Region Preview: Region 8
Region 8 will be deeper than it was last year. While they did not make it into the top three, Maple Mountain brings back some core prospects who were underclassmen last year. Further, Wasatch has some pieces that will enable them to have some success. Springville, on the other hand, is the biggest question mark.
With that said, this group should be potent with a number of teams capable of beating each other.
1. Skyridge
An argument could easily be made for Timpanogoes to be in this spot. However, Skyridge experienced a lot of success last season despite being led by youthful prospects. Duncan Reid Duncan Reid 6'4" | SG Skyridge | 2021 State UT played a huge role for this team due in large part to his ability to shoot the basketball at a high percentage. In fact, he shot it over 40% from three.
In addition to Reid, Skyridge brings back their leading scorer from last year in Trevon Snoddy. Snoddy led the team in rebounds and points while being a double-double caliber player all year despite his youth.
This group is dangerous and the scariest part about them is that they have more than one year to make noise in 5A. Reid will only be a sophomore and Snoddy will be a junior this year. These two prospects have demonstrated that they are able to make big time impacts in games already. Expect that to go to another level with time to train and more experience under their belt.
2. Timpanogoes
Timpanogoes is well coached and plays extremely hard. They will be fortunate enough to have one of the top prospects in the state leading the way for them as well. Matt Norman will be the go to player for Timpanogoes this upcoming season. He is capable of scoring the basketball in an array of ways. With that said, he is a knock down shooter from deep who will make the opposition pay if he is left open.
Norman will need to find some other prospects to aid him in carrying the load, however, in order for Timpanogoes to reach their potential. This summer, the group played well and had a number of guys play well. It will be intriguing to see who steps up as there are a lot of unknowns with this team at this point.
3. Provo
Provo struggled last season. However, they did so while playing a lot of youth. They will bring back a group that has more experience and prospects who have demonstrated that they can make plays at the varsity level. While they bring back three of their four leading scorers, and that is very intriguing, they still need to prove that they can win at the 5A level.
Expect them to do that and more. This team could challenge for a top spot in 5A this season due to the contributions of Jared Perez, Mason Miles, and Gabriel Gutierrez Gabriel Gutierrez 6'3" | SF Provo | 2020 State UT . The argument could be made that Provo brings back the most firepower in this region as they are the only team to bring back three prospects who averaged over 10 points per game last season.
This should be a fun group to watch as there is plenty of talent to go around.