You can view the previous episodes of Journey to Memphis Next Top Baller.

The first two weeks of training has been awesome. It is overwhelming to see the growth of my training sessions. I can think back to early last year when some days I only had 1 or 2 players working out with me. By the time I completed hosting sessions, I was averaging about 12 players per session. This year, over the past two weeks I have been averaging over 20 players. I’m excited for the amount of young ladies interested in learning the game and growing in the sport.

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Facebook was on fire when the Commercial Appeal released their first Dandy Dozen. I must admit I was on fire also. I’m normally a person that keeps my cool.

The Dandy Dozen is our area high schools basketball ranking of the top 12 schools, according to our local newspaper. Rankings are a matter of opinion. Rankings are water cooler conversations. Rankings are pillow talk. Rankings are message board arguments. Rankings are 29 likes and 28 comments on my Facebook page.

I was a little upset because my alma mater, Hamilton High, was not listed in the ranking. They were and still are undefeated as I’m typing this. I was upset because I couldn’t remember the last time Hamilton had started the season undefeated and had been in the ranking. I wanted the team to be recognized for their accomplishment.

I watched them play in a play day during the preseason. They went 3-0. So I knew something good was going on. Plus, I keep up with the box scores daily. I knew they had not lost a game. So when the rankings came out and Hamilton was not listed. It bothered me. It really bothered me when I saw teams listed  that had 1 lost. Then it really, really bothered me when I saw a team with 4 loses.

I decided to contact the writer for prep sports at the newspaper. I asked him about the rankings. He gave his justification. I mentioned to him that one of the teams he had listed as undefeated actually had a lost. Then he mentioned if coaches sent in their game box scores it would be easier to keep up with their records.

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Three hundred and fifty two teams attended the Battle in the Boro in 2013. That’s what the email said that’s advertising discounts for the upcoming Battle in the Boro basketball tournament. Team Po Po, my team, didn’t attend.  We attended in 2012. I don’t know how many teams attended in 2012. In 2013, Team PoPo attended the Real Deal in the Ville. They had 32 teams..

Three hundred and fifty two times 10 is 3,520 players. That’s how many players attended the 2013 Battle in the Boro event, if each team had 10 players. What if there were 15 players on each team. That would make a total of 5,280. That’s a lot either way.

The email also said that over 1000 college recruiters attended the event. That’s a lot of people with polo shirts and school logos walking around. We all notice the shirts. Players and coaches. We all squint our eyes to see if we recognize the school’s name and logo. During our games, we all look over to see what coach is watching it.

If you were playing in a tournament along with 3,520 to 5,280 players, would you stand out? Would a college coach pick you out of the crowd? Would the coach be following your team? Would the coach already know your name?

I read a great article about recruiting from NCSA Athletic Recruiting, College Coaches Open Up on What Catches Their Eye in Recruiting. Although the focus was on soccer, this information can be applied to basketball:

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