Big Eight Preview

By far the conference that I follow the closest is the Big Eight Conference which is a D1 conference which contains the Madison schools and surrounding suburbs. This is mostly because this is the closest D1 conference to where I live and year in and year out they have some of the best basketball in the state. In the past 10 years that I've followed high school ball and can name a handful of players from each school that have been considered some of the best players in the state of their time. It seems every team has had their time to shine with the exception of Janesville Parker and the one constant has been Madison Memorial winning conference. Back when eight teams went to state in D1 the Big Eight was nearly guaranteed to have two teams there. The question of every year is when will Memorial's rain end and for the past three years I thought we would see but, we still haven't. So without further a due here are my preseason Big Eight rankings and thoughts.

1. Madison East- Last year appeared to be the year East would dethrone Memorial but, East faultered late and Memorial peaked at the right time. In the end though East got the last laugh as they were the team that made state.  They lose only one starter from last years team in DeShawn Burkes who was the team leader a year ago but, 6'3 senior point guard Deang Deang should be able to take over that role this year. East also finally has the height they've lacked in the past with 6'5 senior Courtland Cuevas, 6'5 sophomore Keshawn Justice, and 6'6 junior Steve Wooten who all prefer to play on the perimeter but, they give them length and size to rebound. 5'10 senior Tre'vone Irby and 6'0 junior Kenny Jones give them solid front court depth.

2. Madison Memorial- In my mind this team may of fallen all the way down to fourth in the conference had they not received the transfer of 6'7 junior Chris Knight from Deforest. Memorial brings back only one starter in 6'6 junior Jake Ferguson but, they have a very talented junior class that saw a decent amount of action a year ago off the bench. Despite have a strong junior class they didn't have that big time go to player but, with Knight they just might have that. 6'7 junior Matt Caropreso is a returner that can give them a very big front line if he starts with Knight and Ferguson. 6'0 junior Billy Wilson, 5'10 junior Logan Knecht, and 6'0 senior Jason Weah all saw minutes off the bench a year ago. I would expect Wilson and Knecht to do most of the ball handling and Weah to be the defensive stopper you can guard anyone on the court whether it be a big or a guard.

3. Middleton- I think this will really be a three team race with Middleton being the third team. They play a ton of guys so they return a lot of players that saw a lot of solid minutes last year including five of their top six players from last years team. They also have strong junior class which should lead to some very good battles with Memorial the next two years. With a Middleton team you know that they are going to play extremely hard tell the game ends. 6'3 junior Tyree Eady is poised for a monster year in my mind as he is a returning second team all conference and they have a pair of very good 5'11 junior guards in CJ Fermanich and Storm Murphy. Fermanich is very heady player that does all the little things and is a three year varsity player while Murphy is a big time scorer in his own right and despite his size he can get his shot off at any time.

4. Sun Prairie- This team will probably live and die with 6'1 senior point guard Sam Kerr. Last year Kerr only started after Noskowiak missed all his time last year and Kerr ended up being the teams leading scorer. I love Kerr's game and he can score big time or can distribute to his team mates. To help Kerr out they need 6'6 senior Rod Johnson to step up. Last year Johnson was asked to come in and just knock down outside shots but, this year they will need more and I think he has it in him. 6'5 senior DeShawn Black, 6'3 junior Ben Hauser, and 6'6 junior Nate Verstegen are also returners that saw some time in the starting lineup last year.

5. Janesville Craig- After tying for last a year ago this might be the biggest mover of the year. I never saw them play last year but, have heard some very good things and they seemed to peak at the end of last year which should learn to some good things this year. Junior point guard 5'10 San'Trell Payton was a second teamer last year and they have some tremendous size in 6'9 junior Adam Anhold and 6'11 senior Riley Jensen. After taking a quick look it appears that they have size in Anhold and I don't know anything about Jensen other then he's 6'11 as he didn't score in their first game of the year and doesn't show any stats from last year.

6. Verona- I really like coach Buss and think he gets the most out of his players even when the talent may not always be there. They bring back three starters from a fifth place finish a year ago, led by 6'4 senior Cole Schmitz who averaged 14 points a game a year ago and was second team all conference.

7. Madison West- Didn't see them a year ago and really don't know much but, they bring back five starters none of which averaged double digits from a team that finished 6-12 in conference a year ago.

8. Beloit- Another team I really didn't see a year ago. 5'10 junior Drew Freitag is a three year varsity player but, think they will really miss Kyan Pleasant who led them in scoring and rebounding a year ago. Thinking back I did see them once play at Just a Game here in the Dells but, other then Pleasant I hardly remember anyone.

9. Madison La Follette- Lots of unknowns here. The Darold Thomas era is over and double digit scorers Quinten Shere and Cortez McCree are gone. Coach Robinson will probably get the most out of his team with hustle and threes but, not sure there is much left for scoring on this team at least guys that can get their own basket.

10. Janesville Parker- In all my years I don't think I watched a Parker team play and that is because they are usually towards the bottom of the conference and it has been pretty rare that they ever finish at the top.

Predicted Standings Big Eight Records
Madison East 15-3
Madison Memorial 13-5
Middleton 13-5
Sun Prairie 12-6
Janesville Craig 11-7
Verona 9-9
Madison West 7-11
Beloit 4-14
Madison La Follette 3-15
Janesville Parker 2-16

Looking at the run down it appears that just like the rest of the state that the junior class is incredibly strong in the Big Eight. After running down the teams I see that the conference is incredibly deep and every team in the top seven has some very strong positives and could challenge anyone else in the conference on any given night. Top to bottom this might be one of the strongest conferences in the state. That being said there probably isn't a state champion contender but, the lower teams are pretty tough and if they were in another conference would probably finish much higher. Thursday night my season will start with a tough one right off the bat in Madison East verse Madison Memorial, my top two teams.