Class AAA State Title Favorites
The Class of AAA will have a fascinating State Tournament. The two finalists from the 2001 AA State Championship, Jackson South Side and Greeneville, ascended to thish larger classification. Chattanooga and Knoxville both brought historically powerful programs along: East Hamilton,…
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Continue ReadingThe Class of AAA will have a fascinating State Tournament. The two finalists from the 2001 AA State Championship, Jackson South Side and Greeneville, ascended to thish larger classification. Chattanooga and Knoxville both brought historically powerful programs along: East Hamilton, Fulton, Chattanooga Central, Austin-East, Clinton.
The AAA Championship will be in a word, tough.
Team: Jackson South Side
Top Players: [Rico Sain, Jaylan Cole, Kobe Ward Kobe Ward 5'11" | PG Jackson South Side | 2022 State TN
2020-21 postseason result: Class AA State Runners-Up.
Key Wins: Fayette Ware x2, North Side
Losses:
Predicted Postseason Path: For South Side the challenges start at home. Wildly talented North Side is an underdog, but capable of knocking off the black and red. From there the path opens up plenty as the suffocating South Side defense will surely destroy anybody else in the region.
Rico Sain II
Rico
Sain II
6'2" | PG
South Side | 2022
State
TN
and Jaylan Cole are bruising, committed defenders. The entire team concept is ferocity and speed.
State of the City Series: Jackson
About South Side: See article above.
Team: Clinton Dragons
Starters:
Trace Thackerson (’22)
Rishon Bright (’22)
Jackson Garner
Jackson
Garner
6'0" | PG
Clinton | 2022
State
TN
(’22)
F Lane Harrison (’22)
Jeremiah Blauvelt (’22)
2020-21 postseason result: L Region SF Bearden
Key Wins: Fulton, Sevier County, Clay County, Scott x2, Oak Ridge
Losses: Fulton, McMinn County
Predicted Postseason Path:
About Clinton: Winning many games and defeating good teams are not always overlapping circles. For, Clinton the key wins are becoming more common.
Team: Fulton
Top Players: Tyler Lee Tyler Lee 6'5" | SF Fulton | 2024 State TN , Taj Kimber Taj Kimber 6'3" | SG Fulton | 2024 State TN , Denaj Kimber Denaj Kimber 6'3" | SG Fulton | 2024 State TN
2020-21 postseason result:
Key Wins: Clinton, Greeneville, Alcoa x2, Scott
Losses: Morristown East, Alcoa, Clinton, Farragut, Knox Webb
Predicted Postseason Path: Fulton and Clinton enjoyed an incredible, justifiably-hyped game February 1st. The Falcon path thus far is littered with Top 30 players. For this reason the deep, talented guard-driven FHS team will suffer no postseason shock.
About Fulton: The Falcons took their lumps last winter, routinely entering battle with multiple freshmen starters. ‘The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.’ The Kimber brothers cut down on their turnovers snd they take better shots than they did a year ago, specifically Taj. He has matured as a basketball player so much.
Team: Greeneville
Top Players: Jakobi Gillespie Jakobi Gillespie 6'0" | PG Greeneville | 2022 State TN , Reid Satterfield Reid Satterfield 6'3" | CG Greeneville | 2022 State TN , Jackson Tillery, Jayquan Price, Terry Grove.
2020-21 postseason result: Class AA State Champions!
Key Wins: Science Hill, East Hamilton, Grainger x2, Morristown East, Dobyns-Bennett
Losses: Volunteer, Fulton, Farragut, Dobyns-Bennett, Bearden
Predicted Postseason Path: The Green Devils will not see problems in their district tournament, and the region should be manageable, though Unicoi County is better than usual. Sullivan East is decent and Volunteer has a nice junior trio in
Andrew Knittel
Andrew
Knittel
6'3" | SG
Volunteer | 2023
State
TN
,
Joltin Harrison
Joltin
Harrison
6'2" | SG
Volunteer | 2023
State
TN
, and
Bradin Minton
Bradin
Minton
6'2" | PG
Volunteer | 2023
State
TN
. The real first mammoth postseason test for GHS will probably be Region 2’s Clinton High. This is the best Clinton team in years and also likely the better Greeneville team than their 2021 Champions.
Greeneville has won 9 of their last 10. They were blown out by Farragut Jan. 22nd. Wins in there include: Grainger x2, Cherokee, Mo East, Dobyns-Bennett.
— Prep Hoops Tennessee (@PrepHoopsTN) February 7, 2022
About Greeneville: The team is wonderful beyond the Mr. Basketball-caliber star Jakobi Gillespie Jakobi Gillespie 6'0" | PG Greeneville | 2022 State TN . Sure, there are plays where Gillespie just takes over the moment and stars, but this team has nuance and cohesion that was completely disrespected by us last season on their path to the title. Terry Grove is integral, as the team is extremely efficient offensively and needs only a handful of excellent defensive rebounds to bury you. Though their parts are flashy, this is truly a team, a sum of those parts.
AAA Title Dark Horse Teams