Way too early 5A playoff teams: 8 1st round byes

<p>Michael Dominguez and Eric Newman talked about the top teams at all the levels and they were spot on. I am diving a little deeper into each conference. Looking at the possible 24 playoff teams for the upcoming 2019-2020 HS season.  </p> <p>With transfers, injuries and players blossoming, much could change but here is my top-8 of the 24 possible playoff teams for 5A:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>1st 8 teams all have a chance for the all important 1st round bye:</strong></p> <p>Crazy how 4 of my top-8 are in the same region. </p> <p><b>Millennium<br /> </b></p> <p>-They have a star in Jr F <strong>DaRon Holmes</strong> (who was 5A player of the year in 2018-19) plus Jr PG <strong>Justus Jackson</strong> is his partner in crime. They also have the deepest group of guards in the state led by Sr <strong>Justice Marmara, Michael Batchelor, Robby Devries, Zach Foster and Donovan Castro.</strong> Plus Sr forwards with <strong>Caleb Wrigh</strong>t and football stud <strong>Jalan Early.</strong> One sleeper on their team who could emerge in the insane depth is Jr guard <strong>Coleman Fields.</strong> </p> <p><b>Sunnyslope </b></p> <p>-Arguably the biggest front court and overall teams in the state led by Jr's <strong>Carson Basham and Grady Lewis</strong> plus bigger wings with Sr's <strong>Paul Hayden, Xzavier Lino</strong> and soph <strong>Elijah Saunders</strong>. Then a nice group of guards led by soph studs <strong>Oakland Fort and Jayden Warren</strong> plus Sr <strong>Malcolm Alexa</strong>.  </p> <p><b>Gilbert </b></p> <p>-Last year Carson Towt led the way but this year will be more relied on by their nice group of guards. Leading the way will be Sr's <strong>Brycen Long, Jaqwuan Myles</strong> and Swiss army knife <strong>Paul Maldonado</strong> plus Jr <strong>Tampa Scott</strong>, who can not be slept on. Up front will be Sr big <strong>Griffin Lamb</strong> and soph <strong>Reed Shuey</strong>. Lamb missed a full year so he will be a wild card to see where he is at. Lastly another piece to the puzzle will be soph <strong>Nikko Pentelute</strong>. <b><br /> </b></p> <p><b>Ironwood </b></p> <p>-Another team that will heavily rely on their strong group of guards. They will be led by Sr stud <strong>Dominic Gonzalez</strong> and Jr's <strong>Bailon Black</strong> and the strong <strong>JJ White.</strong> Black and Gonzalez can slide over to the 1 and White seemingly can defend anyone. Up front they will rely on Jr <strong>Steiner Christianson</strong> and have a nice shooter to round out the team with Sr guard <strong>Aaron Rice</strong>. </p> <p><b>Williams Field <br /> </b></p> <p>-Had a breakout year for their program last year and have a talented group of Juniors led by <strong>Montez Taylor.</strong> He will play next to Junior forwards <strong>Ti Cochrane, Tanner Crawford</strong> and guard <strong>Charles Temple.</strong> They also added big Buckeye Jr transfer <strong>LeRoy Williams</strong>. Next year they will have 5 strong senior starters but for this year, they will still make a lot of noise.  </p> <p><b>Apollo </b></p> <p>-They have a good core group of players coming back led by seniors <strong>Zeke Thompkins, Demetrius Edwards, Opulley Taban and Jaylen Glover</strong> plus the talented junior <strong>Paris Woods</strong> and soph sniper <strong>Ahamed Mohamed.</strong></p> <p><b>Paradise Valley<br /> </b></p> <p>-A big team with senior forwards in <strong>Kendal Watson and Anthony Giliberto</strong> plus juniors <strong>Moses Demalek and Alex Gaylor</strong>. They also have talented wing in senior <strong>Jordan Hope.</strong> Very good team but the major issue is their big hole at the PG spot. They do have 3 months to figure it out.</p> <p><b>Centennial <br /> </b></p> <p>-Good mixture of Sr’s and sophs. Sr F <strong>David Teibo</strong> plus guards <strong>Maclolm Daniels and Jo Jo Rincon</strong> will lead the way. Then soph guards <strong>Trenten Lavender, Jake Lifgren</strong> and newcomer <strong>Patrick Chew.</strong>  </p>