The Next Level and HBU vs Henderson State

I can't stress the importance of younger kids watching older kids play so they can see what it takes to get to the next level. This is something I have preached over and over to parents throughout the years and it saves a lot of time and energy, along with giving a much needed reality check on how good you really have to be. We are in a city with all of these colleges, Rice, U of H, TSU, HBU and San Jac and when you look at the percentage of girl's that actually make it to the next level, well hopefully this is an eye opener
What's The Percentage?

These numbers are from the NCAA and less than 4% is scary, however the Chronicle ran a story on an even more alarming number, less than 1%
More numbers

I think both stats are somewhat misleading, NAIA and JUCO for instance have not been included, so I have my own data and I do know this. At the moment, seventeen kids from our area have verballed that I know about and next week is early signing. I see the number of signees during the early period being in the low twenties, and  a few more will sign during the regular signing period. My scouting and consulting services will help these numbers and percentages significantly in the future.

I plan on looking at more college ball this season, in fact after watching Atascocita, Elkins and Cinco Ranch go at it against Westside and each other, I headed over to Sharp Gymnasium to watch HBU play Henderson State because several area kids were playing. It's great to see how many of these kids have grown up right before my eyes and I continue to watch them as they have acheived their dreams, but if you ask any of them, I am sure they will tell you about all of the hard work they put in.

Here are two examples of what I'm talking about. Princess Jenmard and Raquel Jones both play for HBU, right now both are injured. Raquel will be back in December, Princess is redshirting due to a knee injury. I remember these two young ladies going at it against older kids while they were still in middle school and both had a lot of success in high school. Princess was an offensive machine for Alief Taylor while Jones broke a lot of backs dropping bombs from everywhere at Madison.

Destini Tejada and Megan Green are also from the Houston area. Tejada was hampered by injuries during her high school years at Elsik, however her "WORK ETHIC" which is second to none kept her going. The term "BEAST" is used a bit too frequently with some of these kids and if you ever had a chance to watch this kid, you would know what it really meant. Green, like Jones, was a bomb squader and could shoot the lights out. She helped Clear Lake win a lot of games during her career.

Folks if you don't know the name Tia Jackson, you haven't been around watching these kids play for long. Tia was one of the best players to come out of Crosby High School and one of the top players in the Class of 2006. A transfer from Tulane, Tia was one of the smoothest players to come through here and was what I call a silent assassin.

Although she isn't from Houston, I remember working the Texas A&M camp years ago and all of these kids were screaming in the other gym. I head over and see this young lady a little over 5' going completely OFF. I asked who she was and somebody said, I don't know her real name but they call her "SPOON". Well, this former Waco Midway stars name is Krissica Harper and after parting ways with TSU, she has found a home at Henderson State 

Joycelyn Taylor was a standout at Langham Creek and transferred from Texas A&M Corpus Christi

I can't tell you how this kid kept me laughing over the years. The first time I met her, she was off the chain talking about her game and I was thinking, I wanna see this. Well guess what?" She was "OFF THE CHAIN".Ladies and gentleman, former Cy Springs star, Marsharae Brown, but please, call her "Rae Rae"

If you've never had a chance to see her play, let me sum it up for you. Picture the Energizer Bunny being real! This kid keeps going and going and going, never giving up, never quitting!

As great as it was seeing the kids, I also enjoyed catching up with the moms. Former Westside star Michael Moss plays on the Men's team, his mother is pictured to the right

I want to thank HBU for the hospitality and being a dog lover, hanging out with Mingo was great! I will post some pics later from the exhibition, along with with thoughts from the Westside Scrimmage, part 2.

Westside Scrimmage-Westside, Katy Taylor, Dobie and Dulles

I had a chance to see three teams that will battle for their respective district titles, Westside, Katy Taylor and Dobie. A fourth team, Dulles, will be entering a new era since legendary coach Doug Lechtenberger has retired. Year after year, Dulles was in the mix since the last millenium. They won before Ebony Mangum arrived, they continued to win through the Kelsey Bone era and you could always count on them to be competitive in what I consider the toughest district in the area since I've been involved on the Girl's side. Coach Mark Rosenbaulm is ready for the challenge and I look forward to seeing the tradition continue.

Jasmine King is coming of age for the Wolves

Coach Troy Gillespie won over 100 games in his first four seasons and last year was the third time in 5 years he has guided his squad to to Final Four, twice making it to the finals. Troy and I go way back to his early days and he will always have his squad prepared.

Audrey Sturgess will have to give Eron Luton some relief in the post position during the season, so she needs to stay healthy

Two words, RACHEL CUMBO!

Teisha Jones provides the little things that don't show up in the box all the time

Katy Taylor coach Carlos Villafone is eyeing the action and knows he will be in the mix once volleyball is over.

Back to the future!

 I was sick during the last week of playoffs last season and I completely forgot Westside made it to the Final Four, this is why I have no coverage on who won E-8 games and picked it back up for the championship game between Hightower and Bellaire PLAYOFFS. Nevertheless, it kind of makes you wonder what the Wolves would have done with Cumbo, who appears near 100%

Dobie and Katy Taylor will fight for their district titles, neither are going full force until the volleyball season ends. Taylor is one of those teams that has a chance to go deep into the playoffs, in fact, they lost a nail bite to Westside in the playoffs last season. With all of that being said, here is an early look at 5A

GIRLZ PREP REPORT

TABC Pre-Season Rankings

It's that time of year when the weather starts to get a little cooler, the night comes a little sooner and GBB is about to start. It's also time when fans and foes get to talk about who will make it and why and this season, especially in Region 3, 5A, it is truly going to be wide open. I will do a complete story on the Houston area over the weekend for GPR.

Cy Falls is primed to win District 17-5A. If the "Bomb Squad" is on fire, the sky will definitely be the limit for this guard heavy team.

Atascocita is a Top 5 team on paper, no question there. With the addition of Chrishauna Parker and Rachel Mitchell to a team that made it to the Region 3  Elite 8 last season, they could make a run and win it all. Curtyce Knox and Lauren Price carried the team last year and with the added D1 help, watch out!

Here are TABC's Top 25

 

Hightower

Irving MacArthur

San Antonio Jay

Georgetown

Dallas Skyline

Pflugerville

Duncanville

Cy-Fair

Cy-Falls

Colleyville Heritage

Timberview

Elsik

San Antonio Wagner

Atascocita

North Crowley

Cedar Hill

Dekaney

DeSoto

Northshore

Bellaire

S.A. Southwest

Harlingen South

Edinburg

Midland

Mayde Creek

I guess the most interesting choice on here would be Mayde Creek. I believe Seven Lakes and Katy Taylor will fight it out for 1-2 in 19-5A . The most interesting ommision is Elkins and Clear Springs could be a sleeper.



TABC Pre-Season Poll

BFND

Year after year, Cy Fair has been in the hunt. Can they do it again without an Ogwumike? Four In A Row


 Don't count them out GPR

Ashley Bettis

The Channelview star hopes to lead them to yet another run Overtime loss to Elkins. After this season, she will be doing her thing for SFA, story is up on GPR

Jennifer Nash

Story is up on http://girlzprepreport.com/

Chrishauna Parker and Rachel Mitchell

Their stories are up on GPR . Coming up next, Cy Woods and Nicholls state commit Jennifer Nash, another kid that comes from a basketball family, plus Channelview star Ashley Bettis who will be heading to Stephen F Austin next season.

New Stories on GPR

Tara Warren and Jazmine Parker stories are up.

http://girlzprepreport.com/


Coming up next will be that dynamic duo from Atascocita, Rachel Mitchell and Chrishauna Parker, plus "Under The Spotlight" will give you a preview on who the major players (teams) will be in route to Austin, all coming soon.

Houston Heat Exposure Camp

Lashann Higgs is from the Bahamas and you may want to remember her name

FINALLY!!!!!!!

Kendall Shaw going against one of the 2014 players to watch, Carissa Diaz



Nicole will be heading to Iowa State

The camp had close to 40 kids in attendance, many on the verge of breaking out. Some are not yet in high school, such as Scarlett Rodriguez and Lashann Higgs, while some are in their last year of high school, like Ayramis Glenn. Then you had a few of the top 2012 players in the area, Jasminine Ocanas, Alexis Chandler, Caitlin Diaz, Sylvana Okde, Kendall Shaw and drum roll please, Nicole Blanskowsky, who put on a shooting exhibition from beyond mid-court. Nicole also has announced she has verballed to Iowa State. Congratulations to one of the hardest working players I have ever seen, she will do well.