2023-24 5A Preview: All-State Teams & POY
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The 2023-24 season has just kicked off and quite a few of last year’s top players are back. There’s a solid group of experienced seniors but there are some talented underclassmen ready to challenge for honors as well. It’s time…
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Continue ReadingThe 2023-24 season has just kicked off and quite a few of last year’s top players are back. There’s a solid group of experienced seniors but there are some talented underclassmen ready to challenge for honors as well. It’s time to unveil our pre-season all-state teams and here are our picks for the 5A classification.
(Players listed alphabetically within each team)
First Team
Joey Banry Joey Banry 5'9" | PG North Eugene | 2024 State OR , Sr, North Eugene
Pearson Carmichael Pearson Carmichael 6'6" | SF Summit | 2024 State #270 Nation OR , Sr, Summit
Kyle Counts Kyle Counts 6'7" | PF Wilsonville | 2024 State OR , Sr, Wilsonville
Kallen Gutridge Kallen Gutridge 6'4" | SG Wilsonville | 2024 State OR , Sr, Wilsonville
Quincy Townsend Quincy Townsend 6'2" | CG Mountain View | 2024 State OR , Sr, Mountain View
Second Team
Brycen Kachel, Sr, West Albany
Ben Livingston Ben Livingston 6'5" | C Parkrose | 2024 State OR , Sr, Parkrose
Collin Moore Collin Moore 6'2" | CG Summit | 2024 State OR , Sr, Summit
Nate Stiffler Nate Stiffler 6'4" | SF Thurston | 2025 State OR , Jr, Thurston
Cruz Veliz Cruz Veliz 5'10" | PG Woodburn | 2025 State OR , Jr, Woodburn
Analysis: For Player of the Year and a spot on the First Team, the selection of Carmichael was a given since he earned those honors a year ago and there honestly really isn’t else the Boise State signee needs to prove. The rest of the first team was also fairly obvious although the selection of both Counts and Gutridge represents a rarity in that teammates are both are picks. Townsend, who should rank among the top in 5A in both scoring and assists, was an easy pick as well.
The choices on the second team include the top two guys from the Mid-Willamette Conference in Kachel and Veliz, with Livingston, Moore, and Stiffler all players who would be player-of-the-year candidates if they played in a different league. In all, the two teams are pretty senior dominated so it will be interesting to see what younger players make their mark this year.