The South Suburban Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shakopee won a grueling South Suburban race last year by a game. The South Suburban is 18 games of quality basketball. Who is in the best position to push for the top this year? We break it down today!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State</strong>: Lakeville North, Eastview, Lakeville South</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>North might just be the deepest team in state when you start adding in the JV talent and such. Park Center and Totino-Grace are right there too but the Panthers might have a few more they can go to JV wise. The Panthers need to match the other two in guard play and the way [player_tooltip player_id='1269166' first='Matt' last='Drake'] is coming along, they are getting there. PC and TG are of course more athletic, more explosive but the Panthers are a very long and tall team so they have that edge. And of course Coach Oxton is very, very good. The Panthers have the pieces to make a title run this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eastview, these guys just continue to have long, tall players come up through their system. And they always have a guard and/or wing where you are like "who is this guy" and he is good too! Eastview is deep in talent and potential again this season. As for Lakeville South, they are also a deep and talented team. They are a bit younger than Lakeville North and Eastview as their junior class is their core but the Cougars should be very good. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>: Shakopee, Rosemount</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I have Shakopee as the 11th ranked team in the state right now. You could say that is top ten worthy category wise and you are pry right. Shakopee will be in the mix because they have guards for days and days and days. But Shakopee is shorter on experience than others and they are going to be shorter this year than they have been in terms of height. Rosemount is not short, they are not inexperienced, and they have one of the state's best players in [player_tooltip player_id='1220381' first='Anish' last='Ramlall']. Rosemount is not as deep as the four in front of them but they are a contender. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>:&nbsp; Farmington, Prior Lake, Eagan, Burnsville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Don't forget Farmington who was a game from the league title last season. [player_tooltip player_id='1226395' first='Baiden' last='Bean'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1287441' first='Brandon' last='Hrncir'] are very good players. The Tigers just have so much to replace. Every time I have seen Prior Lake this fall I think they are a bit better than expected. [player_tooltip player_id='1161947' first='Joshua' last='Ofori'] is ready to have a huge senior year. And speaking of seniors, Eagan has several of them that are hungry for a strong season. [player_tooltip player_id='962213' first='Emmanuel' last='Schmitter'] is a really good player and it's his final season to make a Wildcat push. Then there is Burnsville who won three games last season. The Blaze have to be better this year. With a seven footer, with a top 15 talent in [player_tooltip player_id='962223' first='Khalif' last='Bettis'], and we have seen some good guards there, they have to take a step forward. It just makes sense. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding:</strong>&nbsp;Apple Valley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles were 5-22 last season and they lost their coach, and they lost a lot of players to graduation. This is a rebuild but when you ask around, word is the Eagles got the right man for the job. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>22-23 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol><li>Lakeville North</li><li>Eastview</li><li>Lakeville South</li><li>Shakopee</li><li>Rosemount</li><li>Farmington</li><li>Prior Lake</li><li>Eagan</li><li>Burnsville</li><li>Apple Valley</li></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All South Suburban Conference</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962214' first='Nolan' last='Winter'] of Lakeville North (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1220381' first='Anish' last='Ramlall'] of Rosemount (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'] of Lakeville North (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962223' first='Khalif' last='Bettis'] of Burnsville (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnathan Mekkonen of Eastview (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Second Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1139192' first='Dylan' last='Omweno'] of Eastview (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1226395' first='Baiden' last='Bean'] of Farmington (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1140498' first='Chet' last='Kloss'] of Eastview (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962221' first='Jackson' last='Ressler'] of Lakeville South (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1139350' first='Hudson' last='Vaith'] of Lakeville North (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1296148' first='Marley' last='Baah-Yeboah'] of Lakeville South (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1161947' first='Joshua' last='Ofori'] of Prior Lake (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962213' first='Emmanuel' last='Schmitter'] of Eagan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Isaac Snell of Shakopee (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1288706' first='Jalen' last='Langsy'] of Shakopee (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fourth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1226375' first='JT' last='Thornton'] of Lakville North (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1284212' first='Ryan' last='Johnson'] of Lakeville South (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1296149' first='DaMarcus' last='Burks'] of Lakeville South (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1269166' first='Matt' last='Drake'] of Lakeville North (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1625011' first='Mario' last='Adams'] of Eastview (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Fifth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1287441' first='Brandon' last='Hrncir'] of Farmington (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962208' first='Jace' last='Hernandez'] of Lakeville North (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962251' first='Oscar' last='Khazon'] of Eagan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1226396' first='Carter' last='Theisen'] of Rosemount (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='962247' first='Gavin' last='Pierce'] of Prior Lake (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Sixth Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1178256' first='Elias' last='Batala'] of Eastivew (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1159158' first='Austin' last='Carruthers'] of Eagan (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1625012' first='Myles' last='Adams'] of Eastview (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1454849' first='Kaden' last='Braxton'] of Shakopee (jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1214457' first='Will' last='Kutzler'] of Lakeville North (sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->