The Knoxville Lady Panther program has placed a number of players into the collegiate ranks in recent years, but Coach Don Brown believes that he will go into the spring of 2014 with his most talented roster ever.
“We have had a lot of success the past two years, but this is — by far — our most athletic and skilled team,” Brown said. “We’re also a little bit bigger this year. We have four players who are 6-0 or taller, and all four are really, really athletic. We usually have a guard dominated team, but this team is different.”
The Lady Panthers will showcase their talent at the Deep South Classic will be in Raleigh, NC, on April 25-27. Now in its 17th year, the Deep South Classic annually hosts many of the nation’s elite travel teams in a field that will eclipse 200 squads, and hundreds of collegiate coaches will be on hand searching for talent. The 2014 event will mark the second year that the Deep South Classic has been held at the Raleigh Convention Center. The venue was a tremendous success in its debut last year, with all games played at one site on 18 courts, and it is in a convenient central location.
Brown noted four players who will be the key to the Lady Panthers’ success this spring. The team leader is point guard Logan Reynolds (2015, 5-7, PG).
“Logan has been playing with our top team since she was in the eighth grade,” Brown said. “She is a very gifted athlete with incredible vision. She’s a player who makes everyone else better on the offensive end, and she is out best defender. Plus, you just cannot press her. We don’t really have a press break, we just get her the ball. Athletically, she is so good that she won the state long jump championship last year even though she never really practiced regularly.”
Reynolds will be relying on three teammates to power the Lady Panthers — Savannah Felgemacher (2015, 6-2, F), Brittany Tarr (2015, 6-0, F) and Jaiden McCoy (2016, 6-3, C).
“Savannah is a long athlete who is one of the best shot blockers we’ve ever had. Offensively, she can hit the three and she has a good mid-range game,” Brown said. “Brittany is our most gifted scorer. She can hit the three and she has a great mid-range game, but more than anything she just beats people up on the inside. She has wide, strong shoulders, and she can score in a lot of different ways. Jaiden just joined the team this year, and we’re really, really excited about what she can do. She is a very skilled, polished player, especially for a sophomore. She just does everything right fundamentally.”
Bret McCormick, veteran analyst for the All Star Girls Report, is looking forward to seeing the 2014 Lady Panthers at the Deep South Classic.
“Logan Reynolds is their top prospect. She is an athletic, aggressive scoring point guard who has a high IQ and three-point range,” McCormick said. “Felgemacher is an active post player with good hands. She can score on the low block, and she can shoot it out to 15 feet. Tarr is a three-four player who can be a physical, blue collar player, but she is also comfortable out on the perimeter. McCoy is someone to watch. She is a good athlete and she runs well.”
