Minnesota High School Basketball: Top 10 Questions For the Season

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are the things on my mind entering the 2023-24 season. A season that will be unique!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>One. How will the shot clock change the season?</strong> You can bet that we are going to see some teams throwing zones on the floor early in the season as teams don't quite have their comfort. And you can expect to see the shot clock go off at times and nobody on the floor will be ready for it and it comes as a surprise. It was also change games down the stretch which should be a lot of fun. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Two. Will it be Park Center vs Wazyata Part 3</strong>? Are we looking at a third straight season of the Pirates and the [program_tooltip program_id='2075965' first='Trojans' last=''] going at it in the Class AAAA finals? Park Center likely has the most talent in Class AAAA this year while Wayzata has the best player and the deepest program when it comes to all four teams (V, JV, B, and C). I definitely believe we could see them play in the title game for a third straight year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Three. Is this the year for East Ridge getting to state</strong>? The Raptors are the Minnesota Vikings of Minnesota High School basketball with so many moments of section game one score losses hanging around like a bad nightmare. They are a top program with a ton of talent and they hope to get to state for the second time getting past this pesky section title game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Four. North or South</strong>? Lakeville North has controlled the North/South rivalry over many years. Can't really knock South for that, North has also won a ton of South Suburban titles and has been a fixture at state. But Lakeville South is healthy and has more returning talent than North this year and both are top five teams. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Five. Will Totino-Grace three-peat</strong>? If you are going to get them, get them this year. They have a ton of underclassmen talent, a good junior class and I believe only two seniors. They are still the favorite but they will have a lot of young guys on the floor and only a couple 12th graders so if somebody is going to snag a title from them it would be this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Six. Who would it be in Class AAA</strong>? I would say Alexandria, BSM, DeLaSalle, Mankato East, and Stewartville are the names that come to mind first. Stewartville is senior dominated, Alex and Kato East have talent throughout their program in all classes, De is always there and BSM has a great junior group.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Seven. Can BSM make it to state</strong>? If the Red Knights make it to state this year it will be their first trip to the state tournament in 14 seasons! Coach Damian Johnson took over a program that had started to lack some talent and has turned things around. Now the next step is for [player_tooltip player_id='1572689' first='Jalen' last='Wilson'] and company to get to state!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eight. Thirteen Straight for De</strong>? Did you know that DeLaSalle has been in the state tournament for 12 straight years? They do face a big challenge this year having lost Mr. Basketball, having to play some younger players this year, and with Columbia Heights having a strong, motivated roster, getting to number 13 won't be easy. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Nine. Is Cherry Matured Enough Now</strong>? We've seen Cherry in the state tournament the last two years getting to the big dance with a load of young players. Pretty much all young players. [player_tooltip player_id='1288733' first='Isaac' last='Asuma'] would put together a great record, win a state game, and then run into a veteran team that forces them into youth mistakes. This year Cherry will be a veteran team (even though [player_tooltip player_id='2126128' first='Isaiah' last='Asuma'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1601068' first='Noah' last='Asuma'] are underclassmen, they will still be three year varsity veterans by the time they get to state) with several upperclassmen. They are also the deepest team in Class A (unless two good schools just combined again out of nowhere that we don't know about right now). </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ten. The Race for Mr. Basketball</strong>. This race could come down to the last day of the season. [player_tooltip player_id='1287438' first='Jackson' last='McAndrew'], [player_tooltip player_id='1284143' first='Isaiah' last='Johnson'], [player_tooltip player_id='1151197' first='Daniel' last='Freitag'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1288733' first='Isaac' last='Asuma'] all play for teams that are ranked pre-season number one. [player_tooltip player_id='1172835' first='Casmir' last='Chavis'], [player_tooltip player_id='1284138' first='Grayson' last='Grove'], [player_tooltip player_id='1284147' first='Jack' last='Robison'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1287442' first='Kole' last='Hanson'] all play for teams ranked second or third in the state. This should be a fun, close race to the last day. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->