Class AAAA Title Contender: Rosemount

<p>The Irish made the state tournament last year and will be among three very good 3AAAA teams that list as favorites to earn that spot in 2022.  Here come the Irish!</p> <p><strong>Key Wins in 20-21 (15-7)</strong><strong>: </strong>  Prior Lake, Lakeville South, Lakeville North, Shakopee, Park of Cottage Grove</p> <p><strong>Oops</strong>: CDH, Eastview, Farmington, Lakeville North, Shakopee</p> <p><strong>Moving On: </strong>You may not see the Irish as high in preseason rankings as some others and that hesitation comes from the loss of four starters.  Sean Sullivan was the second leading scorer and the point guard for the Irish last year, and he’s the biggest loss. Then you have the starting bigs Zach Wenthe and Noah Loehr, the leading rebounders and 3rd/4th leading scorers, both of which need to be replayed.  Teddy Bellrichard was the worker and 5th starter of the squad.  The Irish have four other players that played a little at times, or just played off the bench in late game blowout situations.  </p> <p><strong>Returning Starters (1): </strong>  [player_tooltip player_id="796947" first="Caleb" last="Siwek"] is one of the best shooters, one of the best scorers, and one of the players in the state.  Siwek averaged 20 plus points a game last season and is expected to have an even bigger season this year.  Siwek is one of the best shooters in the state but he’s more than that.  This is one of the state’s top competitors which is often seen in the way he rebounds, the way he gets to the cup, and the way he plays at the end of games. </p> <p><strong>Reserves Playing a Bigger Role: </strong>Rosemount has a number of players ready to take the next step, and look like they are ready for the next step. If you pay attention to Minnesota high school basketball you likely heard about the 16u All State level summer that [player_tooltip player_id="1220381" first="Anish" last="Ramlall"] had.  Ramlall is a very skilled, heady, competitive guard that should step right into the Sean Sullivan role and play it well.  Anish was a support guard last year as a sophomore and should be a strong player as an upperclassmen.</p> <p>Stepping into the Wenthe and Loehr roles will be, or should be 6’6 senior [player_tooltip player_id="1201801" first="Sam" last="Kuseske"] and 6’5 junior [player_tooltip player_id="1226396" first="Carter" last="Theisen"].  Both players came off the bench last year and contributed, and now they are looking at the starting roles.  Kuseske had a great summer with Minnesota Select playing good defense and hitting shots inside and out.  Theisen is a year younger but has similar potential to have a strong year.  Theisen is a good post player and has had a nice fall league run. Six-foot-2 guard Cedric Wall is the other player from last year’s rotation returning.  Wall is a senior guard that was in that 8th/9th Man role last year and has a chance to start or be a 6th man type this season.  </p> <p><strong>Potentials from the JV:  </strong>A guard that played JV last year that should add depth is Dylan Young.  Young is a senior.  Collin Archer and Gavin Bass are 6’3 forwards that played on JV as sophomores.  Bass is a 200 pound agile forward that should bring toughness to the bench.  </p> <p><strong>New to the Varsity</strong>: We’ve seen a couple Rosemount players in the off-season that have impressed and could also factor into this rotation.  Senior Sean Mohabir played an active role when we saw the Irish this fall.  He defended hard, rebounded, and scored at the cup in active ways.  He wasn’t listed on the varsity roster that I saw from last year but he looks like he could help.  Another player that could help is scoring guard [player_tooltip player_id="1288738" first="Zach" last="Jacobson"], a junior.  Zach has shown some explosive scoring ability with Minnesota Select and in the recent Prep Hoops top 250.  </p> <p><strong>Final Thoughts</strong>:  I like what the Irish have going.  I think their starting five will look very much like last year, only better in spots.  Siwek is a better player this year than last year and Ramlall has excellent potential.  He was just at the Winona State junior day.  The Irish have size and we are looking at a quality bench of talent.  I expect them to be a top ten team quickly assuming the four new starters fill in in the way we expect them to.  </p>