It didn't take long for Freeman Pinkney to land on his feet. … [Read more...]
From Bearden to the SEC: Ques Glover, Drew Pember discuss their freshman year
By JESSE SMITHEY Rupp Arena in Kentucky. Phog Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas. Gampel Pavilion in Connecticut. Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. They’re some of the most recognizable stages in college basketball, and former Bearden High School … [Read more...]
SPLASH HIRE: Anderson County girls’ basketball tabs former Lady Vol as new coach
By JESSE SMITHEY A familiar face to many Lady Vols basketball fans will be gracing the Anderson County High School basketball court as head coach next season. … [Read more...]
LETTER TO THE CLASS OF 2020: Embrace the Asterisk
by JESSE SMITHEY I’m sorry. I am so sorry. Maybe you came to grips with it a month ago. Maybe you held out hope until today — that maybe, just maybe, you may get to finish your senior year. Your senior season, even. But now, gone. Without … [Read more...]
The top Class of 2021 prospects from the 5Star Preps coverage area
By JESSE SMITHEY College scholarship offers are popping up for area high school football prospects seemingly by the minute on social media. Tis the season, I reckon. So now is as good a time as any to update our Class of 2021 prospect list … [Read more...]
Knoxville Catholic announces its next girls’ basketball coaching hire
Basically a month after the resignation of Freeman Pinkney, the Catholic girls' basketball program announced their new hire as head coach. … [Read more...]
COACHING CAROUSEL: West, Hardin Valley join coaching search; more programs still looking
The absence of school due to Covid-19 pandemic hasn't stopped the local high school basketball coaching carousel. Here's a look at the jobs that have recently opened up and why. … [Read more...]
What’s it like to be recruited by former NBA Star Patrick Ewing
by JESSE SMITHEY Admittedly, Dante Harris didn’t know much about Patrick Ewing when Georgetown began recruiting him. To Harris, the senior standout point guard from Lakeway Christian Academy, Ewing was just the big 7-footer he used from time to … [Read more...]
ALTERED UNIFORMS, part II — Alcoa Tornadoes, Maryville Rebels
By Jesse Smithey We hope you enjoyed Part I of our Altered Uniform Series that we unveiled Monday. Part II takes you into Blount County. Again, we commissioned Chad Fields (@CFieldsVFL on Twitter) to reimagine and redesign the uniforms and … [Read more...]
ALTERED UNIFORMS, part I – Greenback Cherokees, Central Bobcats
By JESSE SMITHEY Full discloser: I’m a sucker for a great sports uniform. As an impressionable teenager in the early 1990s, I fell in love with the revolution set forth by the Fab Five's baggy Michigan basketball uniforms. I bit on the lure of … [Read more...]