The Minneapolis City Conference Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Washburn's 12-0 record and conference championship set the league on a new path going forward and that new path looks to be a more open league. Potentially. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Conference Commentary</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Top Contenders:</strong> Washburn, North</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It feels like North is right back into the driver's seat as league favorite. Maybe not in the sure thing area as many years of the past, but they have a top scoring punch plus they hired an excellent veteran head coach in Ahmil Jihad. Based on returning players North is going to be a smaller team, but their punch of Marshall and Sanders is going to put up a ton of points in league play. They have four rotation players returning.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Washburn was the league's top team a year ago winning all dozen contests. They lost five of their top eight players including Colorado State big man Kyle Jorgensen, but all league [player_tooltip player_id='2103372' first='Cooper' last='Carlson'] and a few others should have them in a contending spot. With three guys back it seems like they should be right there with North. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Compete with Most</strong>: Southwest, Roosevelt</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Southwest lost their top five players from a 16-11 team that won eight league games. They have some pieces back which should keep them in the middle of this league but they won't be the contenders in the league they were a year ago. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Roosevelt is an interesting one to try and figure out. They won only two league games last year but finished 13-13 in the regular season scheduling the right way for their talent level. And it worked to help the team grow because Roosevelt won four of their last five regular season games, beat Harding in the playoffs in a major upset, and then gave St. Thomas a run in the section semis. The Teddies return four of their top five players from last year including their best player [player_tooltip player_id='1560875' first='Calvin' last='Peterson']. They will have higher expectations, but we still also have to remember this was a team that was 2-10 in league play. But they surely found a rhythm late in the year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Rebuilding:&nbsp;</strong>South, Camden, Edison</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>South is the definition of a rebuilding but it was worth it. They made their first trip to state in 32 seasons led by the man that stayed the course and led the way, Poet Davis. It was a senior dominated group that included all senior starters and seven of their top nine. Camden was a six win team a year ago. They lost their best player to graduation but do return their second best player. But will they have a measure of consistency this year? If they find it they might be able to win more than two league games this year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Edison is in a restart as they lost their coach and two best players from a 2-10 league team. They do have some guards back though and they beat Camden twice last year so there is some hope to stay away from the bottom within their rebuild. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>24-25 Conference Prediction</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(1) North</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(2) Washburn</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(3) Roosevelt</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(4) South</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(5) Southwest</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(6) Edison</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>(7) Camden</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preseason All Minneapolis City</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>First Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2569257' first='Marcus' last='Marshall'] Jr of North (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2103372' first='Cooper' last='Carlson'] of Washburn (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560875' first='Calvin' last='Peterson'] of Roosevelt (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ryker Van Nostrand of Washburn (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2486899' first='J'Marion' last='Sanders'] of North (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='2423563' first='Obie' last='Esparza'] of Roosevelt (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1617739' first='Eban' last='Lo'] of Camden (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eugene Brown of South (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Allen Hill of North (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2464628' first='Greg' last='Johnson Jr'] of South (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Third Team</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Steven Hunter of Roosevelt (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560753' first='Alex' last='Young'] of Washburn (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2435517' first='Vansin' last='Smith'] of Southwest (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1478342' first='Henry' last='Leistikow'] of Southwest (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Josiah Alexander of Roosevelt (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>HM</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2400427' first='Marshawn' last='Watson'] of North (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1617795' first='Sam' last='Young'] of Edison (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sid Larson of Edison (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->