UKC League Preview

<p>There are no real stars return to the United Kansas Conference, but there will be a lot of nice players and teams to watch this season. There are also some pretty interesting up-and-comers that will be worth keeping an eye on.</p> <p>Taking away from the crop of returners are the transfers of the top two juniors last season – [player_tooltip player_id="952433" first="Jordan" last="Brown"] of Basehor-Linwood and [player_tooltip player_id="891914" first="Tyrese" last="Cannon"] of Leavenworth. But those departures open the door for even more guys to step up.</p> <p>Preseason Player of the Year:</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="891910" first="Trevor" last="McBride"]/[player_tooltip player_id="1268786" first="Carter" last="Bergman"], guards, 2022, Basehor-Linwood:</p> <p>How can you pick between these two? They are both versatile and talented guards who play off each other. With some other talent around them, it’s really a team synergy that helps these guys succeed, and will also limit any individual from putting up huge stats. Basehor-Linwood is expected to contend for a state title, and these two will lead the way.</p> <p>Returning Stars:</p> <p><strong>JaiKuan Darthard</strong>, 6-foot-4 forward, 2022, Leavenworth:</p> <p>Darthard is long, athletic and heady wing who played a supporting role to Cannon last season. He’s a football star who gets after it on defense and gets his hands on a lot of balls in the air. He runs well and gets a lot of baskets at the rim.</p> <p><strong>Nate Pewe</strong>, 6-foot-4 forward, 2022, Shawnee Heights:</p> <p>Pewe’s stock really rose in the second half of last season. He wound up averaging 10 points and 6 boards, but a lot of his numbers jumped in the last moth. He hit four 3-pointers against Basehor-Linwood in what might be a preview of what to expect this year. Pewe is a long, athletic player who has put team-first for the past two seasons.</p> <p>Other Returning Stars:</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1139165" first="Ty" last="Hofer"], 6-foot-4 forward, 2022, Basehor-Linwood</p> <p>Players to watch:</p> <p><strong>Cedric Bates</strong>, 6-foot-6 forward, 2022, Turner:</p> <p>Turner will look to Bates in hopes of getting some wins after an 0-18 season. He’s a big man who protects the rim and disrupts anyone who penetrates the lane. He has some skills outside of the post and nice touch on his left-handed shot.</p> <p><strong>Joren Remington</strong>, 6-foot-3 forward, 2022, Lansing:</p> <p>Remington is a nice shooter who returns with a 10.7 average last season. He’s the only returning starter from a really good team that graduated a lot of talent. Remington will move from supporting piece to the focal point for Lansing.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1270268" first="David" last="Cobin"], 5-foot-10 guard, 2024, DeSoto:</p> <p>Watch for Cobin’s name in the box scores. It was unknown if he would return (or how soon) from injury this fall. But what he showed during the summer made scouts believe he could make an immediate impact on the varsity level as a sophomore. He’s a demon in the open court and knows how to make plays with the ball in his hands.</p> <p>Other Players to Watch:</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="1080207" first="Tyson" last="Ruud"] 6-foot-5 forward, 2023, Basehor-Linwood</p> <p><strong>Ethan Schultze</strong>, 6-foot-1 guard, 2022, DeSoto</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="952449" first="Tyler" last="Schultze"], 6-foot-1 guard, 2022, DeSoto</p>