If there is one thing about KPGFootball you’ll discover, if you don’t already know it, is our affinity for authentic Bluegrass music. Maybe, just maybe, it is why we are so at home in the mountains of eastern Kentucky.
One of our favorite bluegrass musicians is Charlie Sizemore. Charlie used to play guitar and sing lead vocals for Dr. Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys before founding the Charlie Sizemore Band. He recorded a solo album on which he had a hit, written by Tom T. Hall, entitled That’s How I got to Memphis. We love that song.
Now Charlie grew up in Magoffin County, Kentucky in the eastern part of the commonwealth in fairly close proximity to both Virginia and West Virginia. The subject of today’s article is a member of the Class of 2025, his name is Memphis, and he hails from Perry County which has only Knott County between it and Magoffin County, Charlie’s home.
When we first saw the Kentucky Future Stars teams announced, it was glaringly obvious Memphis Blankenship was the only player selected at the TE slot to the 6th grade team. We immediately thought of Charlie’s song and wondered how did the selection committee get to Memphis, as in Memphis Blankenship?
In digging around about this player, who by the way, has accomplished the very pinnacle of achievement for a player his age in making and getting to play for Team Kentucky in the Future Stars Classic, we learned he wasn’t any stranger to the big stage. Memphis made the Team Kentucky FBU Elite squad which just advanced, in the FBU Nationals, all the way to Naples, Florida for its National Championship tournament. That means they were one of the remaining 16 teams in America vying for the whole enchilada, if you will.
We also found out Memphis, who is presently a 6th grader and set to enroll in 7th grade for the upcoming football season, is 5-7 and weighs 140-pounds. Blankenship has mostly been deployed as a FB who plays LB on defense. His play has been described by his coach, Jon Fletcher, as being physical. Coach Fletcher went on to say Blankenship has good speed and great hands.
This certainly sounds like excellent attributes for a TE to us. This certainly and ably describes, for KPGFootball, just how the selection committee got to Memphis, so to speak, when selecting Blankenship as the only TE for the roster. This certainly sounds like exceedingly fine judgment.
This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for KPGFootball, and we’re JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
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