The Quakers of Lansing Eastern couldn’t transform a dominant performance by LaDontae Henton into a win over Sexton, but they did get to show off one of the top freshmen in the state.
5-11 guard Charles Tucker, Jr. scored eight points in his highly-anticipated debut for the Quakers.
The Detroit Free Press picked Eastern as the 11th best team in the state in the preseason. Our resident ranker, Gavin Raath, was less sure of the Quakers and picked them to finish 5th in the CAAC Blue.
Well Jackson got trhashed by Waverly so I’m starting to tthink fourth would have been a better pick for Eastern. But Tucker is the real deal huh?
Charles Tucker is going to be a very good player,and he is the best Freshman in the Lansing area. I just hate when there is all of the hype being put on a young player. I remember Watching Marcus Taylor signing autographs after one of his first games as a freshman !! Henton was also given a lot of media hype.
Sexton has a fairly young team with three Sophs. That all had very good games. Valentine is a 10th grader,but only played four games last year before a season ending injury. So there is more going on besides the “freshman phenom”
So who’s the best freshman out of:
Charles Tucker Jr
Monte Morris
Dewrell Tisdale
Richmond Lewis
Denzell Watts
Probably Haney at East Lansing.
Depends on if you mean who is the best now, or who will be the best…
Haney and Tisdale have high (really high) ceilings.
What’s up THE BALL, I can’t say anything about Charles Tucker Jr., but from the Flint Area players that I have seen play I would rank them this way:1. Monte Morris
2. Denzell Watts
3. Richmond Lewis
4. Dewrell Tisdale
I factor in things such as minutes played and Impact on team and player efficiency.
I don’t know much about Haney, but from what I hear I tend to agree with Jared.
I hard a lot about Watts and Lewis. Do any one know what’s up with them?
Is Tisdale and Morris are good like everyone says?
Are all the players I named on varsity?
And if they are who’s getting more mins?
How would you rank the five players?
Anyone going to answer me?
I need to know about the freshmans.
Watts is a bigger point guard, especially for a freshman. With added strength, he could certainly be as good as Glenn Cosey. Probably better.
He’s a fairly efficient shooter, too.
Tisdale is growing like a weed. He’s a tall guard with nice handle and finishes probably as well as any freshman guard I’ve seen. He has been playing with older players for a long time, and it shows.
Do you know anything about Lewis and or Morris.
Cause I need to know everything about the freshmans
What’s up Ball, Man I have’nt seen Charles Tucker Jr. or Haney play, but they both sound like special players. The one thing that no one seems to factor in to the debate is: How many of these Freshman are true Freshman? I know that Richmond Lewis, Dewrell Tisdale and Denzell Watts are all 16 years old, but Monte Morris is a true Freshman, he’s only 14 and so my question is how can you compare these players based on age. That’s like comparing a Frosh and a Jr.
Not necessarily…some of these guys had to start school at a later “age” due to late birthdays as well. Morris just happens to be one that went the other way with his late birthday, meaning he was able to start school early. By this time of the year, most freshman are 15 or about to turn so.
Yeah I agree that some are maybe 15 or about to be 15, but come on now 16 is a bit old for a freshman! That means these kids will be 19 year old seniors. In other circles these atheletes are called grade exceptions. Just be real about it and note that it is’nt even fair to compare 14 year olds to 16 year olds and yes naturally the 16 year olds body should be more developed.
16 years old as a freshman? That’s called “redshirting” and it’s getting way too common now. Parents are planning ahead with their boys all over the state, either starting their boys late or for example with Patrick Lucas Perry having him unnecessarily retake a grade, 8th in this case, just for the sake of that athletic advantage. And a year is a huge advantage at that age, particularly when a lot of times it’s closer to two years. The most famous benefactor of redshirting was probabaly Neitzel, who as I recall was 19 spring of his senior year.
Well, I believe if a child has a late birthday (late fall-winter), when it is time for kindergarten a decision can be made to start when the child is 4 going on 5 years old or 5 going on 6. I don’t think anyone is planning that far ahead. I do also believe that this exception covers only a small minority of kids. However, I do agree that there are cases of kids being held back just for the purposes of sport and that should not happen, period. But, it has been going on for a LONG time just less well known back in the day.
That said, comparisons are regularly made on here between seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshman on this site. Age matters little when it comes to high school athletics. Either you are a player or you are not.
Disagree with that last line “Age matters little”. Age matter a whole lot! There’s a whole lotta fellas, in fact most high school fellas, that don’t mature and even get their body or legs under them. They’re puppies. Facts are MOST high schoolers are not near maturity phyically and only catch up physically until 20-22+. Again, that’s MOST of the high schoolers. Time and again the fellas that are dominant throughout middle/highschool are the fellas that matured earlier in life, or where older due to redshirting. When that age factor comes to bear in 5th/6th grade, it carries through middle school and high school. These more mature and/or older guys are the guys who get to play the most BECAUSE OF THE AGE DIFFERENCE. These guys indeed are men amongst boys. Parents who redshirt do that for the very reason that age matters a lot. Most high schoolers mature slowly and don’t even reach a useable maturity athletically until way after 18, more like 20-22+. You see it all the time in guys who after high school are killer hoopsters, but out of the system. Guys who having gained their maturity and athleticism to go with a skill set gained when skill set was all they had to work with, but no place to show it off excempt various parks and men’s leagues. Maybe a couple go back to JuCo, but not many, as life has forked for them. Ever notice how many pro ball players are receeding hairline or even going bald? Even in college! Take David Kool as example! His maturity is just years ahead of his peers. Kids going bald now! That’s 25-35 year old fellas going bald! Why’s that? Age and physical maturity mean a whole lot, sometimes it’s the enchilada that matters!
Huh? You just said that you disagreed with “age matters little” with regard to high school athletics, but then went on a lengthy diatribe on how maturity doesn’t come until after 18 and guys are pups in high school. Wouldn’t that make the point for me?
i hv been tlkin with tisdale an he isnt even 16 yet. so really he is better then his age.