Prep Parade: Too many basketball tournaments?
It appears the high school basketball tournament bubble has popped.
So many schools are holding their own tournaments now, that it’s becoming difficult for coaches to fill every line of their brackets.
That’s a good and bad thing.
The negative is obvious: bad matchups, byes, junior-varsity teams in varsity tournaments.
At the Carl Albert Titan Invitational, which begins Thursday, only six girls teams entered, so rather than bracket play, it will be a three-day round robin event.
At Newcastle’s Otho “Sweet Pea” Curtis Invitational, also starting Thursday, only five girls teams signed up, and administrators went back and forth between a round robin and bracket play, ultimately settling on a five-team bracket. So three of the five teams will only play two games, rather than three.
At tournaments earlier in the season, we’ve seen multiple junior-varsity teams in the same tournament just to fill slots
on the bracket.
These things aren’t a knock on the organizers of the tournaments, or the quality of the tournaments themselves. It’s just a product of the current climate.
That’s where the silver lining of this hole comes in.
In case you hadn’t been paying attention for a couple years, Oklahoma high schools and their athletic programs need money.
To help boost the budget, coaches and athletic directors will organize a tournament. And hopefully, that tournament produces cash on the back end. Until that stops being the result, you can’t blame a school for holding a tournament.
For fans, there’s still more than enough good basketball to go around. So don’t let the funny-shaped brackets or “JV” labels behind a few school names bother you.
Head on up to the gym, maybe grab some popcorn.
Enjoy the games and give a little support a school that most assuredly could use it.
Cashion’s Matt Harman commits to Pitt State
He was on pace to become the state’s alltime passing leader until a hand injury derailed his senior season.
But Cashion quarterback Matt Harman still found his way to a promising college future.
Harman, who threw for more than 11,000 yards and reached two Class A state championship games in his career, committed to Pittsburg (Kan.) State on Tuesday night.
The 6-foot-1, 205pound Harman was a first-team selection on The Oklahoman’s AllState team as a junior after leading the state with 3,710 yards and 54 touchdown passes.
As a senior, he threw for 1,507 yards and 22 touchdowns, playing in only 12 quarters all season.
Checking on the football coaching carousel
With a few out-ofstate hires at big jobs, the coaching carousel isn’t spinning like we thought it might.
But a couple of big jobs still linger, and a few openings in Class 4A and below — Weatherford comes to mind — could still shake things up.
Edmond North and Moore are both in or nearing the interview process for their vacancies, and those hires could very well open up some intriguing jobs elsewhere.
Glennis Ring is returning to a head coaching position, leaving his assistant’s post at Duncan to take over at Broken Arrow, according to a report from Ben Johnson of the Tulsa World.
Miami and Hartshorne have joined the list of those seeking new coaches.
Tuttle’s Brantly Thompson reaches 1,000-point mark
Tuttle senior Brantly
Thompson hit an impressive mark in his high school basketball career earlier this month.
On Jan. 9, Thompson surpassed the 1,000point milestone for his career.
Thompson, a 6-foot-4 wing who has signed with Oklahoma Baptist, is averaging 18 points, five rebounds and three assists per game during Tuttle’s 7-4 season.
The Tigers will be at Purcell’s Heart of Oklahoma Tournament starting Thursday.
Yukon’s Pounds, Wrather commit to colleges
Two Yukon football players lined up their college futures recently.
Brannen Pounds, a linebacker and fullback prospect, committed to Baker University in Baldwin City, Kan.
The Wildcats were NAIA runners-up this past season.
Madison Wrather, a 6-foot-5, 285-point offensive tackle, settled on Northeastern State in Tahlequah.