Instead of a trip to the Chop House Classic in Knoxville, Poore will take his Indians to the Bahamas for the Tabernacle Baptist Academy Thanksgiving Tournament.

The Tribe will play four games in the Bahamas the first four games of the Poore era at D-B.

We were scheduled to go to the Chop House Classic, Poore said. There is nothing wrong with that tournament. You play some good teams, but there is a low level of excitement when you tell your guys you are going to Knoxville to play in a Thanksgiving tournament.

The Bahamas, on the other hand?

The guys were really, really excited when I told them about the Bahamas, he added. Its the Bahamas and its pretty exciting for a high school kid to go out of the country and play a game.

Poore likes to have a trip of some kind every year for his team. He took three of his Jefferson County teams to the Bahamas tournament and said the experience is much more than just basketball.

When you go somewhere like the Bahamas for a week and you have a week with not only the players, you have a week with dedicated supporters from the community that are going along, a couple of school faculty that are going and parents and everybody is in one group, Poore said. Its a pretty special thing. You can start to grow as a program.

The trip will be played on Grand Bahama Island and hosted by Freeport, although there are only two indoor gyms on the island.

Freeport doesnt have an indoor gym, Poore noted. The JV teams when they play interschool games, they play outside in the parking lot because there are not enough indoor gyms.

Tribe players will also see Bahamian students in academic situations.

The neat thing is when we visit, our players get to see the classrooms with no air conditioning, two mini ceiling fans and way-too-overcrowded conditions, Poore said. Its helpful to appreciate what we have when we come back.

When the Indians return stateside, theyll play their home opener against who else? Jefferson County.

Thats my first game at D-B in the States, said a smiling Poore. We get back on Sunday, we play them on Tuesday. I joked with the staff when I left, The streak against D-B is over, brother.

Poore also plans for the Indians to continue competing in the prestigious Arbys Classic.

We not only want to be in the Arbys every year, we need to have a good showing and be competitive, he said. I hope our players look at that as an opportunity to sell our brand. Thats going to be big for us.

Poore played in the Arbys Classic at Greeneville and coached Jefferson County to a third-place finish in the 2014 tournament.

The memories for me as a player and coach are great memories, he said. We had that fabulous game against David Crockett in 2014 coming from 19 points down.

Ive never been at a school that goes every year. At Jefferson County, we didnt get to go back after that one showing.

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Poore heightens Tribe excitement by adding trip to Bahamas - Kingsport Times News