Skyler McBee

Nashville standard loaded with Volunteer state squads.

This weekend brings one of the new kids on the major tourney block, The King of the South. The schedule is full of some of Tennessee's finest but will also include the Atlanta Celtics, Southeast Elite, Jacksonville Lee Bulls, Birmingham Raptors, Inner Strength, Caolina Hurricanes and Georgia Stars/Black.

17 AND UNDER:

Pool A

The Midstate Ballerz Blue will compete in Pool A. The Ballerz are led by Mississippi State commitment Scotty Hopson (UHA), Tyrone Caldwell (Clarksville), Tyshwan Edmondson (UHA), and Robert Elam (Pioneer Christian).

Pool B

The Southeast Elite (Tidwell) will be playing up an age group and will compete in Pool B. The Elite are led by freshman point guard Josh Tidwell(Brentwood), Thad McHaney (Brentwood Academy), Sam Orr (Brentwood) and Eric Gordon (Hillsboro).

Pool C

The Tennessee Heat will compete in Pool C. I have no information on this squad.

Pool D

The Nashville Celtics-Henderson will be the 16 and under squad playing up and feature Ricky Williams (Liberty Tech), Chase Dunn (Livingston Academy), Zane Gibson (Baylor) and the next big thing Casey Prather (Jackson Northside). Drew Kelly (Centennial) may play for his age group squad or could play up with the other Celtics representative.

Pool E

Three out of four teams in this pool call the Volunteer state home. The Murfreesboror Hustlers feature K.J. Stripling (Smyrna). From East Tennessee the Knoxville Cagers feature Riley Hunley (Farragut), Colin Crane (Karns) and John Abraham (Farragut). The Nashville Celtics-Waddey, the 17 and under squad, bring the talents of DeMario Williams (Culleoka), Charles Holt (Liberty Tech), Marsallis Malone (Gallatin) and Drew Kelly (Centennial).

Pool F

The Midstate Ballerz White and the Tennessee All-Stars represnt in this pool. The Ballerz will run with Dee Williamson (Jackson Southside), Jeremy Barnes (White House) and LaVonte Henderson (Clarksville). The Tennessee All-Stars should turn some heads with their squad this season. The team should feature Mr. Basketball winner M.J. Brown (Union City), E.J. Epperson (Humboldt), Robert Yancey (Trenton Peabody) and Russell Avery (Lake County).

Pool G

The Southeast Elite/Memphis should feature Martino Brock (Ridgeway) and Arnette Moultrie (Trezevant). I have no information on the Tennessee Shooters.

Pool H

The Tennessee Mavericks make an appearance led by nationally ranked big man Phillip Jurick (East Ridge). Flanking the big man will be city mate Dominique Taylor (Howard), Caleb Clayton (Lipscomb) and DeAndre Maupins (Oakland).

16 AND UNDER

Three pools make up the 16 and under division included in those pools are four Tennessee squads.

Pool A

The Tennessee Travelers will compete in Pool A. The Travs have one of their best young teams in some time featuring Blake Jenkins (Bearden), James Gallman (Fulton), William Moore (Chattanooga Christian), Kyle Teichmann (Brentwood) and Patrick Shaughnessy (Grace Baptist).

Pool B

 The Tennessee Fire and Mid-State Ballerz White will compete in Pool B. Midstate will be led by Kelton Stewart (Wilson Central), LaShun Banks (Kenwood) and Joey Lee (Riverdale). The Tennessee Fire will feature Wesley Tate (PJPII), Adrian Williamson (Hume Fogg), Marquis Rudolph (Clarksville Northwest) and Zelburge Gleaves (Antioch).

Pool C

The Midstate Ballerz Blue are the lone Volunteer state squad in this pool. They have a slew of good guards and some fine inside workers including Sam Watson (Farragut), Skyler McBee (Rutledge), Derek Walker (Covington), Terrence Williams (Brighton) and C.J. Crittendon (Dyer County).

Great action on Saturday and Sunday and I will be there to get my fill of all of it. Hope to see you there.