I have to agree with UPSTATE's breakdown of the AA boys. For the most part, that is how I see the teams going into the season. It is hard to guage which teams will be surprises, but that was a pretty good run down.

As far as the girls of AA goes, it is pretty hard to breakdown at this point.

Region 1 will have Bible Baptist whom I think will be the favorite. St. Andrew's no longer has any Wilkowskis and will probably finish last. Beaufort Academy will have a good young point guard, but I believe they have a new coach. The other teams are all in the mix for the middle of the region.

Region 2 is what I think will be the toughest region in AA. Colleton Prep, Holly Hill are both always tough and now you add Thomas Sumter who along with Bible Baptist is my pick to make the state championship game. I know Couch is gone at TSA but they had to learn to play without her for long stretches of time and the 6'4" kid will be a monster in AA.

Region 3 is a tossup. Couldn't even begin to make an informed prediction right now.

Region 4 will have Trinity and Pee Dee once again trying to establish dominance in the conference.

WH boys should be a b-ball powerhouse for a few years. The upcoming JV boys haven't lost a region game in 2 years, and the few non-region losses were by a few points each--all are six three or taller and can run and shoot. WH women will be inexperienced but solid--they lost a great class but have some good young athletes who will now get the chance to shine.

LMA boys return a very good center and a good 3pt shooter at forward--who should be better this year on the defensive end. They also have a transfer who is a very skilled big man (he is a TE on the football team). The women will be tough as usual, though like WH, the talent is unproven.

My understanding is that the well is kind of dry for both men and women at Florence Christian--the men lost a great deal of talent, and the women struggled at both varsity and JV levels.

quote:

Jerrell Richards was a freshman last year and I believe that Tevin Thomas returns also. Those two guys averaged about 40 a game by themselves.

Both of them are playing football-- so yes, Thomas is back too(I think a SR.). They also have a TE on the football team who is 6'6"-- not sure if he plays basketball but if he does they have some size to go with the speed.

Since so many are in the discussion now. Does anyone have a preseason top ten?

Sounds like 3A won't have many arguemnets.

What about 1A and 2A boys?

Who are the preseason players of the year in each class?

Class A Boys Breakdown:

Region I:
I think Andrew Jackson will be the favorite out of this region. Edward Givens transferred from JDA this year for them, and Fender returns. Bowman lost everyone. JDA and Patrick Henry are both very young. St. Francis has one stud kid if he is still there. Overall this is a very weak region though for sure. Nobody should contend for state out of here.

Region II:
Newberry Academy loses Chris Smith and Goldman. Which was the majority of their scoring last season. But Gardner will have his young team contending. Laurens returns most from last year finalist run. I don't know much about Wardlaw, they got a couple of shooters/guards that are upperclassmen this year that can score. Any insight on them anybody? No other teams in this region should be able to compete. I like Laurens to come out of this region on top and contend for state.

Region III:
The favorite would most likely be Glenforest. Everybody returns from last year's team that played in the AA region and state tourney. If Josh Simmons and Matt Jones stay healthy, they could easily win the region. Aiken Christian has a solid club that returns almost everybody from last year. Covenant Christian is an up and coming team that has the ability to surprise some people. A young team with no seniors. Lack of depth may hurt them in the long run. Aiken Prep and S. Aiken Baptist will struggle to win any games at all.

Region IV:
Myrtle Beach Christian Academy will again be the heavy favorite. Return all eight players from last years championship team. Miracle Academy should also complete as well. The beat MBCA last year. Coastal Christian Prep (formerly FB of Mt.Pleasant) also returns most of their team, they play very tough and physical. However, myrlte beach should take this region and be the heavy favorite to win state for the 2nd year in a row.

Any other thoughts on 1A boys basketball?

quote:

Originally posted by Region 7 Fan:
Since so many are in the discussion now. Does anyone have a preseason top ten?

Sounds like 3A won't have many arguemnets.

What about 1A and 2A boys?

Who are the preseason players of the year in each class?

I am going to do Preseason polls in about 2 weeks. I just haven't gathered enough information yet.

There are some things we know and some predictions we can make:

AAA boys player of the year will come down to Middleton and Jennings. Whichever team wins the state championship, that player will win player of the year.

AAA girls player of the year is a toss up right now with about 4 or 5 girls as the early leaders. I would have said Sophomore Kate Brunori at HH Prep would be the favorite till she tore an ACL in August. Other players would be:
Kathleen Blum - HH Prep - Sophomore
Kristen Dickerson - Heathwood Hall - Senior
Ariel Brandner - Heathwood Hall - Senior
Jourdan Winans - Laurence Manning - Senior

There are others, those are just some off of the top of my head.

The players of the year typically come off of the team that wins the State Championship so it is really hard to post them at this point.

AA is going to be so jumbled that there is no way to pick a preseason favorite player. There are some very good returning players though.

I think the AA girls player of the year is going to be one of two players, the transfer at Bible Baptist or the 6'4" Sophomore at Thomas Sumter.

quote:

Originally posted by Irish-T:
WH boys should be a b-ball powerhouse for a few years. The upcoming JV boys haven't lost a region game in 2 years, and the few non-region losses were by a few points each--all are six three or taller and can run and shoot. WH women will be inexperienced but solid--they lost a great class but have some good young athletes who will now get the chance to shine.

LMA boys return a very good center and a good 3pt shooter at forward--who should be better this year on the defensive end. They also have a transfer who is a very skilled big man (he is a TE on the football team). The women will be tough as usual, though like WH, the talent is unproven.

My understanding is that the well is kind of dry for both men and women at Florence Christian--the men lost a great deal of talent, and the women struggled at both varsity and JV levels.

I do believe that Coach Talley will have Wilson Hall right near or at the top of that region. I am not sure powerhouse would be the right descriptive term. The loss of Chad Brading is a huge blow for them. They may well have some good JV kids coming up, but good JV kids don't translate to good state tournament kids very often. The caveat to that is if it is like Heathwood's girls last year and their best player would have been their best player as a 7th grader except that she had to play JV because of the rules change. Hilton Head Prep's girls will experience some of that this year. They had a 7th grader last year that would have been a starter on their varsity if not for the no 7th graders rule. She will move right into Fuller's spot in starting lineup this season.

I do think that Wilson Hall and Laurence Manning are the class of the region at the start of the season. I think Florence Christian will be down, Thomas Sumter is gone and I don't really have any idea of how good Orangeburg Prep could end up being.

ksufreak--I understand your point about JV guys-I think in WH's case is that there was something of a "glut" of talent in the classes of 07 and 08 that kept 3 or 4 of the younger guys on JV an extra year--maybe powerhouse was a bit of an overreach...how about "region favorite"?

OP has one or two solid players but I think they are a wrung below WH and LMA.

KSU, old school, or anyone else. Can somebody do a AAA region by region breakdown/ranking? (Not just a 'Its PG v. PW for state' cause we all know that already..) Thanks!

I thought Jordan Winans graduated

quote:

Originally posted by cyclonefan34:
KSU, old school, or anyone else. Can somebody do a AAA region by region breakdown/ranking? (Not just a 'Its PG v. PW for state' cause we all know that already..) Thanks!

I am going to do one.

Maybe a week from today. I will spend this week compiling information that I can find out.

quote:

Originally posted by beast:
I thought Jordan Winans graduated

Maybe I have it mixed up. Maybe Winans graduated and Crandall is returning. I could have sworn that one of those two girls was just a junior last year.

Crandall would be an even better returner for LMA, she was far and away their best player IMHO.

both winnans and crandall graduated last year. The best girls team returning from that region will be Orangrburg Prep. The girls player of the year in tht particular region for the preseason would be Lauren Holley the 5'11" post player from OP in my opinion.

chazrocco, if memory serves me right, you're a charger right? How are y'all's girls looking this year. Does all the height y'all had last year return?