The Big South

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Big South was headlined by Redwood Valley, Jackson County Central, Waseca and New Ulm last year. What does 24-25 look like? We have a look! Belle Plaine and Tri City United have joined the league. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Last Year</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>On the Money</em>: Just about all of the predictions were perfect in all three divisions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Yikes</em> <em>RJ</em>!  I flip flopped Marshall and St. Peter discounting how good St. Peter would be. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State:</strong> Jackson County Central, Waseca</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>JCC and Waseca both went to state last season and both return their top two scores/players from the season before. They have the type of talent that should give them a great chance to get back to state if they continue to improve while still playing team basketball. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Ten in State Potential</strong>: Belle Plaine, Redwood Valley</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both Belle Plaine and Redwood Valley have the talent that can get to state as well although the southwest only has so many spots to give in the state tournament. Belle Plaine's [player_tooltip player_id='2118474' first='Ethan' last='Martin'] is one of the elite talents in the state while Redwood Valley has a quality backcourt. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Marshall, Worthington, St. Peter, Fairmont, Windom Area</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Marshall, Worthington and St. Peter are all Class AAA teams that should be solid teams. Marshall only won five league games last year but they should take a nice step forward as should St. Peter. Fairmont will be better and Windom continues to have scorers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding</strong>:New Ulm, Pipestone Area, Blue Earth, Luverne, Tri City United, St. James</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There is a lot of rebuilding going on especially at New Ulm, Pipestone Area, Tri City and St. James who lost key senior contributors. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>23-24 Conference Predictions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Power Rankings</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Jackson County Central</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Waseca</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Belle Plaine</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Redwood Valley</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Marshall</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Worthington</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Peter</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fairmont</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Windom Area</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>New Ulm</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Pipestone Area</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Blue Earth</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Luverne</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Tri City United</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. James</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Big</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Marshall</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Worthington</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Peter</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>New Ulm</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>West</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Redwood Valley</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Windom Area</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Pipestone Area</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Luverne</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. James</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>East</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Jackson County Central</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Waseca</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Belle Plaine</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Fairmont</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Blue Earth</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Tri City United</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Big South</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2118474' first='Ethan' last='Martin'] of Belle Plaine (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1601069' first='Roman' last='Voss'] of Jackson County Central (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2103355' first='Damarius' last='Russell'] of Waseca (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2121332' first='Deron' last='Russell'] of Waseca (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2104550' first='Alex' last='Franson'] of Marshall (Sr)</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='1560751' first='Weston' last='Rowe'] of Jackson County Central (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Luke Means of Redwood Valley (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2445176' first='Oliver' last='Tordsen'] of Fairmont (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Niklas Theraldson of Belle Plaine (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1858356' first='Jacari' last='Swinea'] of Worthington (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>William Bromeland of Blue Earth (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2618399' first='Grant' last='Freking'] of Jackson County Central (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2288333' first='Elway' last='Berg'] of Redwood Valley (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2109878' first='Cooper' last='Mensink'] of Marshall (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Owen Potts of St. Peter (Soph)</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='2084592' first='Teddy' last='Traxler'] of Belle Plaine (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2390001' first='Carter' last='Sehr'] of Luverne (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brennan Kern of St. James (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2109870' first='Jeremiah' last='Soderlund'] of St. Peter (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2104457' first='Carson' last='Ohnstad'] of Wasecona (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->