The Minneapolis City Preview

<p>Next up?  It’s the Minneapolis City Conference.  A league that received a boost in talent this off-season through a number of quality transfers.  North is the heavy favorite, but after that? </p> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <p>State Title Contender - North</p> <p>North is going to be so deep, one of the deepest teams in the league.  The North vs South games will draw entertaining eyes for sure but North is very likely to win another dozen in the league.  We have fully previewed them recently in a contender series story but overall the Polars have two of the best 7-8 seniors in the state, they have one of the best junior backcourts in the state, there is size, workers, explosive players, depth, coaching, etc. </p> <p>Compete with Most – South, Edison, Southwest</p> <p>South is an interesting mix of a couple good senior guards and a load of freshmen talent, the best freshmen talent in the state actually.  [player_tooltip player_id="957231" first="Anthony" last="Martin"] will lead with experience while 6-foot-8 Chiang Ring enters his freshman year as the top prospect in his class.  Riang, Demari Larkins, and Camren Smith all received valuable experience at Brooklyn Center last year while guard Jerome Williams Jr is the player you saw scoring for the Minnehaha Academy younger teams last year (also now at South).  South is the second most talented team in the league BUT Edison did beat South twice last year and has some very good players returning.  [player_tooltip player_id="957197" first="Jabari" last="Langley"] is first team preseason all league and he’s earned it by his play.  Edison has 5/6 guys back with good experience.  Then you have Southwest who has three starters back and four of their top six from last year.  The Lakers lost their best two players but there is good potential there with good senior guards and two all league caliber juniors.  </p> <p>Rebuilding - Roosevelt, Washburn, Henry</p> <p>Henry is a traditional basketball program and the heart tells you that they will still win and finish 4th/5th even though they have very little experience returning.  The Patriots not only lost a really strong senior group but they also had a couple solid prospects for this season transfer.  Tough to predict them with such little experience on their team.  At Washburn they have three starters back which should give them a decent backcourt but they lost their size as well as one of the league’s best players Josh Rogers.  [player_tooltip player_id="774789" first="Jamar" last="Nelson"] is a solid player for the Millers.  At Roosevelt it’s a real struggle.  One win last year in 27 games. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>20-21 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <ol> <li>North</li> <li>South</li> <li>Edison</li> <li>Southwest</li> <li>Washburn</li> <li>Henry</li> <li>Roosevelt</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Preseason All Metro West</strong></p> <p><strong><u>First Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="532569" first="Andre" last="Gray"] of North (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957197" first="Jabari" last="Langley"] of Edison (Sr)</p> <p>Chiang Ring of South (Fr)</p> <p>Davon Townley of North (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="850709" first="Willie" last="Wilson"] of North (Jr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Second Team</u></strong></p> <p>CJ Brown II of North (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958665" first="Jacob" last="Butler"] of North (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958675" first="Hakeem" last="Ford"] of Southwest (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957231" first="Anthony" last="Martin"] of South (Sr)</p> <p>Mario Sanders of North (Jr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Third Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957643" first="Sam" last="Bradley"] of South (Sr)</p> <p>Demari Larkins of South (Fr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774808" first="Marcus" last="Owens"] of North (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958692" first="Gabe" last="Senseman-Cassidy"] of Southwest (Jr)</p> <p>Johnny Spencer of Edison (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Fourth Team</u></strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958670" first="De’Meiko" last="Anderson"] of North (Jr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774789" first="Jamar" last="Nelson"] of Washburn (Sr)</p> <p>Camren Smith of South (Fr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="957637" first="Jeremiah" last="Thompson"] of Edison (Sr)</p> <p>Jerome Williams Jr of South (Fr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><u>Fifth Team</u></strong></p> <p>Karon Abdullah of Henry (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="962219" first="Elijah" last="Billingsley"] of North (Soph)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774884" first="Nyle" last="Dickel"] of Washburn (Sr)</p> <p>Marcus Mattox of Southwest (Sr)</p> <p>Jaden Reed of Southwest (Sr)</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="774918" first="Jamarion" last="Wheeler"] of Washburn (Sr)</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>