Washburn coach
Reggie Perkins
More of the usual here in the league with the best nicknames around. Can Washburn sustain after losing their huge senior class. Can North take another step up? Will Southwest escape the cellar?
Edison Tommies (2008 season 8-18, 4-8 Conference)
The Tommies lose Jonathan Conner and his 18 points a night. Marnell Davis returns to lead the way. Junior forward Mathew Lanier is another one to watch. Will their rematch vs MN Transitions break the all time record for points in a game?
North Polars (2008 season 16-9, 9-3 Conference)
The loss of Kevin Thompson costs the Polars a dynamic scorer. But coach Bo Powell has a nice group remaining. Junior Malik El-Amin returns at the point. Sophomore guard Charles Smith will see lots of time and Mark Devine is a shot blocker in the middle. Leading scorer Pengi Mboma returns up front. The loss of Spencer Puckett will cost them toughness.
Patrick Henry Patriots (2008 season 15-13, 9-3 Conference)
You will find no backcourt quicker than Louis Cox and Jordan Hughes. Hughes is as close to an Allen Iverson clone as you'll find anywhere as he can really fill it up and raise havoc in passing lanes. Dennis Joiner, Jordan McArthur and Fred Henry provide depth for the high powered backcourt. The loss of Evan Gray up front costs the Patriots their best big man. The remaining bigs such as George Meredith are bangers and minimal offensive threats.
Roosevelt Teddies (2008 season 6-22, 1-11 Conference)
The loss of scorer Eddie Boler and shooter Gobana Sameru costs the Teddies their 2 best scorers. Junior Calvin Jenkins and senior James Smith return for a very small squad. I'll also be watching Donovan Allen.
South Tigers (2008 season 12-15, 6-6 Conference)
Alonzo Traylor returns as the top big man in the league at 20 pts a night and should have a bunch of big nights against a small league. Derrick Boone also returns up front. Victor Easter was a leader for the squad. He'll be missed. Devell Wright is the top returning guard. Sophomore Carnell Shephard is a youngster I'll be following.
Southwest Lakers (2008 season 5-20, 1-11 Conference)
Center and leading scorer Dominique Dawson's 21.6 PPG has moved on to Minnesota. Elliot Matheiu is also gone taking away the 2nd leading scorer. Senior Jon Berry and junior Ayrton Scott are the top returnees. The cupboard is somewhat bare.
Washburn Millers (2008 season 26-5, 12-0 Conference)
There's a heavy price to be paid for a state championship as the the Millers lose 10 outstanding seniors. But last year's JVs were very talented, see the victory over Hopkins early in the year as proof. Juniors Clarence Thomas and Dwight Anderson should lead the way after lighting up the JV Twin Cities game. Joel Powell and Cedric Chappell are others that should make contributions.
Predicted Order of Finish
- Patrick Henry
- Washburn
- North
- South
- Edison
- Roosevelt
- Southwest
Breakout/Surprise Player: Dwight Anderson - Washburn
Games that will determine the conference title
- Henry at Washburn - January 21st
- Henry at North - January 30th
- Washburn at North - February 12th
- North at Henry - February 15th
- Washburn at Henry - February 23rd
- Henry at Holy Angels - December 8th
- North vs Plainview-Elgin-Millville - December 12th (Breakdown Tipoff Classic at Minnetonka)
- Henry vs Minnesota Transitions - December 12th (Breakdown Tipoff Classic at Minnetonka)
- Shakopee at Henry - December 17th
- Washburn at Staples-Motley - February 6th
- Washburn at Hopkins - February 20th
- De La Salle at Henry - March 2nd
Reggie Perkins picture courtesy of MNPhotoNet.net
Wow interesting views Czar! For the record, Jordan McArthur no longer goes to Henry, and George Meredith graduated last year...not to mention John Hicks tranferred back to Edison (which will help them tremendously). I think those losses will be made up for tremendously by a couple of sophomores, Latrell Love and Ben Glover. Both had big time summers with Pulley, Pump N Run, Southside and MN Static. Not to mention tons of JV experience last year, and Latrell even played a little varsity (why doesn't this kid get any respect), not to mention Ben jumps out of the gym, literally (check him out on Youtube). I think this is truly one of the most underrated squads in 3A, in fact I see them as a state championship contender, your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteHoopaholic thanks. Previewing the city leagues is always a bear. You'll recall I had Thomas Cunningham in 3 different places last year. The more things change the more they stay the same.
ReplyDeleteHow did I forget Love and Glover? Nice players. They may need Love this year for size. Glover probably should play up, but they have so many guards. Not sure they contend in 3A (I'll wait until I preview 3A to go over that), but they have the ability to play with most teams.
I also found out that Davis isn't at Edison.
Actually I did hear that Davis had left Edison, rumor has it that he went to MTS! Were you aware that Dunwoody Academy and North combined to become one school? Adding nwhatever talent Dunwoody had to what North already has only makes them stronger. I also heard that there's a really nice guard that left BSM and he went over to South, Trent Pollard. He played JV at BSM as a frosh last year, so he should contribute somewhat for South this year.
ReplyDeleteThe ever changing face of the city right??
I had heard about North and Dunwoody combining. Dunwoody had a ton of quick guards so the integration will be interesting. Pollard would be a nice pickup for South. MTS with another pickup from Edison ? That'd be a nice get for MTS.
ReplyDeleteJust got some more info for ya Czar! Word is Jordan McArthur is over at St Louis Park, don't know much about them but I'm sure his three point shooting would help out tremendously. I also heard that a huge 6'8" kid from Apple Valley s at Washburn now....Hansen?? Have you heard anything on that one at all? Not sure if its true or not, but if so thats scary size for the city.
ReplyDeleteDid not know much about the MPLS city until My roommate and I went to some fun High School games last season, 1. Washburn vs Hopkins which was a great game both Jv and Varsity The Kid from the Paper Riley Dearing had 33 points and the Varsity game was even better with Royce White's Domination Fun!! 2. Henry vs North another very good game i think hoopaholic33 is right Latrell is a beast and so is glover. My buddy is a ref and went to see some summer bball and I saw Latrell kill inside and win a championship at the P&R tournament . Big bball fan and love watching and reading about good bball, Thanks Czar,,,, GO Gophers!!!
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you gopherdude, and I was also at that P & R Tournament, and you're right, Love flat out dominated for the most part (playing alongside some other great scorers didn't stop him, Riley Dearring and Deonte Blakemore). The most impressive thing I noticed was in all those games he was matched up against 2 or 3 big guys his size or taller and he pretty much killed them all.
ReplyDeleteI really do think the Mpls City Conf produces some of the best talent from top to bottom. They may not be as big or as fundamentally sound as a lot of the suburban kids, but they always seem to be a little more driven and tad bit more competitive....which leads to some pretty exciting games on most nights! Not to mention that a lot of these great players on some of these suburban teams are actually from and live in the cities. So imagine how exciting and competitive this league and these teams would be if everyone was where they should be.....but thats just open enrollment and the nature of the beast.
But thats a different topic for a different day, right Czar?
Washburn vs Hopkins was a great night at the JV and Varsity levels. Gopherdude, I'll let you slide on the Go Gophers reference slide 1 time as those are vulgar words in these parts. :)
ReplyDeleteHoop, to your point about competition, it would be nice to the old days of Henry vs North. And yes, the joys of open enrollment taking many of the kids to play in the suburbs. But I'll leave that one alone.
Good call, lets leave that one alone....very touchy.
ReplyDeleteI just saw on your N Suburban preview that the AV kid, Hansen is at Heights not The Burn, he may just be the size they need to have a special year.
Thanks for all the info and reply's Czar, your site is definitely one of the most fun and informative out here, period!
PS
GO GOPHERS!!! ;)
don't forget to talk about forward Thomas Ford he had a break out year at southwest averaging about 19 points and 10 rebounds and he was also on Jv he was averaging 10 points this kid is very tall and can rebound. he transfered to mpls south over the offseason keep and eye on him.
ReplyDeletedont forget about jonah kaplan he was killin last year for sw
ReplyDeleteI would really agree with u two men about Trent pollard he is very quick and goes to the basket very strong. i have seen him play multiple times jv and VARSITY situations and this kid is smart and noes what to so watch out for him mpls conference because hes coming hard
ReplyDeleteczar????
ReplyDeleteHello guys. Latrell Love is my older brother. We just want to say we greatly appreciate your comments! He's striving for the best, and he is glad somebody is recognizing it!
ReplyDeletewashburn has more great talented jr's such as benile st margret tranfer foward javon smith and jr gaurd keith crenshaw jr can help this miller team
ReplyDeletebut look at who the conference mpls north. and you should also take a look at that Troy May. The freshman gaurd over at mpls north. who plays jv,
ReplyDelete