There’s a new high school girls basketball team in Memphis called Tennessee Preparatory Academy aka TPA. TPA is actually 3 years old but this is the first year for the girls program.

The team is led by well-known Memphian, Rodney Newsom. He is no stranger to success on the boys/mens side of basketball. He was a member of a Hamilton High School squad that won a State Championship. He then took his talents to then Memphis State University were they had several trips to the NCAA tournament and went as far as the Elite Eight.

Rodney was involved on the boys side of AAU for several years. Then got his start with girls basketball at Cordova Middle School. The success continued. He was at Cordova for several years and ended his career there with a 2 year record of 60-1 and Back-2-Back West Tennessee State Championship Titles.

The success and accolades for Rodney does not end there. In just 3 years of existence, this summer Rodney led the Lady War Eagles AAU 8th grade team to the #2 ranking in the nation. Finishing runner-up in the National Championship Div. 1 game.

The inaugural TPA girls team is very young and freshman heavy. Lone senior is MGBB 30/40 Club member, Surina Finnie. One of her best performances last season was a 45 point game. She is a shooting guard that can catch fire behind the 3 point line. Feeding her the ball will be talented freshman point guard Se’Quoia Allmond. Se’Quoia has been garnering national attention for quite some time which has resulted in receiving college basketball scholarship offers already. Another name that’s poised to be mentioned frequently for TPA is versatile freshman guard/forward Skylar Gill.

If you are interested in watching Tennessee Prep Academy play, get ready to travel. Their schedule is tabbed “The Grind Session”. They are out-of-town games and more showcased based. You are not too much out of luck. You will be able to catch them at least twice in Memphis.