OHSAA Division I Preseason Rankings: 4-6

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The OHSAA basketball season is a few weeks away and we are just about to wrap up our preseason rankings in every Division. In this article we'll take a look at our teams ranked 4th-6th in Division I.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">4. Saint Ignatius</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defending state champions come in at number four with 2025 senior Division I commits [player_tooltip player_id='1432034' first='Damon' last='Friery'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1491439' first='Quinn' last='Woidke'] leading the way. 2026 prospects [player_tooltip player_id='2458387' first='Rj' last='Jones'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2461888' first='Alex' last='Mack'] are ready to step into marquee roles after the Wildcats graduated a ton of talent from their 2024 class. I still expect them to contend to defend their title belt, but there's a few teams I have ahead of them as we begin the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">5. Cincinnati Moeller</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Crusaders were considered potential state title favorites heading into the tournament last year but couldn't get past Centerville in the regional final. While they lost some talented pieces, Moeller brings back [player_tooltip player_id='1432033' first='Kingston' last='Land'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1617820' first='Alex' last='Kazanecki']. I also expect senior [player_tooltip player_id='2459407' first='Brady' last='Franz'] to have a breakout season. Moeller will also always have some nice depth pieces that emerge after playing behind the seniors last year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">6. Delaware Hayes</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A regional champion last season, Hayes took Saint Ignatius to the buzzer before falling just short. They lose some pieces but return Landon Vanderwalker, [player_tooltip player_id='1675747' first='Carter' last='Piatt-Brown'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2205099' first='Jeremiah' last='Russell'] from their regional championship squad. I have a pair of Columbus teams ahead of them in my top three, but with Columbus having two potential paths to the final four, we could see Delaware Hayes win another regional championship.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->