Category: Memphis Preps Blog

Emily and Marcus Lytle

Perhaps you’ve seen the commercial: Two young friends pull off the side of the highway to enjoy a meal, not realizing they are surrounded by buffalos. One of the animals waltzes up to the vehicle and sends his horns through the driver’s side window to get their attention. In a panic, one of the friends sings the State Farm Insurance jingle, and like a good neighbor their insurance agent shows up to save the day.

The commercial would not have been as effective if the insurance company had cast siblings Marcus and Emily Lytle in the lead roles. It would have lacked the frantic energy needed to convince viewers. Why? “They are just so laid back,” says Quinton Lytle, the father of the two Evangelical Christian School basketball players.

As an example, Quinton tells about when he was driving Marcus and Emily home after practice and a doe ran onto the road and hit the driver’s side of the vehicle. “It caught me off guard,” says Quinton “but Marcus didn’t say a word. Probably didn’t lift his head from his phone. Finally, he asked me why I yelled like that.”

Quinton Lytle

Emily is also a cool customer. “Me and Marcus are kind of laid back,” she says. “We’re never super hyper.”

“Most of our kids take after me,” says Quinton. “My wife is the sweetest person, but she has a quicker temper than I do. During games, my wife will scream out at the (referee) long before I do. But I’m stubborn and they get that from me.”

Quinton, a former professional basketball player, did not want them to pick up the sport. “I decided that I would not introduce any of my kids to the game,” he says. “I was fearful they would grow to hate me for pushing them too hard.” His children loved basketball anyway. In fact, Quinton and his wife Carla have eight children, and they all have an appreciation for the game. Quinton has coached four of them, including Emily. He is currently the ECS assistant coach for the girls’ varsity team.

While Quinton is on the bench, Marcus is in the stands cheering for Emily. “It’s just great to get to watch your sister play,” says Marcus. And when Marcus is playing, Emily reciprocates. “I just love to watch him play,” she says. “I can learn a lot from him.”

Marcus and Emily are a year apart. He’s a senior and she’s a junior. Unlike a lot of siblings, they actually like one another. “My children have never had a fight with each other,” Quinton says. “It’s hard to remember them even raising their voice to one another.”

Marcus believes the fact they were home schooled for the majority of their educational process played a large role in their tight bond.

“(Traditional) school, you come to school and you kind of get separated,” Marcus explains. “ You have groups. But home-schooling, you are on the same kind of schedule, you go to the same gym, work out for three hours, come home, and that’s really a big part of the strengthening of the relationship.”

The decision to enter the private school ranks after years of home schooling was mainly due to a formula that had worked in the past. Nicole, big sister to Marcus and Emily, also attended ECS in high school. “She went on to (Middle Tennessee State University),” says Marcus. “And college was a lot easier (academic wise) for her after being here.”

The home school to private school transition was an adjustment period for Marcus and Emily. “I’ve gotten used to it now, but the biggest difference is being at a school desk for seven hours,” explains Marcus. “I was used to just waking up whenever I wanted to wake up, do my school, go to the gym, comeback, do my school. It definitely changes how many hours you can put in at the gym unless you are going to stay up late.”

Basketball, however, has offered few bumps on the road. Marcus and Emily lead their respective teams in scoring. But while their circumstances and personalities are similar, their style of play is very different.

“She can shoot better than I can,” says Marcus. “She’s a real good shooter.”

“I’m not as strong in the paint”,” claims Emily. “I lean more toward play on the outside. He plays inside, plays point, plays the guard. My brother is a better all-around player.”

Yet it’s the 6-foot-tall Emily who is getting more attention from college coaches. “Belmont, MTSU, Georgia Tech, Ole Miss,” she names off a few interested programs (coaches like tall guards). Because she’s an uncommitted junior, the number of pursuers will likely continue to grow.

Marcus, an undecided 6′ 3” senior, is also getting offers, but from division II programs. He’s hoping a legitimate division I offer will come his way.

“Marcus just decided last year he wanted to play basketball in college,” says his dad. “His toughest hurdle to getting exposure is his unselfish play. He’s such a good teammate. But sometimes those college coaches want to see a person who can score a bunch of points. And if (Marcus) decided to do that, he could.”

The high school season is still young. There’s still time for a division I program to come calling. But if one doesn’t, Marcus says he won’t panic. Nor will he sing the State Farm jingle.

You can follow Jamie Griffin on twitter @flyerpreps

 

Tiffany McCollins yells out to no one in particular. She’s thinking back on the 2002 regional playoff game between her White Station Spartans and the East Mustangs. McCollins was the Spartans’ starting point guard. White Station had lost to East just two weeks earlier in the 3A city championship game, so they decided to try a different defensive strategy against them in the regional matchup.

The Spartans started the game in a 2-3 zone, but it was not effective as East ran up a double-digit lead. So White Station’s coach Eric Sullivan made an adjustment. He had his team play man-to-man. But he wanted them to give the quick East guards space and dare them to shoot the ball from the outside.

The Spartans were able to get a few steals and keep people out of the lane and suddenly they were within 5 points with plenty of time to play in the second quarter.

So it was the Mustangs turn to make an adjustment. They decided to force the Spartans players to come out and guard their perimeter players closer by just holding the ball. Sullivan would not let his team take the bait. So the clock ran down and suddenly it was halftime.

The third quarter was a repeat of the latter part of the second, and the clock ticked away as East’s point guard Rudy Sims held on to the ball, occasionally passing it to teammate Whitney Woodard, only to get it back seconds later. In high school basketball in Tennessee, if a player is being guarded, he or she has 5 seconds to hold the ball, another 5 seconds to dribble it, and yet another 5 seconds to get rid of it.  

If he or she is being guarded, a player can hold the ball for eternity.

In the third quarter, the teams were like the Zax characters in Dr. Seuss’ book, neither would budge in the fastest 8 minutes played in a high school game. But the standstill was working to East’s advantage, they had the lead. With a few minutes left in the fourth quarter, White Station finally came out of their defensive stance and approached East’s ball handler. They were able to get East to put up a shot, but weren’t able to complete the comeback. The Spartans ran out of time — and season.

“They held the ball for two-and-a-half quarters,” says McCollins. “We set back and didn’t play defense. If I could do it all over that would be the one time I wouldn’t have listened to my coach.”

McCollins now coaches the 7th and 8th grade girls’ team at St. Mary’s. Several coaches have felt McCollins’ pain from that game in 2002. It is still a common practice in Tennessee for teams to hold on to the ball when trying to maintain a lead. And if McCollins had her way it would be a common practice no more. She’s in favor of the governing body of high school sports, Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA), implementing a shot clock. She has plenty of support.

Houston Mustangs’ athletics director and girls basketball coach Chad Becker agrees with McCollins. “I’m 100 percent in favor of it,” he says. “It would make the game better.”

Harding Academy’s boys basketball coach Kevin Starks acknowledges the positives and the challenges of installing a shot clock. “It would make coaching and playing the game more challenging,” he says. “For me, I’m a faster paced coach. But I would also want to be able to protect the lead (by holding the ball) if I had to. It would certainly change things.”

McCollins adds, “It would speed the game up and not all teams go fast.”

Becker understands the concerns, but does not believe they outweigh the benefits. “Let’s say you have a 35-second shot clock; 60 (possessions) a game is about the average (per game) now, with a shot clock you’re talking about 80 possessions a game. (Currently) if you have a dominant ball handler you can shorten the game. And if (the player) is a good free throw shooter you can really manipulate the game.”

Becker also notes the shot clock would prepare those moving on to playing on the next level. “After high school, wherever you play; college, pros, there’s a shot clock,” says Becker. “It makes (players) have to increase their skill level.”

According to an informal survey conducted by Memphis Flyer Preps, 86 percent of Memphis area high school coaches believe it’s time to start using shot clocks. But is there a realistic chance that it will happen anytime soon? That is unclear. According to TSSAA Assistant Executive Director Matthew Gillespie two crucial steps must be taken before a change will occur.

The first step is a proposal for change, which has yet to happen in Tennessee. “We’ve heard general comments about it from time to time but there has not been a (formal) proposal,” says Gillespie.

If members of the TSSAA vote in favor of the change, the TSSAA would then send the suggestion to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) for consideration. NFHS, which TSSAA is a member, writes the rules and guidelines for most high school sports in the United States.

Currently, NFHS has given a few states the green light to experiment with the use of the shot clock, but the demand for change isn’t high. “There are more states that don’t want (a shot clock) than do at this point,” says Gillespie.

Part of the issue may be the fear of change, but also the price of change. “You’d have to be willing to have a visible shot clock in place, installation of it, someone to operate it every game,” Gillespie says. “But it’s feasible.”

Becker agrees. “People say it’s not cost effective, but you have a play clock operator in (high school) football. It reminds me of the 80s when people were hesitant to (implement) the 3-point line.”

For now Starks remains noncommittal. “If I had to vote (to add a shot clock), it would be hard,” he says. “I’d like to experiment with it. It would be hard for me to vote without experiencing it.”

As for McCollins, things that go around come around. Last season her St. Mary’s Turkeys’ team played Briarcrest in a Shelby County championship game. St. Mary’s had a double digit lead in the final quarter, but Briarcrest came storming back. It was the perfect opportunity for McCollins to ask her team to implore the stall ball tactic.

She decided against it. “It would have been tougher on my team to play keep away,” she says. “It would have made them panic and commit unforced turnovers.”

Instead, the eventual champions stuck to the game plan.

Trezevant was the only Memphis/Shelby-Metro high school team to make it to a state championship game this football season. Unfortunately they were not able to bring home the gold ball, losing the 4A title game to Fulton (Knoxville), 29-20, on Saturday.

Still, this year’s championship game experience was much more positive than in 2010, when the Bears lost in the title game to Greeneville. Repeated unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and personal fouls by his players throughout that championship game resulted in Trezevant being banned from the post-season the following year, and the Trezevant Athletic Department was placed on probation for two-years.

The topic still bothers Trezevant head coach Teli White, who just completed his eighth season with the Bears. White spoke about the 2010 incident, this year’s team, and the future of Trezevant football.

Memphis Flyer Preps: Discuss Saturday’s game. How was your team’s effort?

Teli White: Loved the effort from the kids. Great behavior. They played good football. We just turned the ball over too many times. They say no moral victories but I’m proud of that group of kids. They worked hard for their pay check which was the gold ball. But we weren’t able to get it for them in the end.

What was the difference in the game?

Turnovers. We had 10 fumbles and (Fulton) recovered five. They were up 22-0 before we could even get started. You can’t turn the ball over that many times against a good team. Actually you can’t turn the ball over that many times against a bad team and expect to win. But we still fought hard and were in the game.

What did you learn from the 2010 incident?

I’m not going to try to save every kid. You can’t help people who don’t want to be helped. I was trying to get (members of the 2010 team) to use football as a way out and maybe get them a scholarship. But you can’t help everyone. And there was a group of juniors who didn’t want to be helped. I’m no longer doing intervention. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me and this program.

Why is that?

Because I was able to get those kids off the team and bring in the freshman class that played Saturday in the championship game. I was able to get them from day one. Have them understand they were going to do what I asked. They understood there would be no talking back, missing class, cutting school, being late for practice.

And their parents understood too. I tell parents something now and they support me. There’s no question. Before, parents would act as if I was lying about what I was telling them about their kids. And I’m not trying to put it all on the parents, but I’m only with the kids for a short period of time. Their parents have been with them since the day they were born. Several of those kids (from the 2010 team) are still the same way now. They can’t come up to the school. Not while I’m there.

But the guys that came in after that went 5 and 5 in their freshman year. Then 10-3. Then the state semi-finals. All the way up to the title game in their senior season.

A lot of your key players this year were seniors. And you are moving to from Class 4A to 2A. Are you anticipating a tough transition?

The most challenging part will be filling the shoes of the kids that we have leaving. I will probably have only one senior on next year’s team.

Who will the team miss most?

You’ve got a pen and pad? This could take a while. There’s Tony Grandberry, Terry Albert, Jamal Jones, George Monson, Tito Hunter, Gabriel Scott, Vonterio Johnson, Nicholas Clay, Torrey Maybone, Malik Hurt. So many. These guys have been with me from jump street. Like anything else, we’ve had our ups and downs. But out of 15 games this year, they lost by a total of 10 points.

Your defense is nasty, statistically the best in the area. What’s the key?

I’m really a defensive minded coach. I played linebacker at Overton. And my guy, my defensive coordinator (Jerrell Starnes) and I are on the same page.

When you think of elite teams in the area, consistent ones, should people consider Trezevant among them?

I don’t feel like we are elite because we haven’t brought home a gold ball. Some people will say that we are. They say Trezevant is rich with football tradition. I say we have a good history of talented football players, but how can you say rich in tradition when we hadn’t (prior to 2010) been to the semi-finals since the 1980s.

With so much success at Trezevant, you’re probably a hot commodity now. Do you see yourself leaving or staying with the Bears for the foreseeable future?

Nobody considers me a hot commodity, which is what I don’t understand. When other jobs have come up — Ridgeway, Southwind, Central — I don’t get looked at, for some reason. But I’m fine where I am, as long as the principal will have me.

Jordan Johnson

Jordan Johnson waits to hear his name called by Overton coach John Woodridge. He watches most of Overton’s game with Trezevant from what has been unfamiliar territory during his young career — the bench.

Johnson checks in during a short stretch in the third quarter. The freshman point guard plays his role, does just what he’s asked to do, which is mainly give the Wolverines’ starting point guard a breather. In his four minutes, he doesn’t commit a turnover. He plays good defense. He gets a steal. He also gets an assist. One thing he doesn’t do is shoot the ball — a big change from what he been accustomed to.

Last year, at Sherwood Middle School, Johnson was a gunner, his light kryptonite green. His aerodynamic fro-hawk fade hair cut fits the look of his shot, high and dynamic. He was also a starter while playing AAU ball with Team Penny 14 & Under over the summer. Without question, he’s a shooter, a good shooter. But high school ball is different. “It’s been real hard,” Johnson says. “In middle school you can get away with a lot of stuff. In high school, you have to be more physical and stronger and mentally stronger.”

Although Johnson has struggled at times, he is making strides, thanks to three men in his life: Chris Adams, Jerry Hurt, and Mingo Johnson.

CHRIS ADAMS

Saturday afternoon, while Overton is playing Trezevant in a jamboree game at East High School, Chris Adams, who coached some of the players on the court during their middle school careers, including Johnson, is there as a spectator and a cheerleader. He likes to keep up with his former players.

Sunday afternoon, Adams watches the Memphis Tigers women’s team play Minnesota at Elma Roane Fieldhouse. He’s there to witness the progress of Memphis players Mooriah Rowser, Damonique Miller, and Courtney Powell, players he has trained during the off-season.

After the Memphis game, Adams heads to Sherwood Middle School, where he coaches the boys’ varsity squad. On Sundays, just before the light outside fades, he opens the gym to work out some of his former players. Johnson is one of them.

“I’m trying to make sure they have a good work ethic,” says Adams, who prepped at Melrose and played college ball at Southwest Tennesssee Community College and Fisk University. “Make sure they always go hard.”

To start the workout, Adams makes the players go through dribbling drills. He puts a chair to the right of the free throw line. Players have to dribble up to the chair, change direction, and then either go to the bucket or pull up for a jumper. He increases the degree of difficulty by adding another chair, and having the players dribble between their legs to pass one, then at “game speed,” behind-the-back, then back-to-front dribble between the legs to get past the other.

Adams says he wants Johnson to continue to perfect his jump shot and mid-range game. They’ve had the same Sunday routine for the past three years.

“Coach Chris, he knows what he’s talking about,” says Johnson. “And I know he can help me improve my game, to get me to the next level.”

JERRY HURT

Overton High senior, Jerry Hurt

Joining Johnson in the gym Sunday is Jerry Hurt, Overton’s starting point guard. Hurt, a senior, has taken Johnson under his wing. Adams coached Hurt at American Way Middle. Hurt, like Adams, is interested in Johnson’s growth. He wants to end his high school career with a bang, a trip to the Murfreesboro to play for a state championship. He believes Johnson could help the cause.

“He’s very good,” Hurt says. “He’s just got to learn to get focused before games. He likes to play around, because he’s a freshman. He likes to joke around when everybody is trying to take it seriously.”

Johnson also has to become a better distributor. The 5’8” Johnson has always been called upon to score first; now he’s being asked to get his teammates more involved, which Hurt and Adams both believe he can do with Hurt as a mentor.

MINGO JOHNSON

It’s easy to understand why Jordan Johnson has developed such a good outside shot. His father is former University of Memphis Tiger guard, Mingo Johnson, who hit 153 three-pointers at Memphis, despite playing only two seasons at the school in the mid-1990s.

Mingo is his son’s hero. He not only fostered his son’s interest in basketball, he served as an assistant coach on Jordan’s AAU team. Mingo knows his son has a long journey, but says Jordan is off to a good start. “I was telling someone the other day that (Jordan) was much better than I was at the same age,” says Mingo. That is where father and son disagree.

Jordan, who has studied his father’s college and high school game tapes for years, says his dad’s scouting report is a bit inaccurate. “I think I’m close to where he was (as a freshman) but I’ve still got a lot more to get to,” says Jordan.

It is a tough comparison, because Mingo was a point guard in high school who made the transition to shooting guard in college. His son is a shooter hoping to transform to a point guard.

“Jordan’s game is different,” says Adams. “Mingo was bigger. Jordan has a point guard’s body.”

Mingo is also a better outside shooter — still. Jordan and Mingo play one-on-one and unfortunately for Jordan, the results are always the same. “He still beats me,” Jordan admits. And Papa Johnson does not use his size to do it (Mingo is 6-2). “Just his shot and his handles” Jordan adds.

Still, Jordan has made progress. He logged about 15 minutes in Overton’s game against Oakhaven. Adams was there and he was pleased with what he saw and offered encouraging words for his former student-athlete.
“I told him to be patient,” he said. “Your time will come.” And when it does, hopefully he’ll be ready to effectively run an offense — and maybe even beat his old man. n

You can follow Jamie Griffin on twitter @flyerpreps.

Marlon Hunter

Marlon Hunter has committed to play college basketball at Western Kentucky. Some may say “Big deal.” Some may say “wrong Kentucky.” Actually, if you know Hunter, 1) it is a big deal and 2) it is the right Kentucky.

It wasn’t long ago when playing college basketball did not even appear to be an option for the 6′ 2” combo guard. Hunter, a senior at Houston High School, was a kid who lost his way in Panama City, Florida, six years ago.

His father was locked up. Hunter was developing into a good player on the court, but a not so good person off of it. “I would call his house looking for him and he would be out,” recalls Carlos Lambert, Hunter’s uncle. “And it was past 12 o’clock at night.”

Lambert lives in Memphis, but he took an interest in Hunter because he was his brother’s son. He spoke with him often over the phone, sent him basketball shoes. They talked about plenty of things, mainly basketball. He made Hunter feel wanted.

Carlos Lambert

As a seventh-grader, Hunter joined an AAU team in Panama City. As luck would have it, one of the tournaments his team was to participate in, the AAU Nationals, was being hosted by Wooddale High School in Memphis. It gave Lambert the opportunity to not only spend time with Hunter, but to critique his game.

Lambert was impressed with his nephew’s skills but concerned about the position he played. Hunter, 5′ 9” at the time, was his team’s center. So Lambert talked with his nephew about developing combo guard skills.

But when Hunter went back home to Panama City he got in trouble and had to do community time after being involved in a fight. Lambert knew it was time to get him to Memphis. “They had to agree to my terms,” Lambert says of Hunter’s parents. “We were going to have to do things my way.”

“I knew he was about what was best for me,” Hunter says of his uncle, but the transformation wasn’t easy. Looking back on it, Hunter admits his uncle’s talks alone were not getting it done. “It was the paddle,” says Hunter. “He put the paddle on me. That got my attention.” Lambert demanded discipline in the house first and foremost, which carried over to the hardwood.

“We spent hours working on getting him to lay the ball up with his left hand,” says Lambert. “He started crying and telling me he couldn’t do it.” But Hunter continued to put in the work, working on his ball-handling skills and his outside shot.

“It was hard,” says Hunter. “It was really tough. But I could see that my left hand was getting stronger.” His overall game was too. His biggest problem, basketball-wise, was that he continued to grow, a problem most young players would love to have. But Lambert just wasn’t sure how much more growing Hunter had left to do and didn’t think he could make it to the next level with the skills of a center but the height of a guard.

With a little luck and some convincing by Lambert, Hunter was able to play combo guard at Oakhaven Middle School, despite being the tallest person on team. Then the team’s starting point guard got injured, forcing the coach to play Hunter at guard even more.

After middle school, Hunter took his combo guard skills to Melrose and played his first two high school seasons there. Hunter decided to leave after coach Jermaine Johnson was fired as the team’s coach. Houston’s coach William Buford was more than happy to accept him. Hunter averaged 22 points, 3.6 steals, and 6.7 rebounds last year as a junior with the Mustangs.

He puts in a lot of time,” says Buford. “He’s the last leave. He comes at 5:30 a.m. for workouts.”

“I workout, take a shower, and then head to class,” says Hunter.

“Then he comes back to lift weights,” adds Buford.

They are both hoping the added muscle from the weight-lifting will pay off for Hunter, who has gone from 188 lbs. to 205 lbs. in two months. “It should help him play against bigger and stronger players, especially defensively.” says Buford. “Taller and bigger players won’t be able to just bump him off screens.”

If you asked Hunter what makes him one the best prep players in the area, he will not offer his size as an answer. “I’m an energy guy” says Hunter. “Plus I can play without the ball.”

But with the ball in his hands is how his coach prefers it. “Our offense runs through (Hunter),” says Buford. “He’s a leader and he’s not a selfish player. He knows to get the ball to the guy who has it going.”

The guy who had it going recently in Houston’s exhibition game against Hamilton, was Hunter. He scored 50 points by using an array of moves not found in most players’ repertoire. He realizes his days of playing in the post before making the move to guard really helped in diversifying his game. “It’s was kind of weird coming from center to guard,” he says, “but I can still use my big man moves along with my guard skills.”

For all of his improvements on the court, Hunter’s most important transformation came in the classroom. “He was making D’s and F’s before I got him to A’s and B’s now,” says Lambert. Because of Hunter’s dedication to his academic work, he will be a full qualifier at Western Kentucky after scoring 21 on the ACT.

Scholarship offers came in from Arkansas, UT Martin, and ETSU. Hunter says Memphis was never really on his radar. But there were several factors that made Western Kentucky the right school for him. “When I (visited the campus) it had a good atmosphere. I liked Coach (Ray) Harper. I liked his coaching style.”

But more importantly, as with his uncle Lambert, Western Kentucky made Hunter feel like no other school did — wanted.

You can follow Jamie Griffin on twitter @flyerpreps.