Division Four Preseason Rankings

This is going to be a very tough year for me to do these rankings as the normal #1 in D4 Whitefish Bay Dominican is a big of a mystery with Mr Diamond Stone having moved on to the University of Maryland. Along with that you don't have the obvious private schools that jump out to you. I am going to start out by going with my gut, past history, and obviously looking at the high school yearbook. Added in D4 has a lot of private schools that play much bigger schools during the regular season adding into the difficulty of doing rankings solely based on records. So here goes...

1. Amherst- A final four state team a year ago and they bring back four starters. Led by 6'4 senior Tyler Biadasz a D1 football recruit that averaged 16 points and nine rebounds a game a year ago.

2. Whitefish Bay Dominican- This is Dominican so they have to be towards the top of the rankings and in the official rankings they are #1 but, to be honest I'm not sold on this. Everyone seems extremely high on 6'9 senior Kostas Antetokounmpo and I don't see it. Yes his brother is in the NBA but, he seemed so very raw in the limit action I saw him. I'm sure there is more talent coming and they will have very good height.

3. Destiny- Hard to tell with this team because they play an independent schedule but, they won 15 games a year ago and bring back five starters. They start 6'7, 6'6, and 6'5 on the front line which is huge in D4 and they have a 6'5 player off the bench.

4. Melrose-Mindoro- I saw this team a year ago and I was pretty impressed. They have three starters back including their top two scorers in 6'0 junior Erik Christopherson and 6'5 senior Aaron Scafe who each averaged 15 points a game on a team that won 19 games last year.

5. Darlington- Ok to be honest I question this ranking a little bit after looking at the team in the yearbook but, the yearbook has them ranked third so we will see. There top returning scorer 6'2 junior Hunter Johnson was injured in the state title football game two days ago.

6. Kenosha St. Joes- Should have one of the best backcourts in the state for D4 with both guards back from last years 16 win team, headlined by 6'1 junior DeAndre Johns who averaged 18 points a game a year ago. Matthew Brown is a talented 5'11 freshmen that I believe is John's cousin and from what I heard should be a starter.

7. Deerfield- Four starters back from an 18 win team a year ago. I've never seen them play but, judging by numbers 6'4 Blake Ehrke is a beast averaging 19 points and 15 boards last year.

8. Marathon- Another questionable team year but, another yearbook pick. They have the strong tradition going and they only lost one game a year ago and have two starters back.

9. Cameron- Another team that always seems to have great record after great record and have two big time scoring seniors in 6'4 Mike Verdegan 14 points and 6'5 Peyton Dibble 18 points.

10. Unity- Varsity only lost three games and JV was undefeated last year with three starters returning from last years team. 6'6 senior Logan Bader is a double double guy.

11. Eau Claire Regis- State final four team a year ago that lost a lot with the graduation of Billy Wampler but, 6'2 senior Logan Rohrscheib is back with his 20 plus points a game. This is also a team that has a very rich tradition going now and Regis is always one of the best in D4.

12. La Crosse Aquinas- Another tough team to judge because they play in a conference with all D2 schools which does benefit them come playoff time. They bring back two of their better players in 6'4 senior Chris Ancius and 5'10 junior Eddie Harwick.

13. Racine Lutheran- Have four starters back from last years team and they've gotten to the point where they have a very good tradition built in their program.

14. Iowa Grant- I've been hearing some very good things out of this IG team throughout the summer and they have four starters back from last years team. 6'4 senior Isaac Anderson averaged 17 points a game last year.

15. Markesan- 19 win team a year ago and they have four starters back including leading scorer Brayden Bernhagen who averaged 14 points a game last year.

Well those are my D4 ranks hate them or love them those are my picks but, I probably won't stand by them, at least not very long.