Class AAAA Most Improved Teams

Matt Bigelow

October 30, 2019 @ 10:24 AM

Teams are always changing. Sometimes for better, sometimes for worse. Every year, certain teams are hyped up to be really good before disappointing for a variety of reasons. And on the flip side, there are always teams that seemingly come from nowhere to surprise people and enjoy a lot of success. Here are some teams that could see significant jumps in wins from last year: Rochester Mayo Rochester Mayo went into last year with some hype and the Spartans were a mixed bag most of the year. They have talent obviously with the Madsen twins both averaging better than 20 points per game. They won 15 games and had some nice wins. But they also had some confounding losses. Giving up 76 points per game is far too many no matter how fast they play. Talent certainly isn’t an issue as Mayo still has the Madsen brothers plus intriguing role players like Andre Crockett, Michael Sharp and Mohamed Hamadelniel. If the defense improves, this team can contend in the Big 9. Rogers Rogers has been a model of consistency for years but finally hit a snag last winter, going 11-16 with nine straight losses from early December to early January. The Royals graduate senior talent as always, but there’s a lot of young talent in the program ready to emerge. Jake Herman, Sam Simpon and Thomas Glad return after playing main minutes last year to give them a solid backcourt. Rogers won’t be the favorite to win the Mississippi 8 or Section 8, but they should be a lot more competitive. Lakeville South Lakeville South has been a talented team stuck in a monster conference and section for years now, but the Cougars have the capability to move up the food chain in both this winter. After going .500 last year, the Cougars return four starters including three top scorers in Reid Patterson, Riley Mahlman and Joe Bachinski. Watch out for sophomore Avery Mast as well. He could be a big breakout guy for a team that could contend for a top three finish in its conference and may be the favorite in Section 1. Rosemount Rosemount might not be picked to win its conference. The Irish won’t be favored to come out of Section 3. I’m not calling either of those things. But the Irish won four games last year relying on a number of underclassmen and inexperienced players and predictably took some lumps. With a really good core of juniors like Noah Loehr, Zach Wenthe and Sean Sullivan plus solid role players like Matt Schwinefus and Dylan Princl back, the Irish could triple its win total from a year ago.