Division II AA preview

[No1Likes]

Here are my preseason predictions for Division II AA this year. Im leaving out the teams from the West. Im talking midstate and Chattanooga, since I have not seen the west teams play any from the summer.

 

1. MBA-they lost a lot of seniors but have David Howard, Austin Blackwell, and Chase Owen who will all merit all-region consideration. They will no doubt be very good again this year. Aaron Simonis is steady at the point.

2. McCallie-They lost Jordan Price but they still have some great athletes and some new players that people havent necessarily heard about yet. Got better and better with every game this summer.

3. Ensworth-They will be tough again this year with Corn Elder running the point but I wonder if they have the depth and firepower from other positions to be great.

4. Baylor-This is a tough team to predict. They were young last year and will no doubt be better this year but they still have some improving to do. They have a multitude of steady players but they may lack a star.

5. Brentwood Academy-They will have Weldon Garlington but from what I have heard they will lack any semblance of an inside threat. Asa Duval is also a steady player, but I dont see the team being able to jump into one of the top 3 slots.

6. Father Ryan-The bottom three teams in this league are much weaker than the top 5. Father Ryan has a good coach in Bontregger so that is the reason for my pick of them over BGA and JPII. Bontregger will have his players playing hard which will get them some wins against the other lesser teams.

7. BGA- They will have a very young team. They and JPII are probably the worst two in the region.

8. JPII-Lost some seniors off an already weak team from last season, but they will actually probably be better this year.

[graceseeker]

I agree with your assessment. It's hard to imagine that MBA could be as good after losing such a talented senior class, but this team may actually be more athletic and have a skill level that could easily eclipse the state champions. The challenge for MBA will be to discover leadership that can replace Mobley/Paslick, the toughness of Bars/Colbert/Seitz and the team orientation of Apple/Lowe. There was a lot of magic amongst those seven but I've heard that Howard is lean, mean and ready to dominate. The MUS transfer has looked great and you add them to Guierre and you have a tremendous front line. Owen and Simonis will provide solid guard play and I believe we'll see Blackwell deliver the shooting touch of Mobley and the defensive skill of Paslick.

[msms06]

Here are my preseason predictions for Division II AA this year. Im leaving out the teams from the West. Im talking midstate and Chattanooga, since I have not seen the west teams play any from the summer.

 

1. MBA-they lost a lot of seniors but have David Howard, Austin Blackwell, and Chase Owen who will all merit all-region consideration. They will no doubt be very good again this year. Aaron Simonis is steady at the point.

2. McCallie-They lost Jordan Price but they still have some great athletes and some new players that people havent necessarily heard about yet. Got better and better with every game this summer.

3. Ensworth-They will be tough again this year with Corn Elder running the point but I wonder if they have the depth and firepower from other positions to be great.

4. Baylor-This is a tough team to predict. They were young last year and will no doubt be better this year but they still have some improving to do. They have a multitude of steady players but they may lack a star.

5. Brentwood Academy-They will have Weldon Garlington but from what I have heard they will lack any semblance of an inside threat. Asa Duval is also a steady player, but I dont see the team being able to jump into one of the top 3 slots.

6. Father Ryan-The bottom three teams in this league are much weaker than the top 5. Father Ryan has a good coach in Bontregger so that is the reason for my pick of them over BGA and JPII. Bontregger will have his players playing hard which will get them some wins against the other lesser teams.

7. BGA- They will have a very young team. They and JPII are probably the worst two in the region.

8. JPII-Lost some seniors off an already weak team from last season, but they will actually probably be better this year.

 

 

 

 

You are sleeping on BGA. You just watch and see! NEW coach new fire.

[graceseeker]

You may be right. BGA certainly underperformed last year especially down the stretch. They looked like they just wanted the season to be over. While they should have been able to make more noise than they did last year, I think it is fair to say that John Wooden couldn't have guided them past MBA and Ensworth. They may be further up the pack than was listed but it will be a real surprise if they can compete against those two schools (and McCallie). Just my opinion.

[graceseeker]

With football winding down, any new thoughts, comments and opinions on basketball?

[yomomma]

With football winding down, any new thoughts, comments and opinions on basketball?

 

 

I hear St. Benedict will be much improved and should challenge the Big 3 in a tough west region!