At least four sources have told Chattanoogan.com that it’s “almost a certainty” that more than one player, including KK Curry, the team’s most celebrated player, will either leave or choose not to join the Cleveland High School boys’ basketball program in the coming weeks.
On Tuesday, it was confirmed that Norance Berry, a sophomore, had enrolled at Christ School in Arden, North Carolina, a private school located near Asheville.
At the same time, Curry, who is currently ranked the state’s No. 11 prospect for 2018, most likely was weighing his transfer options.
Two days later, it appears Curry most likely leave the program. The 6-foot-5 Curry, a member of the All-District 5-3A regular-season team and the Region 3-3A tournament MVP, could wind up in North Carolina or Florida, an AAU summer circuit source said.
“I would say it’s almost a certainty that KK will not play at Cleveland next season,” said a source, who asked for anonymity. “That’s pretty clear.”
At the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions in May tournament that attracted 81 teams, Curry was selected to the Super Six squad and drew rave reviews from prep basketball websites for his performances in the tournament.
Curry plays on the under-17 Team NLP-TN (2018) along with teammate Dionte Ware and Hamilton Heights’ Jason Jitoboh.
Curry has not been playing with the Blue Raiders so far this summer, according to a person close to Blue Raiders’ squad. “I don’t think there’s much doubt that KK is going to leave,” the source said.
Ware, a key player for the Blue Raiders last season, appears to be exploring his options as well.
“I’ve certainly heard that is a possibility,” said a person connected to a major in-state prep basketball website.
Also on Tuesday, Chattanoogan.com reported that two middle school stars were likely to bypass Cleveland High and play elsewhere, and both up-and-coming eighth-graders have family ties to Blue Raider basketball.
Quante Berry, Norance Berry’s brother, and Tray Curry, the younger brother of KK Curry, are both solid high school prospects and as one source said, “Those two would be a major loss for the Blue Raiders.”
Quante Berry plans to attend Tennessee Christian Preparatory School in Cleveland while Tray Curry could wind up in the Knoxville or North Carolina, a source said.
In May, Tray Curry was named to the Tennessee Future Stars squad for eighth-grade players.
On the Bobby Maze Elite AAU twitter account, Berry is described as “a player with limitless (shooting) range who knocks the 3 down with consistency and can put it on the floor and finish.”
That same website posted this on June 3 about Tray Curry: “Tray Curry has dominant presence in the paint and long arms with sneaky athleticism around the rim.
It has been learned that Taye Cobb’s family has inquired about his transferring to East Hamilton High School. The Hurricanes reached the 2017 Class 3A state tournament where they lost a first-round game to nationally ranked Memphis East 76-46. East went on to beat Southwind to claim the state title.
It was East Hamilton’s first trip to state. The Hurricanes had won just one postseason game until their 2017 run en route to a Region 3-3A championship and a win over Blackman in the sectional, a loss which snapped a string of five consecutive state appearances by the Blaze.
Cobb is believed to be considering other options as well.
Finally, Desmond Simpson, who was a starter for Cleveland’s junior varsity squad with no varsity time this past season, will transfer in search of more playing time at another school. Simpson will be a senior in the fall.
"I'm telling you," a source said, "these players are gone."
Cleveland coach Jason McCowan was traveling out of state Thursday night due to a death in his family and was not available for comment on this story.
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)