'Ricous is a senior and most folks would think that this is their year to go deep in the playoffs.
 
Cave Spring, Northside, Hopewell and Petersburg is the toughest field in any classification in VA. All 4 teams will be very elite and Petersburg, state runner up, returns the state player of the year and 90% of their team. Tunstall can’t be playing a soft schedule like they are and expect to compete with those guys. That AAU team that they have isn’t preparing those kids for that kind of competition either. Tunstall lost to Abington who lost to Cave Spring by 40 the next round. Tunstall was way better than that but the soft schedule and picking and choosing who to sell tickets to hurt those kids in the end. It’s not a controlled experiment, you gotta let them play in hostile environments and be faced with adversity and I believe they would’ve been more prepared for region/state had they done so. PBurg and Hopewell’s district is one of the best basketball districts in the state. PBurg also played Class 4 champion Varina and Landstown, lead by Boston College commit Donald Hand Jr. Tunstall’s Brown scoring 30 points on Gretna and Patrick County, isn’t going to help him get any better nor prepare the team for a competitive level of ball with a CS, Botty or Northside come region time.

I was at that Petersburg/CS final. I’d be very surprised if they don’t meet again this year.
 
Before I’m called a hater, I supported Tunstall all year. Read the threads. Not conjecture on my behalf, all facts. Frustrating to see all of that talent wasted though.
 
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Big news out of Halifax, Coach Williams is leaving to be Mecklenburg’s assistant principal. Very significant news as he’s one of the state’s best.
 
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Martinsville gets a former pro and someone who worked in the Chicago Bulls organization. I believe the Dogs will be pretty special this year with what they had in the program, they were very young last year.
 
They weren't that young. Started 3-4 seniors and lost both Jones and Kirby. They had pretty good size and talent on the jv last year and with a couple or more players coming in via the transfer portal (just a joke) they should be competitive. Hope the new coaching hire works out, seems like a good fit for the Dogs.
 
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