Bold Predictions: Greater Cleveland Conference

Anthony Garcia July 14, 2018 @ 07:46 AM

The Greater Cleveland Conference was one of the state’s most influential groupings of teams last year. Between Solon and Shaker Heights alone, you had the no. 1 team in the Division I AP Poll along with the hottest ticket in Ohio. Between Sincere Carry, Dale Bonner, and Christian Guess, there were three players who earned either First or Second Team All-Ohio.

I’m not sure we’ll see fireworks like that for some time. The 2018 season in NE Ohio may have been a once in a decade type of thing. However, the GCC has new leaders emerging who are ready for their time at the top in 2018-19.

It’s Dakota Cochran’s team now

Along with incoming freshman Danny Young Jr., 6’2” guard Dakota Cochran is going to be the shot-taker for Shaker Heights next season. Last year, almost all of his offense was created by the two senior slashers. Instead of spotting up in the corner, Cochran will now need to take opponents off the dribble.

In our time watching Cochran in the grassroots season, he’s been most effective as a shot creator in transition. He’s an explosive two-guard who beats opponents with pure speed and bounce at the rim. Otherwise, he remains a confident spot shooter. If anyone else is able to draw help-side defense off of him, those are easy buckets for Cochran.

Shaker Heights won’t likely be the toast of the town again, but the Red Raiders should look forward to this being Cochran’s offense now.

Trubisky is the conference’s top forward

Mason Trubisky, a 6’6” forward from Mentor, needs to simply run the floor and crash the boards to be the GCC’s top forward. This predictions rings especially likely with Shaker Heights’ Kevin Bishop on the way to Benedictine.

We watched Trubisky in a June shoot-out game against Toledo St. John’s and came away impressed with his fluidity and inside scoring touch. With the exception of solon, we don't see a team who can match his size and agility with a forward of their own.

First Team All GCC

Garvin Clarke (2020), 6’0” PG, Euclid
Luke Chicone (2021), 5’6” PG, Mentor
Mike Bekelja (2019), 6’0” G, Solon
Trent Williams (2019), 6’0” G, Solon
Kyle Goessler (2019), 6’2” G, Brunswick

As you can tell, the guard matchups will be fun to watch this season during conference play.

The surprise member of this team has to be Luke Chicone, a sophomore-to-be who didn’t make a huge impact as an undersized frosh last year. Chicone no longer has the luxury of learning from upperclassmen. Instead, he’ll likely be thrown into the Cards varsity starting lineup as the point guard and primary playmaker. We believe he’s ready to shine in that role. Chicone creates space for his 3-point jumper with skill and quickness. He also sees the floor like a true floor general and will set up teammates for success.

With our anticipation that Mentor will still be rather successful next season, Chicone will force his way into the discussion as a top five player in the conference.

Player of the Year: Garvin Clarke

This is actually a very tough call because Euclid likely won’t win the conference next season. However, without Clarke running the show, they might be without hope in many of their games. Instead, the D-I point guard prospect gives them a chance on any given night. Clarke has improved as a long-range scorer since last season, which will likely open up driving lanes for himself also.

With Euclid putting together an over-.500 record and Clarke averaging around 20-4-4, he’s got to win the award.

Solon is going back-to-back

We’ve saved our Solon talk for last. But make no mistake, we feel pretty confident in this prediction. Despite losing the people’s choice for Mr. Basketball last season, Sincere Carry, to Duquesne’s basketball program, the Comets bring back nearly everyone else.

They have two of the best guards in NE Ohio with Mike Bekelja and Trent Williams. We expect Bekelja to do the bulk of the ball-handling, but both are capable of making plays off the dribble. Together, they averaged 34.3 points as juniors.

Solon also has a formidable pair of forwards — David Marbury and Nick Close — who provide defensive versatility, rebounding, and shooting in the frontcourt. Finding production from Brandon Brown and Marcus Steele is important for their postseason success. However, the four primary contributors should run away with the GCC regardless.