What started out as a simple conversation between Cherokee County Hall of Fame member Leah Monteith Goss, her mother Amanda, and former Sand Rock basketball player Tina Garrett has turned into a full-blown effort to raise money for Cherokee County’s basketball programs.

The Cherokee County Alumni Basketball Tournament is being tentatively planned for Oct. 10 at the Gadsden State-Cherokee Arena. Goss said former basketball players from all Cherokee County schools are welcome to participate.

“I’ve contacted several of the players I’ve played with, and they’re interested in playing,” Goss said. “We’ve got enough for a team, but I know there’s a lot more players out there who would want to play. I just don’t have the means to call all of those people to get the word out like I’d want to. I’ve contacted several guys I’ve played with too, just to see if there’s any interest out there. It would be a lot of fun, and I think the fans would enjoy it.”

Goss said there are still a lot of details to be worked out, but she wanted to get the word out early enough so people could contact her group.

“I feel like if we can get the word out and build some interest, we can get some teams together and have this tournament to raise some money,” Goss said. “We’re raising it for the basketball department for each of the schools, trying to help build their programs. I’m sure there’s plenty of people who are interested in that. They may not be interested in playing, but they may be interested in helping to put it on.”

For more information, please contact Goss at (256) 499-1100.

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The wait for another high school sports season is almost over.

Volleyball teams officially begin practice on Thursday, followed by the first high school football practices on Monday.

In case you were wondering, volleyball season starts on Aug. 19. Football begins on Aug. 26.

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Here’s a couple of recent golf happenings. The duo of Ron McClellan and Dennis Reaves recently claimed the Cherokee County Country Club senior scramble. They shot 61 to edge runners-up Jack Waters and Bill Trammell by one stroke. Steve Baker and Johnny Bentley finished third at 63 in a scorecard playoff over Gary Burchette and Mackey Moates.

In the second flight, Terry Adams and Keith Bledsoe won a 16th hole, four-way tiebreaker and finished at 68. They claimed the flight over the duos of Wayne Adrian-Jerry Hylton, Jack Bowlin-Wendell Pruitt and Billy Mack Garrett-Bill Floyd.

In other county golf happenings, Shawn Wigley shot a weekend total 145 to claim the First Flight of the Dub Ellis Invitational over the weekend. David Garrett took the Second Flight with a 153. Stephen Keen was tops in the Third Flight at 161.

Marcus Harrell won the overall title with a total of 132.

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Jacksonville State’s season-opening football game at Ole Miss on Sept. 4 has been set for 2:30 p.m. It will be televised live by CSS.

Ole Miss posted a 9-4 record last season, including a 21-7 win over No. 18 Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl. The Rebels were ranked as high as No. 4 nationally in 2009. This marks the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Jacksonville State finished the season with the best record in the Ohio Valley Conference with an 8-3 record and a 6-1 conference mark and won the final four games of the 2009 season. The Gamecocks have been preseason ranked in almost every national publication.

It marks the third televised road game of the season for the Gamecocks as Jax State’s Nov. 6 game at Eastern Kentucky and Nov. 20 game at Tennessee Tech will both be carried on the OVC Football Game of the Week.

The JSU football team reports to campus on Aug. 5.