I’ve been going to high school basketball games in chill mode this year kind of watching and observing as a fan for the first time in a while. I’ve written about high school basketball in the Memphis area for over 17 years as the founder of 901PrepScoop.com, one of the longest running basketball websites in the city, if not the longest. I gave the city who is the next, from middle school to high school, year in and year out. 901 hosted camps, all-star games, middle school all-star games, and I traveled covering hoopers nationally. It’s an amazing feeling today to see high school kids that I covered as 5th graders even into middle school now playing basketball at the next level. Where did the time go?
Other ventures arrived, and I took a hiatus from 901PrepScoop. I’ve done it all from tournaments to every high school event in the country. Did it burn it me out? Kind of, but my absence from scouting and coverage made me love it even more. Now I’m back leading coverage of high school sports for arch. I couldn’t stay away from the game too long.
Memphis High School Hoops 2024
It’s almost February and you know what that means if you follow high school basketball closely in Memphis. It’s almost the time of year where you really start to see who has a legit shot. A shot at what? A chance to make it to State, which is always held in Murfreesboro, TN. on the campus of Middle Tennessee State. 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A basketball is based on the size of the schools. Memphis always has a say in each classification every year. I will not say for certain that Memphis is guaranteed to bring home, not 1, not 2, not 3 state titles but let’s just say, I like the area’s teams chances. Let me break it down a little bit for you ladies and gentlemen.
The area’s largest classification, 4A basketball, is probably the one that people talk about and pay attention to the most. Essentially there are 2 teams who have a great opportunity to get out of Memphis barring some catastrophic collapse or injury which no one wants to see or think about. Those 2 teams are Cordova and Bartlett High School. Both teams should stand out and get of the area, here is why.
Cordova has 2 of the top 5 high school basketball players in the city of Memphis in KJ Tenner and Julius Thedford. Both guys are Division 1 commits (Drake and Missouri State). They both are capable of absolutely taking over games. Thedford plays as hard as anyone. He’s tough downhill and has improved his perimeter jumper over the years. He is also arguably the best 2-way player in 2024 in Tennessee but definitely in Memphis. Tenner has the best floater, short runner that I’ve seen in a long time and to be honest with you maybe the best one of I’ve seen since Joe Jackson (former White Station standout and University of Memphis PG). I’m not saying he’s Joe. Joe was amazing but so is KJ in his own right. The ability to be able to get to his spot, hit the pull up, score it at all 3 levels is impressive. he isn’t just a 3 ball or nothing type of offensive player. There are levels to him offensively and he’s probably the best pound for pound scorer in the city. With KJ on a squad with his teammates, Azavier Zanders, Jay Tyler, Dominic Jamieson, Erin Hardrick and other contributors, it’s easy to see why they are the second-best team in the state right now.
The best team in 4A basketball right now is Bartlett High School. I will be honest, this may not be the programs best team talent wise, but they play together, they defend and have two Division 1 leaders of their own in 6’5 Christian Alston (Abilene Christian) and 6’6 R’Chaun King (Arkansas State). Like Cordova, this is an older group of players. Their top 6-7 guys are all seniors, and that experience will pay dividends late in the season. This was obvious when they defeated Cordova a few weeks back at Bartlett. They were down 9 with 4 minutes left and went on to tie at the end of regulation on a tip. They won the game in what was the best high school game of the season so far. Another gem on the squad is DJ McIntyre. He can make big shots as he proved against the Wolves. Cordova has complimentary pieces including KJ Neville and 6’7 Jack Shackleford. The team is primed to make a run.
Certainly, anything can happen, an upset here or there and maybe one of these teams isn’t even in the regional or maybe the sub-state game. However, I don’t see that happening. That’s why I’m going with both to make it out and get to the state tourney in Murfreesboro.
