Coaches mixed on issue of co-state champs
TSSAA won’t crown winners for 2019-20 Division I hoops
With high school boys and girls state basketball tournaments canceled around the country due to COVID-19, administrators are figuring out how to honor the teams that ended their season without being eliminated.
North Carolina named 16 co-state champions, honoring the schools that made it to the championship game in each division.
But the TSSAA will not name champions in Division I basketball this year, executive director Bernard Childress said.
He said there were too many teams left in each tournament before they were canceled for co-champions to be an option. There were four teams left in each of the three girls Division I state tournaments and eight in all three of the boys tournaments, which never started.
“It doesn’t make sense. We didn’t finish the tournament,” Childress said. “It’s very unfortunate, but how do you crown four people champions? You look at ways you can do something for the teams that remain, but naming them champions — that’s just not something that we’re going to entertain.”
Reactions around the state from coaches have been mixed.
“I’m not into the modern participation award. I want to win it,” Houston boys coach Charlie Leonard said. “And the kids do, too. I don’t want state champion with an asterisk with it along with everybody else. It wouldn’t be unfair to make those awards, but the traditionalist in me would have liked to have it proven.”
Childress said the TSSAA is discussing other ways to honor the teams such as banners or individual participation certificates.
Macon County girls coach Larry White, whose squad was a heavy favorite to win the Class AA title, said they would consider their team co-champions.
“I feel like (TSSAA) should have,” said White, whose seniors reached the state all four years and went a combined 11724 (33-1 this season). “With just four left, we should have went with cochampions. We might do that anyway. We might put a (co-champion) banner up in our gym. It won’t be a gold ball, but it will be something. We thought we had an excellent chance to win.”
Whitehaven coach Lynn Smith said the remaining girls teams deserve to be named co-state champions and that the TSSAA should send them each a trophy.
“We have to name something,” Smith said. “We have to shine a light on this spring with something. These kids wanted to finish it out and we have to reward them with something. They’ve got great delivery right now on small packages. They could use UPS and send some balls out.”
Arlington girls coach Wes Shappley, who recently left for Bartlett, said he’d like to see the TSSAA give the remaining teams an official title such as “2020 Final Four” or “2020 state semifinalist” so that teams don’t claim a bunch of different ones.
“Some coaches are talking about rings, some coaches are talking about putting up banners,” Shappley said. “But here’s the deal, if one school is putting co-champion on the banner and one school is putting state finalist and one school is putting final four I think that looks tacky. It would be great if there were some consistency.”
Maryville boys coach Mark Eldridge understands both sides: It would be nice to be recognized as a co-champion. But eight teams is a lot of teams to be named co-champions.
“I would love for (TSSAA) to say, ‘Hey, Maryville is a co-champion,’” said Eldridge, who guided Maryville to the Class AAA state championship in 2007. “But I can understand the other side.”
Eldridge would like for the TSSAA to send each team something that recognizes the accomplishment: a banner, a trophy or something in between.
When the draw for the state tournament was held, the TSSAA gave each coach an official Wilson basketball — the same ones that are used in the state tournament.
Eldridge said he’s going to have every player sign the ball and then it will be placed in the trophy case in the locker room.
“So when (the players) come back and see the ball,” he said, “they’ll know that, although it was a tough year, it was a special year.”