Tuesday, April 5, 2016

2016-2017 Preview

The season has come to an end and it's never to early to look towards next year. I thought I would do a quick run down of each division of at least the top five teams. Will just be a quick write up off the top of my head and without doing a ton of research.

Division One
With Stevens Point losing their two big guns in Trev Anderson and Sam Hauser the door should open for someone else. Point will still be my number sixth team with Joey Hauser back and he should have a monster junior year.

1. Milwaukee Riverside- They return everyone from a top five team all year and were a tip in at the buzzer from making it to the final four. Their led by a pair of D1 recruits in 6'6 Terrence Lewis and 6'5 George Dixon.

2. Middleton- Started the year 14-0 and bring back four starters and seven rotation players. Tyree Eady and Storm Murphy will both be scholarship players.

3. Racine Park- Lost only three games this past year and have a very good freshmen class coming back led by 6'9 Nobal Hayes, Larry Canady, and Demonta Hudson.

4. Madison Memorial- All five starters are back and they have a front line of 6'8, 6'6, and 6'5 and Chris Knight is a big time scholarship player.

5. Oshkosh North- Have a tremendous back court with the return of 6'6 Philip Flory who missed all of last year who will team with Shane Wissink and Tyrese Hailburton.

Other Teams
Stevens Point, Milwaukee King, Milwaukee Vincent, Arrowhead, Appleton West

Division Two
This could nearly be a repeat of this years state as most of the teams were led by juniors and sophomores. The stars will be in D2 and the one man teams.

1. Kaukauna- Jordan McCabe was a first team all state selection and he had two more years to play and Adam Smith averaged 18 points a game as a number two scorer.

2. La Crosse Central- Kobe King averaged 26 a game and he's going to the Badgers for a reason. Baily Kale averaged 20 in his own right.

3. Whitnall- Like McCabe, Tyler Herro will be around two more years before having his choice of colleges and Keveon Taylor had a huge state game that should give him some attention.

4. Milwaukee Washington- They always seem to be at the top of the division and they have a ton of athletes on the team. Playing D1s all year long always seem to help them.

5. Cedarburg- Have all five starters back including high scorers John Diener and Jordan Johnson.

Other top teams
Waunakee, Onalaska, New Berlin Eisenhower, Pewaukee, La Crosse Logan

Division Three
Rumor has it that Dominican will be D3 and if that's the case they will be my #2 team but, right now I'm acting under the impression that everything will remain the same.

1. Ripon- All five starters are back and they have a pair of D1 recruits in Bennett Vander Plas and Luke Lowe.

2. Brown Deer- Another team that benefits from the drop down effect playing D1 schools all year long. They are always loaded with tons of talent.

3. Appleton Xavier- Had a very strong sophomore class headlined by Hunter Plaman.

4. Lake Mills- Will have one of the best backcourts in Alex Ranney and Brady Wagner.

5. Prescott- 7'0 Owen Hamilton is a tough match up for anyone and they've really built a strong tradition in the past five years.

Other top teams
Waupun

Division Four
Honestly I don't have much of a clue here. You have Dominican as the heavy favorite but, if they move up to D3 then you will have a complete crap shoot. There was mention of D3 state team Prairie du Chien moving down so then they would be my pick for state.

Division Five
McDonnell Central is the clear favorite but, I think there's a handful of teams that could give them a run.

1. McDonnell Central- State champs have four starters back and they have a huge front line of 6'7, 6'6, and 6'5.

2. Bangor- Lost only four games this past year and bring back two of their top three scorers.

3. Columbus Catholic- Lose only two rotation players and bring back a ton of guards which should benefit the way they play fast and shoot lots of threes.

4. Barneveld- State team this past year and bring back their top scorer in Mathew Myers.