Teams to Watch: 4A

Until someone unseats Bishop Miege as the top dog in the 4A classification, they will continue to replace talented graduates with equally talented underclassmen at the top of the class.

In addition to the Stags, there are some interesting teams to watch in 4A.

Returners:

Miege – Winners of five of the last six titles, there’s no reason to pick anyone other than the Stags to win it all. Someone will have to take it from them. Sure, they graduated some serious talent, but there’s always more waiting in the wings. Miege will look to forwards Aidan Wing Aidan Wing 6'4" | SF Bishop Miege | 2023 State KS and Daegan Jensen Daegan Jensen 6'1" | SG Bishop Miege | 2023 State KS to soften the graduation losses. Guard play will be in the capable hands of Patrick Mccallop Jr Patrick Mccallop Jr 5'10" Bishop Miege | 2023 KS , Mac Armstrong and Isaiah Coppage.

Challengers:

McPherson – The Bullpups will be back with a remarkable group of juniors ready to lead. Cory Muehler Cory Muehler 5'11" | CG McPherson | 2024 State KS , Kyden Thompson Kyden Thompson 6'2" | SG McPherson | 2024 State KS , Kreighton Kanitz and Owen Pyle Owen Pyle 6'2" | CG McPherson | 2024 KS will be a year older and considerably better after playing huge roles as sophomores. They will keep things humming around senior big man Mason Miller. It’s hard to believe a team could be so equipped to replace a graduate like Seth Madron, but the Bullpups could be even better this year.

Unknown:

Eudora – Will Jaden Hamm Jaden Hamm 6'6" | C Eudora | 2023 KS be on the court? Prep Hoops hasn’t heard one way or the other. That’s going to go a long way in determining the Cardinals fortunes. His plan was to head to the University of Arkansas as semester. We’ll see. The Cardinals do return junior scoring machine Logan Sullivan Logan Sullivan 6'3" | SG Eudora | 2024 State KS and senior point guard Kale Hammerschmidt.

Hayden – The big question in everyone’s mind was whether center Joe Otting Joe Otting 6'3" | C Hayden | 2023 State KS would play football this winter, or head off to get a start on his football career at Notre Dame. With Otting in for another season, the Wildcats will have a big scoring and rebounding presence in the paint. They lost some good guards, but have athletic guard Jake Mueller Jake Mueller 6'0" | SG Hayden | 2023 State KS back. The unknown is how much some newcomers can contribute. Those new faces include transfers Mister Cameron Mister Cameron 6'1" | PG Hayden | 2024 KS and Jacob Deister Jacob Deister 6'0" | SG Hayden | 2025 KS , freshman Ayden McGibboney Ayden McGibboney 6'3" | SF Blue Valley Northwest | 2026 State KS and junior Jacob Padilla Jacob Padilla 5'7" Hayden | 2024 KS , who returns from injury.

Hugoton – There’s not a lot left to answer about the Eagles’ two leaders. Carson Bennett Carson Bennett 6'2" | SF Hugoton | 2023 State KS (pictured) and Ryle Riddlesperger Ryle Riddlesperger 6'2" | PG Hugoton | 2023 State KS are top-notch play makers. The big question is how will the team, which qualified for the 3A state tournament a year ago, will adapt to 4A after getting bumped up. The youngsters who supported Bennett and Riddlesperger didn’t produce in the tourney loss to Hesston. The Eagles will look for more from junior guards Dasean Lewis Dasean Lewis 5'10" | PG Hugoton | 2024 State KS and Griffin Heger and junior forwards Isaac Martin, Emmett Gaskill Emmett Gaskill 6'3" | SG Hugoton | 2024 State KS and Izeyah Harris. Keep an eye on sophomore Jay Acosta too.