Metro Conference Preview w/ Predictions

There are some very talented and loaded conferences around the state with some special players that are ready to have a big season. Here we take a look at the Metro Conference. Top Ten: Bellevue West, Creighton Prep, Millard North, Omaha Central, Omaha Westside The top of Class A is going to be absolute war, and the Metro Conference is responsible for most of the teams up there. The Mustangs are the reigning State Champs and will be led by Creighton commit [player_tooltip player_id="787647" first="Jasen" last="Green"]. Multiple players ([player_tooltip player_id="1018812" first="David" last="Harmon"], [player_tooltip player_id="1235599" first="Nick" last="Dolezal"], [player_tooltip player_id="1131121" first="Neal" last="Mosser"], etc.) will be tasked with stepping into larger roles, and if their strong play over the summer is any indication, they’re more than ready to do so. Bellevue West has reloaded and will be back in the mix as per usual (I have them as my preseason #1 in Class A). Prep will have a fun 1-2 punch in [player_tooltip player_id="1235576" first="Martel" last="Evans"] and [player_tooltip player_id="981701" first="Luke" last="Jungers"], plus an always great mix of role players that will have the Jr. Jays as competitive as ever. Central is going to go as Jay Dawson and P.J Davis go, two pretty great players to have to carry the workload. Westside might just be the deepest team in the state and legitimately returned everyone. It’s going to be incredibly hard to compete to the amount of talent that the Warriors will be able to constantly cycle onto the court. Top Ten Potential: Gretna, Omaha South, Papio South, Elkhorn South Led by a freshman phenom in [player_tooltip player_id="1131116" first="Landon" last="Pokorski"] a season ago, the Dragons went 12-10. This team is going to continue to keep improving, they are young and loaded with shooters. It’s going to be a year of resurgence for Omaha South. [player_tooltip player_id="1300952" first="T’Andre" last="Perkins"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1152113" first="Jacob" last="Martin"] looked awesome this summer and they’ll be a few of the weapons the Packers will have to put pressure on metro defenses all year. Papio South is another team that’s going to make a lot of noise on the back of their star [player_tooltip player_id="890580" first="Daniel" last="Brocaille"]. Elkhorn South is going to be an incredibly deep team and they’ll do much better than their 11-12 season a year ago. Lots of multi-sport athletes on that roster that can do a lot of things on the court. Compete with Most: Papillion LaVista, Millard South [player_tooltip player_id="890583" first="Kyle" last="Ingwerson"] is one of the best talents in the Metro and will keep the Monarchs competitive. I never want to bet against Coach Leuschen and his Millard South Patriots. I expect those guys to be competing their tails off every night and could end up higher than I’m slotting them right now. They also have a bevy of college prospects with guys like [player_tooltip player_id="1013220" first="Trey" last="Moseman"], [player_tooltip player_id="1013223" first="Maal" last="Jal"], and [player_tooltip player_id="1013230" first="Will" last="Cooper"]. Rebuilding: Bellevue East, Millard West, Omaha Benson, Omaha Burke, Omaha Northwest, Omaha Bryan, Omaha North Benson, Northwest, and Bryan will all be adapting to their new head coach hires. Bryan has one the best players in the Metro in [player_tooltip player_id="890586" first="Lam" last="Kuany"] and he’ll be a headache for teams to plan for all season. Millard West graduated a lot of their roster that made it to state a season ago. Omaha North might take a game or two just by virtue of no one being able to stay in front of [player_tooltip player_id="1031437" first="Mason" last="Strong"]. Bell East took a huge blow when T.K Barnett headed over West but they’ll compete hard every game. They have some interesting pieces in [player_tooltip player_id="1300993" first="Pani" last="Bol"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1236328" first="Eli" last="Robinson"] that made some real noise at the Prep Hoops Expo this October. 21-22 Conference Predictions <ol> <li>Bellevue West</li> <li>Omaha Westside</li> <li>Millard North</li> <li>Creighton Prep</li> <li>Omaha Central</li> <li>Papio South</li> <li>Gretna</li> <li>Elkhorn South</li> <li>Omaha South</li> <li>Millard South</li> <li>Papillion LaVista</li> <li>Bellevue East</li> <li>Millard West</li> <li>Omaha Burke</li> <li>Omaha Bryan</li> <li>Omaha North</li> <li>Omaha Benson</li> <li>Omaha Northwest</li> </ol> Preseason Player of the Year [player_tooltip player_id="890589" first="Jayden" last="Dawson"] (Omaha Central) Preseason All-Metro Team (Note: I went with six players per team and chose them regardless of what position they play) First Team <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1018806" first="William" last="Kyle"] III (Bellevue West) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1013209" first="Josiah" last="Dotzler"] (Bellevue West) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="981701" first="Luke" last="Jungers"] (Creighton Prep)</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="787647" first="Jasen" last="Green"] (Millard North) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="890589" first="Jayden" last="Dawson"] (Omaha Central) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="890580" first="Daniel" last="Brocaille"] (Papio South) </li> </ul> Second Team <ul> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1131116" first="Landon" last="Pokorski"] (Gretna) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="890571" first="Chandler" last="Meeks"] (Omaha Westside) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="890569" first="PJ" last="Davis"] (Omaha Central) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="890572" first="Reggie" last="Thomas"] (Omaha Westside) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1300952" first="T’Andre" last="Perkins"] (Omaha South) </li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="1235576" first="Martel" last="Evans"] (Creighton Prep) </li> </ul>