Slighting Victoria

I’m covering two sports that don’t get a whole lot of attention today and Friday. Something that is gaining more and more attention as the high school basketball season has gone on is the incredible year that a signee for our women’s team has had. That is none other than Victoria Vivians of Scott Central High School.

Vivians has had one of the best high school careers in the state of Mississippi for any player, men or women. She is one of the top players in the country regardless of position. Depending on which service you go by (they are a little harder to come by for the women’s side) she is a top 25 or top 50 prospect overall and a top 5 or top 10 prospect by her position. Vivians has already set the career record for most points in the history of the state, and she is poised to break the record for career points scored nationally. The interesting thing about that is it won’t be recognized by the the NFHS. Why? They have a silly rule that says they only count points scored by players from their time as 9-12 graders. Vivians scored over 500 of her points as an EIGHTH GRADER. So even though she was playing on the high school team, just because she wasn’t in high school, her points don’t count?

Her most recent performance, and possibly the most impressive considering that it was done in the state tournament, was to score 64 points of her team’s 76 points in a 76-69 win over Williams Sullivan. I never got confirmation, but there were rumors on Twitter Monday night that she scored the team’s first 58 points. If you’re wondering when the McDonald’s All-Star game is going to be played so you might be able to get a glimpse of the phenom, then let me fill you in so you can stop wondering.

She wasn’t invited.

It hasn’t been a huge story because it is on the women’s side, but it continues to gain momentum. With each surreal performance she puts up, the fact that she was not invited to the event for the most prestigious high school players in the country becomes more of a farce. The logic, it appears, is that Scott Central plays in 2A and therefore the competition she faces is inferior to some other schools that are in larger divisions. I would be okay with that, but it ignores the fact that Scott Central doesn’t restrict themselves to simply playing against 2A opponents. Case in point, in their game against 6A powerhouse Tupelo, Vivians put up 60. Competition isn’t the problem. The people selecting the team are the real problems.

I’m not writing this to hope that the people who selected the team will ultimately change their mind about Victoria. They aren’t going to add an extra spot for Victoria, and they certainly aren’t going to admit they made a mistake in their selections. I just think more of our fans should be aware of two things. The first is that we have a player coming to our school that has the potential to be a superstar in the women’s game. The second is that one of our own is being slighted, and I’m not real happy about it. We might not get the opportunity to cheer her on in the McDonald’s All Star Game, but she should be a lot of fun once she gets to Starkville.