Program Outlook: First Class Game 16u

All summer we will be featuring AAU programs and their coaches to help set the landscape. First Class Game was founded by Damon Fann Damon Fann 6'2" | SG Riverdale | 2022 State TN and Santonio McDaniel in 2015 and immediately stocked with talent from Rutherford County.

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First Class Game

FRONTCOURT:  First Class Game Co-Head Coach Damon Fann Damon Fann 6'2" | SG Riverdale | 2022 State TN acknowledges the team is undersized.  They would gladly add another big, but multiple weekends this summer they went to war with what they had and emerged victorious.  ’What they have’ is Jackson Painter, a worker bee with limited offensive potency at this stage of his development. Painter is a serviceable defender, but the team constantly faces frontcourts with more than one post player necessitating deep defensive commitment from guards like Damon Fann Damon Fann 6'2" | SG Riverdale | 2022 State TN , Tre’Von Bass, and others.

BACKCOURT: Bryce Jackson delivered a big sophomore season with an average of 14.6 points per game, 3.3 rpg, 3.2 apg.  

Damon Fann Damon Fann 6'2" | SG Riverdale | 2022 State TN will attend Riverdale High School this year, joining fellow First Class Game teammates Santonio McDaniel and Tre’Von Bass.  Fann transferred in from Oakland, where he played behind senior guards ( DeArre McDonald DeArre McDonald 6'2" | CG Oakland | 2020 State TN , Josh Edmundson) last winter.  Riverdale needs all three to be special, as the program hopes to return to their 2019 glory.  In 2019-2020, RHS finished with just 10 wins, incapable of instantly replacing five exceptional senior starters effectively.  Santonio was one of the quickest to endure the sudden scoring burden, but he was unable to do it himself.  

Fann will help there.  Fann is a sure-handed lefty lead guard with the ability to amass double-figure nights with ease.  Fann earns his way to the free throw line constantly too.

KEY TO SUCCESS: Limit turnovers. Though the team won 7 of 9 games between the two Jam events, First Class Game played poorly through patches and without exception those patches included turnovers.  Every team deals with turnovers in their own way and FCG’s guards generally reacted ok.  More than once though, the dispossessed ball-handler reacted lazily and committed not an ounce of effort to track back upon losing the basketball compounding the problem.  Thankfully, fellow guards did hustle back during those lapses.  Speaking generically, any team that is going to survive as a guard-driven team needs wonderful possession at the most and devoted defensive transition at the least.

First Class Game

#	Name	FG	3PT	FT	RB	AST	STL	PTS
2	Damon Fann Damon Fann 6'2" | SG Riverdale | 2022 State TN	5-9	0-3	8-12	9	1	3	18
7	Darius Lee	2-6	0-1	2-4	1	1	0	6
33	Jackson Painter	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0
10	Tre’Von Bass	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	0	0
24	Tony Nowlin	2-4	0-0	1-2	3	0	0	5
3	Santonio McDaniel	4-12	3-8	2-4	2	0	2	13
5	Tristan Davis	3-6	0-0	2-2	4	0	2	8
18	Joshua McDaniel	3-3	1-1	4-4	2	0	0	11
1	Sean Williams	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0
13	Bryce Jackson	3-11	0-2	13-17	6	3	1	19

Full Squad with projected *Starters

First Class Game Roster

#10 Tre’Von Bass (Riverdale)
#1 Sean Williams 
#5 Tristan Davis (Stewarts Creek)
#13 Bryce Jackson (Stewarts Creek)
#33 Jackson Painter (Lebanon)
#18 Joshua McDaniel
#3 Santonio McDaniel (Riverdale)
#24 Tony Nowlin (LaVergne)
#7 Darius Lee
#2 Damon Fann Damon Fann 6'2" | SG Riverdale | 2022 State TN (Riverdale)

New in Town:

Stewarts Creek High School is the home to two FCG 16u players, and two pretty good FCG players at that...Bryce Jackson and Tristan Davis. Stewarts Creek, back in May 2020, hired a brand new head boys basketball coach.  Replacing Dawn Barger was Howard Pride.  Coach Pride is a well-traveled and thoroughly successful basketball coach, who once was a very successful basketball player. 

• 1993 Mr. Basketball in Alabama.
• Nephew is Trevor Lacey (Bama/NC State / G-League)
• Head Coach of Mae Jemison High (AL) 2018-2020
• Head Coach at Alma Bryant (AL) 2013-2014
• Assistant Coach at Warren County High (TN) 2011-2013
• Assistant Coach at Butler High (AL) 2009-2011
• Assistant Coach at Montgomery Bell Academy (TN) 2006-2007
• Head Coach at Westminster Christian (GA) 2005-2006
• Head Coach at Decatur High (AL) 1999-2001

According to the AL.com, Pride has also worked at the collegiate level, serving as director of operations at Alabama and UAB, and as an assistant at Belmont, Tennessee State and Howard.

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