Great City

George Wythe won it in '08 as a Group A - Division 2 school. They beat Gate City 58-53.

Ryan..................congrats on the marriage!

We are not going to be "back" in football until we get more kids out of the halls and on the team. Way too many kids having to play both ways. We also have a lot of kids who only play one sport. This did not used to be the case. How many kids on the basketball team last year played football? Success on the field leads to more kids wanting to be on the team. The reverse is also true. Hard to stop a train once it is moving. Much harder to get it moving initially. (train = cannonball reference) Speaking of basketball..........not sure what % chance we have of winning a state title, and that should be the farthest thing on the players'/coaches' minds.......but barring injuries, we should have the best chance we have ever had. Don't think we embarrassed ourselves last year. (Even with Dean's injury causing his game to greatly suffer the second half of the year, and Zac battling an illness that I believe caused him to lose several pounds.) Didn't we take a fairly decent team from the East into OT last year? Should have a stronger team this year. Based on the many, many GC games I watched last year, not sure defense was our main issue. I would argue that lack of an inside presence....and the subsequent lack of rebounding was a much bigger issue. We gave up way too many second chance points. Unfortunately it was fairly routine for a team to get 3, 4, 5 consecutive offensive rebounds against us. I did a quick scan of the VHSL Record Book. I THINK GC has been in 4 state finals. We lost by 3, 5, 14, and 3 points in those games. We have never played above AA.

Radford will be fine moving up to AA. GC, Graham, and Union should have strong teams. The wildcard, like always, will be injuries.

Well crap! I was told the non-Honaker kid was still an option. Believe that kid is already living here....not sure if it is in Scott County or TN. Hate to hear that about the Honaker kids, but if they did not establish residency in the county, Brent should have shot them down. Got to play by the rules. (We had a couple of TN kids want to come over and play football last year. Brent shot that down also.........no residency)

................and if the kid from Honaker can shoot from the perimeter like we have been told, the opportunities for Zac to drive to the rim will increase. ................and if the kid from Honaker can shoot from the perimeter like we have been told..........Mac drives.......defense collapses on him...........we should have two great shooters wide open on the perimeter. Really hope the rumor I heard yesterday is true. Not sure it will happen, but if it does, GC will be getting another addition to the basketball team....a high-caliber additions.

Sigh. He is a GC kid who decided to go to DB. Would like to have him back in the fold.

Regarding seating at GC. The "home" side is all reserved for season ticket holders. The end near the scoreboard is for the band, and the very end near the concession stand MIGHT be open to anyone. Not sure. If you are a GC fan without season tickets, you have to sit on the other side. The GC fans on that side do not sit there trying to take seats away from the visiting team. They sit there because they do not have season tickets. Fairly simple.

Zachary Ervin 6'5 2019 of Team Loaded VA 16U finished with 18PTS in the win!!! #AdidasSelect

http://www.slamonline.com/college-hs/high-school/arrival-of-the-mac/#1W4mtHOEHlCxRgxM.97 For those not wanting to click on the above link: Most kids who are being courted with scholarship offers by high major Division I college programs began playing basketball shortly after they learned to walk and run. Mac McClung is not like most kids. The 6-2, Class of 2018 guard from Gate City, Virginia tried playing with some friends on the playground or in driveways growing up, but it wasn’t until seventh grade that he decided he wanted to try his hand at the sport. As an athlete, McClung considered himself a football player up to that point. But the allure of being a hooper pulled him away from the gridiron. “Just the whole swag about basketball,” McClung said. “With the kicks, the players and just all the swag that comes with being able to separate yourself with your game is what drew me to it. In seventh grade I told my dad I wanted to be the best I could be, so we’ve been working out two, three times a day ever since. I want to get in the NBA and be a big factor.” Having NBA dreams isn’t out of the ordinary for a kid who falls in love with the sport. However, work ethic and focus to the point of dedicating just about every second of their leisure time to practice is typically what separates good players from great ones. Because Gate City High is a relatively small school (enrollment wise) in Virginia, McClung knew he had to prove himself as a total unknown on the club circuit a couple years ago. As he recalls, while he was warming up before a pickup game the summer after his sophomore year of high school he noticed something totally different: His view of the rim as he was dunking for the first time. Since then, his literal rise hasn’t ceased. McClung burst onto the radar of high school basketball enthusiasts within the last year as Youtube videos and mixtapes of some jaw-dropping dunks made the rounds on social media. Last summer, mid-major programs began to offer and following another aerial assault on the rims this spring he picked up his first two high-major offers – Rutgers and Georgetown. Having just wrapped up a successful three-game run with Team Loaded VA at the NY2LA Sports Summer Jam, one of the premier events in July and attended by almost every collegiate program in the country, McClung said he’s now got programs like Marquette, Utah, Gonzaga, Arizona State and Virginia tracking his progress on the court. Obviously those programs are intrigued by his elite athleticism, but they are more concerned with his overall skill as a guard. “I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh, he’s just a dunker,’” McClung said. “I want people to know I can play. Legit, I’m doing my best to keep working so I can see how far I can get.” “I believe I need to keep working on my shooting, and really get that down,” McClung adds. “I drive to the hoop well, and I think I got good moves, but I need to work on my pull-up and three-point shot.” In Milwaukee, McClung has been showing off his ability to handle, strong drives to the cup as well as his ability to finish in multiple ways at the rim. But he’s also drained some perimeter shots – the part of his game he is still developing. He will have no shortage of eyes on him in the college coaches section as the live evaluation period wraps up. “It’s so different,” says McClung of playing with such talented teammates, such as high major prospects David McCormack, Armando Bacot, Rasir Bolton and Jairus Hamilton. “I’m just getting used to it. They have to get their shots too because they’re 5-star guys. Back at my place, I have the ball the whole time. It’s making me better because it’s getting me ready for the college experience.” The rise from a newbie of the sport to a local standout and then national recruit has been rapid. The viral videos of his dunks have helped accelerate his notoriety among hoop fans, but the fact that his mother’s sister has a famous son who is a rapper has also helped some people take notice. Just look at the title of the highlight video above. Given McClung’s track record of rapid improvement, it is tough to accurately project his ceiling as a player. But it is safe to say he is more than just a dunk phenom. If he gets to where he wants to go, he hopes the other label he’s recently gotten from those who have seen his most recent mixtape will be flipped as well. “I want Riff Raff to be known as Mac McClung’s cousin,” he said with a laugh.

hahahahahahahaha Pretty funny. Yeah..........GC has not played pretty decent basketball for a number of years now. I expect a total collapse in two years. May not win a game.

http://www.heraldcourier.com/sports/mcclung-s-recruiting-stock-is-rising/article_08051ca6-5c5e-11e7-b654-f70f5e1f07b8.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share

Really love to hear that. :)

Not going to lie............this sounds a little exciting, but I will believe it when I see it. (not saying you guys do not know what you are talking about. just saying that parents' plans can change.) When this thread started, I was hoping that the kid would be 6'10" tall and weigh 275 lbs. However, as already pointed out, we can use depth. Being able to give kids some extra rest during the games, and bringing in fresh legs would be great for us. Fresh legs will help those jump shots fall. May also allow us to get more kids involved and get back to playing a little tougher defense. If these kids are as good as advertised, and we see the expected improvement from George & Compton, and Mac & Ervin elevate their games a little..........we should (baring injuries) have a special team next year.

I saw where Dean won the 3-point shooting contest at a recent camp. That is encouraging.

You mean we actually had a kid come from DB? I assume he is a freshman? Who was at QB?

Would not surprise me at all if GC cuts off ticket sales at some home games. I know it was discussed last year. Yes........I love a packed gym. Not about that. Is a safety issue. Plus, if I am a fan who pays to see the game and end up having to watch it on TV in the cafeteria, I am not going to be a happy camper. I know.........go early. I will. :) Key to GC's success next year will be the play of Dean. If he is the "Arby's Tournament Dean" all year, we are going to have a special team (if no injuries). I have not seen much about how he is doing on his travel team. I saw something many weeks ago that talked about him scoring 30 points......that is a good sign.

I will guess that a school along the lines of BC or Pitt will offer, but do not expect it to happen until next year. UVAO.......can't remember......have you seen Mac play an entire game, or just seen the highlights? Mac can play some great defense. Led the team with 3 steals a game (not sure what a great steals per game number would be). Truly believe he could lead the team in rebounding. He generally does what the team needs him to do for the team to win. As a sophomore he committed some terrible fouls, and missed parts of games because he was in foul trouble. Last year he greatly improved on not making stupid fouls. 1inStripes.......I completely agree. GC is a completely different team if Mac has to leave the court due to foul trouble. Keeping him out of foul trouble is a top priority.

After 14 years, 335 wins, six state championships, three state runner-up finishes, 10 regional titles and 15 district/conference championships, there’s something you might not know about Gate City volleyball coach Amy Reed............. http://www.timesnews.net/Volleyball/2017/05/14/Amy-Reed.html?ci=stream&lp=2&p=1

http://www.heraldcourier.com/sports/briefs-more-di-offers-for-gate-city-s-mcclung/article_10c91874-2964-11e7-8505-f7d953d4d5ab.html

Having played under Colobro, and continuing to have sporadic contact with him throughout the years, there has to be more going on than lack of participation in the weight room. Tazewell gave him a sweet deal. There has to be some personal issue or an issue with the "powers that be" that made him leave.

Bulldogs52...........I wonder the same thing. Believe he still has the house on the lake in TN. Not a bad drive at all to GC. Just not sure how his retirement pay from VA would be effected, if any, if he returns now.

I would say let him ride.......unless he crosses the line. Message boards should be about expressing your opinions. He should be able to say what he believes/thinks..........no matter if he is correct or not. Remember.........we ALL have the ability/option to NOT respond to his, or anyone's, post. If you are going to feed the bear, then you have to put up with his growl. Message boards would be a pretty boring place if we all agreed on everything.