4th Region Off-Season Discussion (2024-2025)

[DragonFire]

4th Region Off-Season Discussion Hub

The 2023-24 season began with a legitimate title contender out of the region, but in the end it was Warren Central making their third consecutive state tournament appearance, falling in the first round to close out their state title defense.  We turn our attention to next year...

• Already seeing early rankings for next year - what say you?

https://x.com/4thRegionHoops/status/1773740794211

• 438747?s=20Bowling Green definitely has the look of a favorite again, returning the likely frontrunner for POY in Deuce Bailey, and strong contributors in Braylon Banks (8.4 PPG) and Jace Wardlow (7.9 PPG).  The Purples were deceptively young a year ago, with only four seniors, only two of which who played much.
• No one from the all-region 1st team returns, while the second team returns Bailey, Warren East's Kaleb Prince, and Cumberland County's Ray Harwood.
• Glasgow returns a good group, but will be replacing their head coach, as William Buford was relieved of his position.  How will this affect a team that looked to be ascending to make a run?
• South Warren really only loses one player of note - is this the year they break through to region for the first time?
• Greenwood returns their top four scorers - are the Gators ready to push Bowling Green and Warren Central?
• Can ANYONE stop the reign of terror that has been Bowling Green and Warren Central?
• Will the 16th District continue to be the most fun and crazy district to follow, where seemingly anything can happen? Sources say yes.....

 

[Purple88]

Still stung from the Regional Final collapse loss!  

The Purples will certainly have a bitter taste in their mouths starting this coming year.

They should be good, but who will rebound.  Deuce Bailey will have a great year, but he can be streaky shooting the ball.  Can Travey Barber offer more support this year?  We'll see.

Interesting South is #2 on that list and GW #3.  Should be some interesting games to come!

[TheBarber]

Who does WC have coming back? 

[DragonFire]

Saw another ranking, this from the Sporting Times:

https://x.com/sportingtimes/status/1781325825960272202

I'm slightly more inclined to agree with that one.

[DragonFire]

On 4/2/2024 at 6:56 AM, TheBarber said:

Who does WC have coming back? 

Central won't return anyone that was starting by the end of the year. Top five scorers are all gone.  Leading returning scorer is going to be Jarek Kirk (4.6 PPG).  Sophomore Armani Byrd (2.9 PPG) will be counted on to take the next step.  Dominique Anthony (2.0 PPG) saw an uptick in minutes at the end of the year.  They'll also gain Kash Carter, another sophomore, at some point.  I forget when he played last for East, but it'll be a calendar year past that point.  Central has a lot of talent in the younger classes, but at moment, next year would be expected to be a gap year, in much the same way that 2021 was.  The elephant in the room on that one is that who they have today may not be who they have to start the school year or by the time the season starts.  This time last year, neither Drevin Bratton or Elijah Howard were at Central yet.  So we'll see if anyone shows up.  We've seen players gravitate to the region champs before.