There are only 2 weeks left in the regular season, not counting all of the makeup games and it’s not too soon to be looking at our Coach of the Year/Player of the Year candidates…..
Coach of the Year:
Girls…..Choose from Bettina(Tina) Gunn at Eastern Guilford
Jessica Bryan at Southwest Guilford
Jerry Fuqua at Ragsdale
Shawn Newton at Southeast Guilford
Brandon Apple at Northeast Guilford
*****Considering all the talent he lost, Jerry Fuqua at Ragsdale has done the overall best job this season….Brandon Apple does not have stellar talent at NEG, but he has kept his kids in the games….Gunn, Bryan, and Newton all had talent, but they had to do somethiing with it….*****
Coach of the Year:
Boys
Let’s look at Ryan Freeman at Nothern Guilford and if he is not our winner then who else is even close? Freeman has been the man that has pulled and kept this team together and he has done an outstanding job, under very adverse conditions and you know what I am talking about. Many of the kids that were at Northern last year, just turned and walked away, but with the kids that Coach Freeman has remaining, he has maintained and had the Nighthawks ranked #1 in the state most of the year…..
None of us even knew this young coach Ryan Freeman before he wallked in here, but he had been trying to get into Guilford County for a good while and had earlier been a finalist for the Western Guilford job, according to Hornet AD Jim Clontz.
Who else is under consideration in addition to Coach Freeman?????
Art Wade-Western Guilford
Robert Kent-Page
Craig Shoemaker-Ragsdale
*****Kent and Shoemaker lost a load and they are still contending for the playoffs at Ragsdale and at Page and Shoemaker has the Tigers tied for first in the conference.
Wade has played the Elmer’s Glue card and he has his Hornets on pace to finish in at least second place in the Metro Confernece and Wade has no real superstars and the Hornets still have one more shot at Dudley, this coming Friday at Western….Is Wade your man?????
More on Coach Kent, he lost Julius Brooks, AJ Finney, Mitchell Oates and Jordan Weethe and he still has the Pirates clicking….Coach Shoemaker lost Josh White, Wally Jones, Jay Canty, CJ Plummer and DJ Alston and he still has his guys tied for first place. That’s like losing everbody, except Tyquan Roberts…..*****
Those are some pretty good candidates for Coach of the Year, don’t you think??????
Player of the Year:
Girls
Breonna Patterson-Dudley or Capricia Smalls-Eastern Guilford…….
Boys
PJ Hairston-Dudley or Jonathan Frye-Northern Guilford…….
Solid topics that should carry us toward the top on this snowy Sunday on the last day of January………
What do you think?????
I need some help here…Why is it that whenever Eastern Guilford name comes up, Capricia Smalls gets the headlines? Last year Miranda led the team in scoring, and was runner up for player of the year, but Capricia made 3rd team all area and Miranda got honorable mention…Above you are saying BP from Dudley, or Capricia, but Miranda again is leading the team in scoring and assists…
Post season awards should not be based on what grade a player is in…There are only 2 girls in the city who have scored 1000 during their junior year, Samantha Cofer and Miranda Jenkins…Capricia just recently scored her 1000th point as a senior…I know that she missed a season with her knee injury, but Miranda Jenkins numbers speak for themselves..
She might have the highest career active scoring average of any girl playing right now…12ppg as a freshman, 16 ppg last year, and close to 16 again this year…
Just for once can my girl get her props?
I dont know the girls so I won’t even try at that. But I would say right now I would probably go with Ryan Freeman from NG and PJ from Dudley. Think it would be hard to argue either one of those.
Freeman – coach and Hairston for plyr of the yr are good choices. Someone has to ask the question why does Shoemaker loose all his good players ( Plummer, Alston, Bello, Canty etc.) . There’s got to be something when players leave in mass numbers like that. Wade at WG is a jerk that has such an ego that he tries to destroy any kid he doesnt like. Talk to some of his former players and see how he has a history of enacting cruelty beyond words for the stupidest reasons.He is a bitter dude who has such a fragile ego that he holds a grudge against a kid like a litle girl. He had a player that went to every practice, every game, every xtra requiremnet by Coach Wade and he wouldn’t even let him get off the bench his senior night. Not because the kid was bad but because he didn’t like him — he sat the entire season even in blowout games never to play. There is a reason he doesn’t have any superstars — he is a JERK.
Coach Kent has taken his very young team pretty far and that’s impressive and he would be the next in line after Freeman if you ask me…. Coach Price always does such a goodjob with his kids but he also has a very talented squad.
I think Coach B from Dudley should be coach of the year!
What about coach Jones from Page? She has done a remarkable job with only one super star in Chevena Pickard.
Freeman gets my vote hands down…He comes into a messy situation and helps rally the athletes as well as the community into a unified Nighthawk Nation…Gone are the recruits and the millionaire coach…What is left behind is a lot of heart, character, and discipline that is personified by their leader…They have talented kids and have a target on their chest every time they step on the court…The players could have been excuse makers about what could have been with the transfers but instead they have focused on the task at hand…So far so good for the Hawks….Keep things in perspective and good things will happen…Lock up the conference championship and then win and move on in the state playoffs…Freeman reminds me of a young Pitino…minus all the expensive suits.
Miranda’s Fan
I know both Capricia and Miranda from Eastern Guilford sinc ehtey played together in junior high and here is one thing for certain after coaching them both. Neither one of them care who gets what. They do care whether they win as a team and that is all that matters. they care for the success of all their teammates and nothing else.
They will give it to PJ because how would that look to Carolina and Roy!
Miranda Fan
Some one reading this may think that her dad wrote this, but I can assure you that is not her dad’s style. They are very low key and always put others first. I watched her dad keep everyone’s stats since they were in junior high and he always share with all the team what they did if they needed to know. He even does it for the athletes during the AAU season as well. I have never seen any other parent in my entire coaching career that does the same.
What about the Hairston kid from Eastern Guilford? He’s put up pretty impressive numbers for a underclassman
Th coach of the year for the boys should be Freeman at Northern #1 beside because of the teams record but he closes the deal #2 because of how he has been able to deal with the crap that he faced when he walked into the job. The Dudley coach would be my #2 choice because no one locally has beat them and generally the top coach and player of the year goes to the team with the best record at all levels.
The player of the year should go to PJ at Dudley. Frye would be a close 2nd. PJ gets my #1 vote because when needed he was able to take more games over than any other player that I saw this year against all type of styles. PJ also is normally the best defensive player on the floor each night with the ability to stop the center or the point gaurd from the other team.
This is to the page pirate fan who commited about page and them having one super star on the page team.Yes,Chevena is a good player,but its 4 other player that make up that team also.Coach Jones,had 3 superstars,and this team has a better record ,so somebody else must be pretty good on that team.From the juniors,to the freshman,its more than the Chevena Pickard,show when you come to the games,so you need to catch more games and get a better look at the rest of the team before you start making people super stars…
Miranda #1 fan,
Miranda is an amazing ball player. If you truly was miranda #1 fan you would know that Miranda doesnt care whose held at a higher level, at the same time you would understand that Miranda Looks to win not about what the news paper says. Both girls love playing together and have enjoyed being each other help on the court.
Also you should know that player of the year is a senior.
I like that comparison with Coach Freeman and Pitino….Very good analogy in my opinion….Solid young coach, who is not concerned with the headlines, he just wants to see his team win and if they do, he knows they will get their props…
Capricia takes it home this year if you are lining it up for Eastern and then Miranda will get the chance to lead the parade next year and if EG had not had those two players(Smalls and Jenkins), Coach Gunn may have run away and joined the circus…..(Proably would have been a better decision.)
Ok, you’ve made your case for Freeman for the boy’s coach of the year…and I would have to agree with you. Let’s talk about the ladies…Tina Gunn certainly has done a fantastic job with the LadyCats at Eastern. The LadyCats were picked to finish 4th in their conference and are currently sitting on top w/ and 8-0 record, two defeats of favorite Northern Guilford, and two games up on the second place team. She split w/ Southwest and beat Southeast and Ragsdale in their only head to head matchups. The only true stain was the opening loss to Northeast that was truly a fluke as was demonstrated by a 30 point plus drubbing the LadyCats put on the Rams a couple of weeks later. I know I am biased…I am a….
Andy,
Remember a few weeks ago when you shouted out Brooks Global Studies? Add Miranda Jenkins and Theo Pinson to that list! Throw in NE’s Daius White, Smith’s Brianna Lynn and Brooklyn Davis too! Wow! It’s like a little basketball greenshouse there! LOL!
Proud Wildcat: I talked to Coach Gunn’s father-in-law during an Eastern game. He was a pleasure to talk to. He cheered for both teams when they hustled or executed well. I’d never met him before but I will remember his demeanor and his kind words to my son afterwards. It is easy to see where his younger generation gets its poise and class.
Coach Freeman non doubt should be coach of the year, and P.J. will be the player of the year, but if the award was given to the smartest player it would have to go to Frye.
Ryan Freeman should be coach of the year because of his knowledge of the game and knows how to handle his players. He comes from a very good basketball backround. He was a outstanding player in high school. Averaged over twenty a game.
lots of coaches were good hs players and many played in college. what’s your point?