Ballard ran the table in the 7th Region in what was supposed to be a down year to win the championship. Does Coach Renner have enough to repeat? Trinity was heavily favored, but lost its top 7 players to graduation. I’m hearing that they’ll have a great freshman class. Is that enough to bring them to the top of the pack again, or will it be Waggener that takes the title? They may have the best starting 5 in the state, but not much of a bench. Or will it be a Central team that will return 6 seniors from a surprise year that vaulted them into the top 10 in the state during last season? Can Eastern’s young talent win without Moses and Reed? Can Manual stay near the top without Sutton and the key seniors from last season?

Who do you see being the top teams and players in the 7th Region for 2015-16?

Good write up on a very early preseason review Ball Coach. Never count out Renner and Ballard. Despite all the talk of him leaving, looks like he is coming back right where he wants to be and that makes Ballard a contender. Waggener will be tough no doubt, and so will Eastern. But if I had to make an early prediction I feel Central under the guidance of Coach Bibby will be winning many games next season. His system is designed to have kids get better the longer they are in it and with those kids returning they will be 100% bought in and ready to compete every night. I think the winner will be from one of those three...Ballard, Waggener, and Central with the darkhorse being Eastern.

I also have Central as the early favorite with Ballard the top contender, and Waggener rounding out the top tier.

It's not much of a stretch to say it will be the same 8 teams competing for the 7th region title as this past year. Trinity/Waggener, Male/St.X, Central/Manual and Ballard/Eastern. The team listed first being the champion in that district. KCD has 2 very nice players in Anthony Mathis and Colin Ferguson. They could upset Ballard or Eastern but it's unlikely.

I believe St.X and Manual will be hurt the most by graduation. I believe X loses 4 of their 5 starters. They also lose almost all of their athleticism which I would call average in relation to the rest of the region. They return two maybe three players with decent playing time. Manual could really drop off considering where they were. I believe they lose all 5 starters. They lose their best player in Sutton and there best ball handler in Harness. Without transfers Just may be looking at a long season.

I believe Male will be much more consistent and could be a surprise team. Male has two very nice players returning in Alex Cook and Hogan Brownley. I don't know who their guards are but i will be shocked if Male goes another year without good guard play. Add a new coach and some guards to get the ball to Alex and Hogan and I see good things for Male.

I'll get to the rest later.

It's not much of a stretch to say it will be the same 8 teams competing for the 7th region title as this past year. Trinity/Waggener, Male/St.X, Central/Manual and Ballard/Eastern. The team listed first being the champion in that district. KCD has 2 very nice players in Anthony Mathis and Colin Ferguson. They could upset Ballard or Eastern but it's unlikely.

I believe St.X and Manual will be hurt the most by graduation. I believe X loses 4 of their 5 starters. They also lose almost all of their athleticism which I would call average in relation to the rest of the region. They return two maybe three players with decent playing time. Manual could really drop off considering where they were. I believe they lose all 5 starters. They lose their best player in Sutton and there best ball handler in Harness. Without transfers Just may be looking at a long season.

I believe Male will be much more consistent and could be a surprise team. Male has two very nice players returning in Alex Cook and Hogan Brownley. I don't know who their guards are but i will be shocked if Male goes another year without good guard play. Add a new coach and some guards to get the ball to Alex and Hogan and I see good things for Male.

I'll get to the rest later.

 

Hard to see Trinity winning their district next year with all the losses they have. Definitely don't see them beating Waggener next season. Seneca could sneak in as the runner up in that district as well in my opinion.

Any thoughts on the top players in the region returning? Who ya got.....?

Hard to see Trinity winning their district next year with all the losses they have. Definitely don't see them beating Waggener next season. Seneca could sneak in as the runner up in that district as well in my opinion.

 

Waggener, Ballard, and Central stand out with a maybe on Eastern. Nobody else is even on paper close to them, but somebody could surprise just like Central came out of nowhere this season. I think KCD had their best chance this past season when McCray was there. Not much from CAL expected either. Trinity and St X both rebuilding, but I expect Trinity to be better than X. Other public schools well down the list of surprise teams in my opinion.

I only say Trinity because I've heard Waggener could have a player or two transfer. If everyone comes back Waggener will be more talented than Trinity but I dont think the wildcat players are thrilled with their coach. The 2015-16 rocks are the opposite of last years team. Szabo will go from a group that he could not wake up to one that wont calm down. They will be very agressive and probably even up tempo if coach can handle it. Trinity fans will enjoy this team much more than the previous. With that said I dont know if they will be any better in the end. Not very big team right now but we all know trinity is good at getting players transfered in. I expect at least one new player.

Believe that Trinity's JV team lost only one game last season.

If I'm not mistaken, the JV has only lost once in the last TWO seasons...

I only say Trinity because I've heard Waggener could have a player or two transfer. If everyone comes back Waggener will be more talented than Trinity but I dont think the wildcat players are thrilled with their coach. The 2015-16 rocks are the opposite of last years team. Szabo will go from a group that he could not wake up to one that wont calm down. They will be very agressive and probably even up tempo if coach can handle it. Trinity fans will enjoy this team much more than the previous. With that said I dont know if they will be any better in the end. Not very big team right now but we all know trinity is good at getting players transfered in. I expect at least one new player.

 

Drinking lots of milk, eating protein bars and praying for growth spurts!

Any thoughts on the top players in the region returning? Who ya got.....?

 

It appears to be the Waggener and Central show regarding top players returning.

 

Trinity has no one returning averaging over 3.5 ppg

Manual no one returning higher than 4.5 ppg

Ballard has Jamil Wilson at the point(9.5 ppg)

Eastern: Jonathon Lane at 8.2 ppg

Male: Alex Cook at 10.6 ppg and Hogan Brownley at 8.2 ppg. Both over 6 rebounds a game

St. Xavier: Connor Mckim at 9.3 ppg

Central and Waggener deserve a seperate thread

I really like Central. Bibby is a great coach and it seems like kids really buy into his style of play. Brandon Wells might not be a big time college prospect but he is a very nice high school PG.

 

I was also very impressed with Daivon Thompson. 6-foot-4 lefty can shoot it, post up smaller defenders and score in transition.