The 4AAAA Profile: Duke King Looks to be The Difference

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CDH has qualified for state in seven of the last eight years. The top opposition has the guards to play with them but do they have the forwards? That is a key item when it comes to the 4AAAA champ. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4AAAA Power Rankings</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Cretin-Derham Hall</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Tartan</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>East Ridge</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>St. Paul Central </li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Stillwater</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Woodbury</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>Two Rivers</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>White Bear Lake</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Section 15</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>First Team</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560882' first='Cedric' last='Tomes'] of East Ridge (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126094' first='Ty' last='Schlagel'] of CDH (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560868' first='Joseph' last='Mitchell III'] of CDH (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Kevin Wilson Jr of Tartan (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2119645' first='Tyrel' last='Pride'] of Tartan (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Second Team</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560749' first='Colin' last='Piper'] of White Bear Lake (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2465512' first='Duke' last='King'] of Tartan (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Emmauel Oyesanmi of Tartan (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2120500' first='Eli' last='Moseman'] of St. Paul Central (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126170' first='Isaac' last='Feller'] of CDH (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Third Team</strong></em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2435240' first='Zeke' last='Gilbert'] of CDH (Soph)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2140580' first='Carter' last='Zollar'] of Stillwater (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2120491' first='Graham' last='Sanneh'] of East Ridge (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2419839' first='Dre' last='Frierson-Hollie'] of CDH (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2126154' first='Julian' last='Smith'] of CDH (Jr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1560793' first='Lamont' last='Michaels'] of Two Rivers (Sr)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One Thought Per Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cretin-Derham Hall. CDH is on that depth list with MG, Hopkins, Wayzata and Tartan. They can go ten deep if they need to. We know about Ty, JoJo, Julian, Jason, and Thom. The difference makers can be transfers [player_tooltip player_id='2435240' first='Zeke' last='Gilbert'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2126170' first='Isaac' last='Feller'] as they will help a ton. But... a guy I really like to make a difference is [player_tooltip player_id='2419839' first='Dre' last='Frierson-Hollie']. Dre is a heck of a football player but at his strength, agility size, and maybe more important, willingness to do whatever it takes, I think he can be a major difference maker taking some hard working tasks off the pace of Schlagel. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tartan. Wilson, so very good. Pride, a player that we have really liked for years. Emmanuel, likely the highest potential on his team some day. Justus, physically ahead of schedule as a frosh. But [player_tooltip player_id='2465512' first='Duke' last='King']. [player_tooltip player_id='2465512' first='Duke' last='King'] might be the difference maker that gets Tartan to another level. Why? Because he has grown and become stronger. He can do things to help Tartan compete against a [player_tooltip player_id='2126094' first='Ty' last='Schlagel'] or a [player_tooltip player_id='1874906' first='Kyree' last='Nelson'] or a [player_tooltip player_id='1560867' first='Christian' last='Wiggins'] or a [player_tooltip player_id='2126467' first='Baboucarr' last='Ann']. We are not saying Duke will be better than those players or even outplay them. What we are saying is that he can compete against them and do well and that will be huge because Tartan is deeper and more talented than they used to be. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>East Ridge. The Raptors have a star and talent to be top ten, but do they have the depth to be a contender? That is the ultimate question. Does baseball star [player_tooltip player_id='1950404' first='Bennett' last='Skinner'] play basketball? If he does that greatly helps. The transfer of [player_tooltip player_id='2463188' first='Salman' last='Hussein'] help, and there are good guards but are they ready to take a big step forward as opposed to just getting better as good players? [player_tooltip player_id='2836961' first='Ben' last='Koch'], [player_tooltip player_id='2382065' first='Blake' last='Jones'], and [player_tooltip player_id='2431593' first='Aidan' last='Galvin'] are guys to watch. Andrew Theraldson helps and the biggest factor might be [player_tooltip player_id='2120491' first='Graham' last='Sanneh']. Graham got a lot better in 17u, can he take an even bigger step this winter? That would be big. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Paul Central. Central is going to be a very, very good team. [player_tooltip player_id='2120500' first='Eli' last='Moseman'] could be among the leaders in scoring in the state this year after being the St. Paul City Conference Player of the Year as a junior. Eli can handle, Eli attacks, he scores, and he creates. Now he is getting strong so he is going to do everything at an even higher level this winter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stillwater. Losing [player_tooltip player_id='2126113' first='AJ' last='Taban'] hurts. It's not some death blow because the Ponies have good high school basketball players that will make them competitive. They can still battle to the four seed in this section and then hope to pull off an upset or two. But with Taban they could have been a team that was expected to push for top three in the league. [player_tooltip player_id='2140580' first='Carter' last='Zollar'] is a guy I think that could have a huge year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Woodbury. The Royals have a nice pair in Muah Abdulrahim who scored 13 points per game last season at 6'5 and skilled. He and [player_tooltip player_id='2390525' first='Brendan' last='Fahey'] are a nice senior pair together as Fahey works very hard on the defensive end and glass.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two Rivers. Our sleeper. This team could be very dangerous and catch people napping. [player_tooltip player_id='1560793' first='Lamont' last='Michaels'] and Julian Greer are veteran scorers and then you have sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2544137' first='Acaurii' last='Clark'] who has the chance to be the best player that this school has had since the golden years. Clark is a 6'3 sophomore that had a brilliant 15u season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>White Bear Lake. [player_tooltip player_id='1560749' first='Colin' last='Piper'] is the best big in the league. Unfortunately many of the guards and wings around him that had good years graduated. There will be some good players but will the depth be there?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->