Preview: South Meck 8 Conference
Here is the PrepHoopsNC South Meck 8 Conference Preview 1. Ardrey Kell High School– Finished 13-14 including a 9-5 record in the SoMeck8 conference. Return North Florida commit Wes Morgan, a 6-foot-7 wing with deep range.https://prephoops.com/2016/08/prospect-report-wes-morgan-2017/ Also returning are junior point…
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Continue ReadingHere is the PrepHoopsNC South Meck 8 Conference Preview
1. Ardrey Kell High School– Finished 13-14 including a 9-5 record in the SoMeck8 conference. Return North Florida commit Wes Morgan, a 6-foot-7 wing with deep range.https://prephoops.com/2016/08/prospect-report-wes-morgan-2017/ Also returning are junior point guards David Kasanganay and Harper Hendricks. Ardrey Kell should be in a position to take the top honors in the conference with a strong season from Morgan who averaged 12 points per outing last season.
2. Charlotte Catholic- Charlotte Catholic basketball and football teams won the NCHSAA 4-A state championships last season. The first time for that feat in 53 years when Rocky Mount High School did it in 1963.
Charlotte Catholic looks to build on the momentum from last seasons NCHSAA 4-A State Championship. Five players return from last year’s team, including 2-year starter Jimmy Abate. Jimmy is a player that can do it all. He can score in the paint or he can shoot the 3. He plays with a calm that was on display when he hit 2 FT’s with less that 7 seconds in the state championship game that put the Cougars up three.
Trey Kloiber will be looked upon to provide a scoring punch for the Cougars. Trey is a smooth player that will surprise many with his athleticism. He can shoot the ball and will be counted on as a key perimeter defender.
Returning: Nick Scibelli, Brady Berger, and Jack McArdle will be needed to provide leadership to a talented group of players coming from a JV team that went undefeated during the 2015-2016 campaign.
Schedule: Charlotte Catholic will play an extremely challenging out of conference schedule. Teams include; The Burlington School (CHC7), Butler, Rocky River, Weddington, Myers Park, Charlotte Latin, Charlotte Country Day. Catholic will also play in the Hoodies Holiday Classic during the Christmas break.
While the Cougars lost 9 seniors from last year’s championship team they look to continue building a program that will compete year in and year out for championships. They will be challenged out of conference and use this to prepare for a tough conference schedule.
Over the summer, heralded big man BJ Mack (ranked #4 in PrepHoopsNC 2019 class) transferred from Charlotte Catholic High School to Charlotte Christian. It will be some huge shoes to fill but veteran head coach Mike King will have Charlotte Catholic ready to defend their NCHSAA 4-A crown.
3. South Mecklenburg High School- Finished 13-12 including 8-6 in the SoMeck8 conference last season. The Sabres return one player off the team last year that made it tothe second round of the NCHSAA playoffs, Bryant Thomas a 6-foot-8 center. Also in the mix to help with some of the scoring duties will be 6-foot-5 sophomore guard Paul Hudson.
Jaylan McGill
4. Olympic High School- First-year head coach Baronton Terry is at the helm of The Trojans after spending the last few years at West Charlotte High School. He helped lead The Lions to a state championship in 2011 and a runner-up finish in 2012. The Trojans won it all in 2013 under former head coach Ty Baumgardner. The return of former Trojan Jaylan McGill will definitely be a big boost to the program. https://prephoops.com/2016/11/coming-home-jaylan-mcgill-2017/ The Trojans also return some scoring in the tune of 11 points per game from senior guard Jordan Chambers and Aaron Barker, a sophomore forward.
5. Berry Academy- One of the best coaches in Charlotte, Maurice Jones lost a couple key players to transfer this off-season but he will have his team ready to play this season. Berry will return no starters from last season’s 21-8 team.
Key Returners: Webster Filmore 6’6″ Jr. Post- Athletic rebounder/ shot blocker
Jaydon Woodard 6’1″ Jr. Guard- Crafty PG that can score
Key Newcomers:
*Maurice Brown 6’0″ Frosh Guard – Young guard that can score the ball.
*Anjay Cortez 6’5″ Sophomore Wing- Long skilled wing with huge upside
2016-17 Outlook– Lost a lot with graduation (Tevin Heath , Chandler Murray and Jael Scott) and key transfer but with some young talent we will look to compete in one of the toughest conferences in the state, the South Meck 8. A couple key games will be against conference foes Ardrey Kell High School, Olympic High School (now coached by former West Charlotte state champion coach Baronton Terry) and Harding High School (coached by PrepHoopsNC Top 250 Coach Walt Aikens). A few other key games are the Charlotte Hoops Challenge, theHoliday Hoops Classic, along with North Mecklenburg High School Dec 2nd, West Charlotte High School and Rocky River High School (features two players ranked in top 10 of 2019 and 2020 classes by PrepHoopsNC) Nov. 18th.
6. West Mecklenburg High School– Head Coach Robert Hollis’s team finished 2-21 last season but return 6-foot-4 forward Donovan Ferguson and brothers Dyami Brown who averaged 15 points per game and sophomore guard Khafre Brown who averaged 12 points per game this past season.
7. Harding High School- I had the chance to watch a Harding High School a few years ago and left nothing short of amazed. Coach Walt Aikens demands a lot from his players and he gets all of it. It was one of the best orchestrated practices that I have ever seen. Aikens played basketball collegiately at Queens in Charlotte and is regarded as one of the best players in school history. This season Harding will need to replace a bulk of thier scoring from graduation and transfer. Returning is 2017 guard Matthias Talley who averaged almost 9 points per game last season. Also returning this season off last year’s 11-15 team which finished 8-6 in the SoMeck8 last season is 6-foot-5 senior center Prince Ngwenah and 5-foot-9 senior guard Jaquan Rankins.
8. Providence High School– First year head coach Larry Epperly will have his hands full this season after Providence finished 5-20 last season. Returning is Virginia Tech football commit Drake DeIuliis, a 6-foot-6 forward.