Alabama's high school version of March Madness will be showcased Friday night at Pelham Civic Complex when Alabama and Mississippi's prep all-stars square off for the 21st time in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Classic.
Mississippi comes in with a tall, tall team led by Mississippi Class 4A State Championship game MVP Johnny Zuppardo and St. Stanislaus teammate Daniel Grieves. Zuppardo is the tallest player on either roster at 6-foot-9. Grieves, an Air Force commitment, is 6-6. Mississippi also lists 6-8 centers Rodney Hood of Meridian and Aaron Jones of Gautier.
Alabama's All-Stars can counter with a trio of 6-foot-7 forwards including Class 6A state tournament MVP Reggie Spencer of Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa, William Truss of Vestavia Hills and Jeremy Watson of Homewood. Alabama also features a trio of 6-6 forwards -- Roquez Johnson of Carver-Montgomery, Class 5A state tournament MVP Jeremy Bogus of Wenonah and Illinois signee Devin Langford of Lee-Huntsville. Bogus averaged 22.0 ppg for the 5A state champion Dragons. Guards Ricky Tarrant of Pleasant Grove and Charles Eaton of Selma have averaged 21.5 and 21.9 ppg, respectively. Tarrant canned 47 points, including 26 of 29 at the foul line, in the Spartans' Central Region finals win over Russell County.
Coaching the Mississippi Boys are Keith Robinson of Pascagoula and Herman Sanders of Wingfield. Scott Suttles, who guided Hillcrest to a 32-3 record and the Patriots' second 6A state championship in the last three years, is coaching the Alabama squad along with Russ Wallace of Pickens County (30-1). The Tornadoes won the 1A state championship this season and the 2A state title in 2010. The 2011 team also had one win over Hillcrest.
Players reported Wednesday afternoon, will practice today twice and have a shoot-around on Friday. Tip off for the boys game is set for 7 p.m. Mississippi drubbed Alabama last year 112-88 to even the series at 10 wins each. In 2009, Alabama, led by Parker guard Eric Bledsoe, won 78-74. Bledsoe went on to the University of Kentucky last season and was a first-round draft pick in the NBA draft following his freshman year. He is now a starting guard for the Los Angeles Clippers. He had 19 points in Monday night's lost to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Alabama All-Stars also won a close 101-99 decision over Mississippi in the 2008 game.
Alabama's Lady All-Stars hold a 11-9 advantage over Mississippi in the first 20 years of the Alabama-Mississippi Classic. However, last year's team was thoroughly thrashed by the quicker, more talented Mississippi All-Stars last season, 78-56. That setback snapped a three-game winning streak for Alabama in the annual All-Star Classic. Alabama won in 2009 81-73, in 2008 in overtime 89-86 and won in 2007 in a blowout, 90-65.
Alabama has a slight size advantage in this year's game with 6-foot-3 Florida State signee Kristi Mokube of Central-Phenix City, 6-foot Monique Jackson of Central, 6-foot center Tia Faleru of Carroll-Ozark and 6-0 guard Ashley Southern of Deshler. Southern, a Tennessee-Chattanooga signee, is a solid scorer on the wing with a 22.8 ppg average this season. Faleru averaged 19.2 ppg for the Eagles in 2011. She and Jackson are both Ole Miss signees.
Alabama will be hard-pressed to slow down Mississippi's Pashen Thompson, a 6-footer from Southeast Lauderdale High School. She averaged 27.5 ppg this season. The multi-talented Thompson will have plenty of help on the outside from 5-11 forward Krista Donald of Lake High School. Donald, a University of Georgia commitment, averaged 30.3 ppg in 2011.
Coaching the Alabama squad are Nicholas Vinson of Class 1A state champion R.A. Hubbard and Brian Privett of Class 3A state champion Madison Academy. Mississippi's coaches are Mike Coleman of Quitman (28-3) and Charles Moore of Franklin County (24-2). Tip off for the girls game will be 5 p.m.
Both games will be broadcast live over the AHSAA Radio Network with a link provided by al.com
The 2011 class, which will be inducted at a banquet at the Renaissance Hotel at the Convention Center in Montgomery next Monday night, includes coaches, an official, a contributor and an oldtimer. Selected for the Class of 2011 are game official Tony Baggiano; basketball coaches Joe Belyeu, Johnny Patrick, George Hatchett and Gerald "Jerry" Weems; former basketball coach and current AHSAA Assistant Director Wanda Gilliland; baseball and cross country coach William "Bill" Murrell; track and cross country coach Jim Tate; football coaches Lester Smith, Waldon Tucker and Lyle Underwood; former football coach and contributor Doug Barfield; and Underwood, selected in the "oldtimer" category. The 17-member Hall of Fame Committee made the selections from the 69 nominations on the Hall of Fame ballot. The Hall of Fame is located at the State Office of the Alabama High School Athletic Association in Montgomery.
Congratulations to the Class of 2011.
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