New faces in 3A: Arlington High School

Courtney Smith September 25, 2019 @ 10:15 AM

Maurice Miller hasn’t been the varsity boys head basketball coach at Arlington High School for a full six months yet, and he already has the Tigers in a position they haven’t been in for quite some time. Being relevant in Class AAA in the state of Tennessee. I sat in on Monday’s open gym, and Miller has a lot of new faces on the team to go alongside sophomore guard Phil Dotson III, who’s coming off averaging a little bit over 20 points per game a year ago as a freshman. The talent around Dotson III will definitely help his cause and put him in more one-on-one situations. Last season, Dotson III saw too many double teams because there was no one else who could score the basketball like he did, except for Sam Wiseman. In 2019, teams will not be able to send double teams Dotson III’s way because of the weapons that will be around him. Miller’s freshman class has high upside, and his transfers - Hayden Ledbetter (Lausanne) Chris McKnight (Raleigh-Egypt), Madison Peaster (Little Rock) and Dontae Stringer (Huntington Prep) - are in position to help the team find balance. After watching Monday’s open gym, here are two things I quickly learned: Miller has flexibility with his team I asked Miller what the starting lineup will look like during the 2019 season. He mentioned there will be random starting lineups. In other words, there’s depth on this Arlington team. Here’s one potential starting lineup: Center – 6-8 Javar Daniel (Fr.) Forward – 6-7 Dontae Stringer (So.) Forward – 6-4 Chris McKnight (Sr.) Guard – 6-0 Phil Dotson III (So.) Guard – 6-3 Madison Peaster (Jr.) This lineup is long and can score a lot of points. This lineup has senior leadership at the small forward spot in McKnight, who will be leaned on to get the young players through their rough phases of the season. My only concern with this lineup is how well Stringer will perform. If he misses a layup and not get back on defense, will Miller put him on the bench or will he allow the sophomore to play through it? He didn’t play well in open gym on Monday, maybe that’s because he’s been sidelined for a minute due to a knee injury. Stringer will need to add more muscle because the physicality he’s going to endure every night in Class AAA will take a toll on him early, especially if he logs in a lot of minutes. There’s competition at the guard spot There’s 6-1 freshman guard E.J. Smith, sophomore point guard Hayden Ledbetter, Madison Peaster, freshman guard Andre Watson and freshman wing Anthony Medlock. These are five guards that will look to get playing time. Peaster will definitely see the floor and most likely start. He’s a bulldog and is offensively gifted. Smith is very smooth offensively. He has nice ball handles and can score from different spots on the floor. Watson is an efficient 3-point shooter. Ledbetter is a solid facilitator, and Medlock is long and athletic, can shoot the 3 and slash to the basket. Miller has a great problem with his young core guys. They’re going to go at one another each day at practice, with the prize of playing time up for grabs.