Class AAAA Title Contender Series: Park Center

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's fall, school has started, so it's time to spend two months previewing the high school season in our many, many different ways (which will include covering fall basketball). We start with the contender series and we start with the preseason number one in Class AAAA, Park Center!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Wins in 21-22 (31-1):</strong> Wayzata for the state title, Eastview, Totino-Grace, Osseo, Andover, Minnehaha Academy, Minneapolis North</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Oops:</strong> Totino-Grace</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Moving On:</strong> Braeden Carrington is at Minnesota, Leo Torbor is at San Jose State, Cody Pennebaker and James Spencer are at Lamar, and Ayouba Berthe is at Kirkwood Community College. That is the Pirates starting line-up from last season. Carrington was Mr. Basketball in the state, Cody improved greatly and landed at Lamar in the spring, Spencer was one of the best low post defenders, Berthe was an elite defender, and Torbor was one of the state's most explosive players. Deeper bench reserves Isaiah Foster and Evanston Avery graduated while top 40 senior prospect Molley Komara - who played only JV last year - transferred to Champlin Park. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Returning Starters (0):</strong> Outside of a couple starts when guys have been hurt over the last few years, there is no starting experience, in terms of players that were at PC. Transfers have come in that have a ton of starting experience though as [player_tooltip player_id='962199' first='CJ' last='O'Hara'] was a three year starter at Totino-Grace/Hopkins, [player_tooltip player_id='1284106' first='Chiang' last='Ring'] a three year starter at Brooklyn Center/Minneapolis South, and [player_tooltip player_id='1288826' first='Casmir' last='Chavis'] a three year starter (most of the time) at Brooklyn Center/DeLaSalle.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Reserves Playing a Bigger Role: </strong> The first name we talk about is top 20 player prospect [player_tooltip player_id='962202' first='JJ' last='Ware']. Ware was the 6th Man last year scoring seven points a game. Ware has become pound for pound one of the better rebounders in the state, his defense has been quality, and he's combined off ball active buckets with a nice face-up touch. Chavis of course transferred to Park Center late in the season and immediately became eligible for the state tournament run. Chavis played in five regular season games and then the six post season contests averaging eight points a game for PC and giving them another ball handler. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Potentials from the JV:</strong> There are three big names here and I think all three will make a major impact: they are [player_tooltip player_id='1220415' first='Kaden' last='Cook'], [player_tooltip player_id='1491758' first='Joe' last='Burgess'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1549538' first='Jackson' last='Fowlkes']. Cook is one of the most unstoppable back to the basket guys we saw this summer as teams often guard him with a forward and he out muscled everyone. Fowlkes has a load of potential as a long, skilled, and versatile guard/wing. He is the next outstanding scholarship prospect coming up from the PC JV. And [player_tooltip player_id='1491758' first='Joe' last='Burgess'] was really good for the Minnesota Select James team this 17u season as a 6'5 wing forward. Also keep an eye on senior [player_tooltip player_id='1220416' first='Syoka' last='Siko'] who had a good summer and junior Aidan Menenme who was a sophomore last year on the JV.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>New to the Varsity program</strong>:  As we mentioned O'Hara and Ring both transferred to Park Center this summer. O'Hara was actually an 8th grader at Park Center on the JV so he is transferring back to where he originally started. O'Hara is one of the most productive players in the senior class. Ring, who is also making his third transfer (Mankato East to Brooklyn Center to Minneapolis South now to PC), is one of the top five most productive juniors in the state. Chiang is surely the state's best shot blocker and one of the toughest players to slow down in the paint. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Final Thoughts</strong>:  As you can see, the Pirates can put a starting five of Chavis, O'Hara, Ware, Cook, and Ring on the floor and be one of the biggest, strongest, most athletic teams in the state. They could also bring Fowlkes in for any one of those guys and stay just as long and be more skilled. Then you have a guy like Burgess as a 7th man, that's the most talented Class AAAA team in the state right there. The type of team that can defend a title. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->