Class AAA Title Contender Series: DeLaSalle

<p>The DeLaSalle Islanders.  The State Tournament Constant.  The program has went to state ten years in a row.</p> <p><strong>Key Wins in 20-21 (15-6)</strong><strong>:   </strong>St. Croix Lutheran, AHA, Cooper, Mpls South, Richfield, Waconia, Mound-Westonka, Hibbing</p> <p><strong>Oops</strong>: Columbia Heights, Richfield, AHA, Mpls North, Minnehaha Academy</p> <p><strong>Moving On: </strong> [player_tooltip player_id="774736" first="Cade" last="Haskins"] was the main Islander piece last year and he is now at Dartmouth.  Haskins gave the team size, shooting, and the main scoring option.  Also gone is [player_tooltip player_id="774807" first="Evan" last="Boyd"], a scoring guard that really improved his level of play scoring 14 a game.  Defensive stopper [player_tooltip player_id="774737" first="Keijuan" last="White"] is also graduated as is Tarik Lyob who gave the team some size.  Malik Eason also played off the bench last year and he's graduated. </p> <p><strong>Returning Starters (2):  </strong>  The Islanders used a different starting five in most games I watched or reviewed last year so the returning starter count varies.  Senior [player_tooltip player_id="958672" first="Amir" last="Everett"] and junior [player_tooltip player_id="962218" first="Nasir" last="Whitlock"] started all the games I looked at last winter.  Everett was a defensive stopper that also scored three times a game.  This summer Everett played with a few different teams and has a better knack for scoring the ball than I think most know.  Whitlock was the second leading scorer for De a season ago producing 14 points a game.  His ability to dribble separate ranks with the best in the state, Nasir is one of the toughest one on one assignments a defender can have. </p> <p><strong>Reserves Playing a Bigger Role:  </strong>[player_tooltip player_id="1172835" first="Casmir" last="Chavis"] and Randy McClendon Jr were freshmen last year and played big roles.  At times they started games.  Chavis is 6'3 and explosive.  He was the team's fourth leading scorer last year at over seven a game meaning he is the second leading returning scorer.  McClendon averaged five a contest and is a shooter that must be located.  </p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="958777" first="Kyle" last="Johnson"] is the other returning player from last year's rotation and he is certainly one to watch.  Johnson looks to have grown an inch, he certainly looks stronger, and Johnson's offensive game both as a scorer and as a playmaker, improved greatly with the Minnesota Magic.  He will play a big role with this year's team meaning teams will have to stretch out and guard a four man guard combo of Kyle, Everett, McClendon, Chavis, and/or Whitlock which is going to be a very tough task. </p> <p><strong style="font-size: 1rem;">Potentials from the JV: </strong>Six-foot-2 wings [player_tooltip player_id="958775" first="Brandon" last="Hoban"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1288761" first="Ellis" last="Todd"] played JV a season ago.  Both are now seniors and both are working to play a reserve role as a senior.  [player_tooltip player_id="1169692" first="Aidan" last="Higgins"] and [player_tooltip player_id="1288764" first="Pj" last="Pounds"] were sophomores on JV a season ago and both are likely to play role as juniors.  Pounds looks to be about a 6'4 forward and the Islanders will need his size.  Higgins had a great year with the Heat 16s and looks to be the perfect defender/worker for the Islander system. </p> <p><strong>New Names to the Varsity</strong>:  A player we recently saw that could help the Islanders is 6'3 junior win Myles Dillon-Parks.  He's an active forward that could be used against some bigger players.  Sophomore Ray James is another name to keep an eye on. </p> <p><strong>Final Thoughts</strong>:  DeLaSalle will be very good again.  Stopping their combination of guards will be very difficult as they can spread teams out and score in balanced ways.  In addition, all of these guards can defend with some of them being elite potential or caliber defenders.  So they will defend at a high level.  The one question is size as the Islanders have little of it.  The Islander defense will still be able to stop a lot of teams that need to enter the ball in the post but the big problem will be rebounding.  Against some of the teams with size (Totino-Grace, Columbia Heights, Richfield) the rebounding could play a factor.  </p>