Big Eight Preview

The season is under way but, the Big Eight conference hasn't started conference games yet. They are far and away the conference that I keep the closest eye on as they are a very good conference, their a division one conference, and they are fairly close to home for me. There always seems to be one or two teams that really surprise and you have some get rivalries in the Madison area because the schools are located so close together. Madison Memorial has always been the class of the conference but, last year Sun Prairie won the conference and finally got to state. Prior to last year Memorial had won 14 straight conference titles.Well here are my picks...

1. Madison Memorial- I think Memorial will get back on top. They have a very good senior class with a good chunk of them having played varsity since they were sophomores. This isn't the Memorial teams of past that loved to get up and down the court. This team will be a slow and steady team that will play great defense, control the tempo, and won't look to shoot a lot of threes, pounding the ball inside. A pair of seniors 6'2 Cade Ellingson and 6'4 Ian Brown will probably do most of the ball handling duties and 6'4 Nick Caropreso will do the dirty work on the inside. I really expect big things from 6'6 junior Yacouba Traore who seemed a little timid at times. 6'4 senior Dryden Schaefer might be the X factor as he's the one guy that can really shoot the three.

2. Madison La Follette- I saw them run Memorial out of the gym in the playoffs last year but, I think their lack of height is going to kill them. Last year they had a couple guys around 6'2 last year but, those guys have graduated. Even without that height they have the top back court in the conference in a pair of seniors 5'8 Donnell Gray and 5'11 Troy Reeves. Gray really controls the game from the point position and Reeves plays off of him and doesn't force things too much. They will miss their senior glass a bit though and will need to get something from last years JV.

3. Madison East- I'm a little higher on East then others but, I really like their juniors 6'3 Keonte Jones and 6'3 Anthony Washington. Both will get more shots now that their top two scorers Keshawn Justice and Early Lewis have moved on. Jones will score but, he's also a tenacious defender. From the summer reports it seems that Washington has made huge strides and is considered a D1 scholarship player at the next level, the athleticism has always been there but, he has to put the shooting and ball handling together. Throw in returning starting point guard 5'10 senior Demonate Thompson and thats a solid core to build around. If they can get something out of their big men 6'5 junior Marcus Justice and 6'6 sophomore Jevan Boyton that would be huge and seeing them finish in the top three.

4. Sun Prairie- A state team a year ago they were killed by graduation and transferring. Jalen Johnson is probably the best player in the state and brother Kobe seemed to be on his way to being a very good player as well. They also graduated their other four starters as well but, the future is bright here. I'm really excited to see 5'11 junior point guard Colin Schaefer as a starter and playing big minutes. His future is very bright. I'm also interested in 6'6 junior Delaware Hale who has been ranked very high in his class but, needs to know his roll and play under control. 6'5 senior Cooper Nelson has started a times in the past. Fellow senior 6'0 Rajai Williams has shown flashes and will be interesting to see what happens if he sees some big minutes.

5. Middleton- Now I'm getting into the unknown here. They basically lost everything but, Middleton always has a ton of seniors and you know their always going to compete. Can't imagine them falling down too much. They were hurt by 6'7 senior Max Schlicht going down with an injury and will miss the season.

6. Verona- Another team I put here basically based on their tradition. Don't know much but, they return a pair of seniors that averaged double digits in 6'0 Tyler Slawek and 6'4 Ryan Van Handel.

7. Janesville Craig- Lost just about everything from last year but, another team that you won't ever find at the bottom of the conference. Honestly that's about all I can say.

8. Madison West- A little cheating here as they did beat Milwaukee Vincent already this year otherwise I might of had them a little lower. Also seems to have a lot of individual talent but, just can't seem to ever put it all together. Four starters back but, they only won four games a year ago.

9. Beloit- Traditionally a better team then this but, year book had them down this low. Haven't seen them play in a couple years so I'll still with the yearbook.

10. Janesville Parker- Well their Parker and unfortunately you basically just always put Parker here. Only won two games last year and lost their top scorer to graduation.

Predicted Conference Records
Memorial 15-3
La Follette 14-4
East 13-5
Sun Prairie 12-6
Middleton 10-8
Verona 9-9
Craig 7-11
West 6-12
Beloit 4-14
Parker 0-18

Well there you have my Big Eight thoughts. To be honest probably everyone will lose at least five games and it wouldn't surprise me one bit. All of these teams are just so close.