Top Five Preview: Sixth Region

<p>Over the next 2 months, we'll preview the top teams and players in each of the 16 regions as we move toward the 2019-2020 regular season. As part of our preview, we'll break down the regional title contenders and the top college prospects in every region. We continue with the sixth region, where Butler looks to hold off a loaded Fern Creek team and get back to Rupp Arena.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Top Five Regional Title Contenders:</strong></span></p> <p>Fern Creek - Loaded with talent, this Creek team's lone weakness appears to be a lack of depth. Most of their reserves transferred this summer due to playing time concerns. Their starting 5 features 3 Juniors with D1 offers and another Junior with D1 potential (assuming <strong>Cearius Warren</strong> gets eligible). Expectations are high for the Tigers this season.</p> <p>Butler - Butler isn't going to match the star power of Fern Creek but they have really quality depth and play very hard. They lack a great post defender but they won't need one very often. With <strong>Cam Underwood and Tre Minter</strong> leading the team and a very solid Sophomore class anxious to contribute, the Bears should be peaking when the postseason gets here.</p> <p>PRP - The Panthers lost a lot to graduation but Senior PG <strong>James Taylor, Jr. </strong>is back to lead a PRP squad that will be led by a new coach for the first time in decades. They'll be a formidable defensive team but right now it's hard to see them scoring consistently in the 60s and 70s. They should grind teams down in the half court and rely on Taylor to distribute the ball to open scorers.</p> <p>Bullitt East - After losing the regional title game to Butler last season, East returns leading scorer <strong>Zak Perdew </strong>and 8 other players who played varsity last season. The Chargers are well coached and have a roster full of players who have tremendous chemistry and a legitimate X factor in Sophomore <strong>Yared Raley</strong> who can be a contributor if he keeps developing his game.</p> <p>Jeffersontown - Perhaps the biggest question mark in the region, J-Town has impact transfers in <strong>Casey Steadmon and Jaylen Fairman</strong> along with Super Sophomore <strong>Brandon Rayzer-Moore. </strong>They could be a year away from being serious threats to win the region and get to Rupp but they have a lot of talent and if it all gels by February, they can surprise some people.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Top 5 College Prospects:</strong></span></p> <p>Jaden Rogers, Fern Creek - Holding 3 D1 offers and interest from high major schools, Jaden is a scoring point guard who is one of the top Juniors in the state and a potential Power 5 recruit by this time next year.</p> <p>Zek Montgomery, Fern Creek - A college coach told me last week that he thinks Montgomery is the best prospect in the entire Junior class. Blessed with great size and athleticism, Zek has really developed his game over the past year and keeps getting better with each viewing.</p> <p>Darrius Washington, Fern Creek - Washington has the size and bulk to anchor the post for the Tigers and can be a matchup nightmare for opposing teams who can't deal with him on the block. Morehead State has offered Darrius and he could continue to add offers in the coming months.</p> <p>Brandon Rayzer-Moore, Jeffersontown - A silky smooth scorer, I'd like to see what Brandon can do if he's allowed to play through mistakes. When I saw him play AAU, I loved his game but he was never allowed to play for long. I look forward to seeing him play with less of a leash at J-Town this season.</p> <p>Turrell Cleaves, Jr., Butler -  Our second ranked player in the Sophomore class, Turrell is long and athletic and has one of the highest ceilings in the state when he's engaged and playing hard. If he's locked in all season, he can be one of the best players in the region this season.</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Predicted Mr. Basketball Finalist:</strong></span></p> <p>Zak Perdew, Bullitt East</p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Predicted Regional Champion:</strong></span></p> <p>Fern Creek</p>