First Look - Missouri Boys Basketball - St. Louis Red Pool Conference

McCluer North was the hot team last year with A'Tavian Butler, Patrick Evans, Mekai Ray, Steve Lee, and Aaron Daniels but they are all gone now and Junior big man Quentin Hall and senior Sylvon Mosley-Mull will provide the leadership for the Stars this winter.  The Red Pool conference, which consisted of Kirkwood, Eureka, Lindbergh, McCluer and McCluer North, Parkway West and Central, Pattonville and Ladue was a strong assemblage of teams, with only Parkway West struggling for any success.  Even though Pattonville labored through an 8-17 record, they were never more than 5 or 7 points from a win and while Eureka lost three to McCluer North during the season, the combined losses were by a mere dozen or so points.

So how do these teams look for the coming 2019-2020 season?  Who's coming back and how much scoring is returning?  As with my first post, earlier this week, I will list each teams rating, win loss record, returnees, percent returnees, percent returned scoring and average height returning.  I will also list the known players graduated or lost to transfer and the key returnees and summarize each teams upside and downside.   It's is early in the fall and I hear things every day about transfers and such, so please forgive me if I (and make a comment) misstate a players status or miss a key returnee.

Here's a summary of the Red Pool teams....

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

McCluer North

126

26

4

6

40%

14%

73.5

73.5

Significant Returnees:
Sylvon Mosley-Mull and Quentin Hall have both been making noise on the AAU scene.  Look for these guys to lead the next generation of talent of Stars.

Graduates and Transfers:
A'Tavian Butler, Patrick Evans, Mekai Ray, Steve Lee, Aaron Daniels (86% of scoring)

Outlook
Mosley-Mull and Hall have some big shoes to fill with the big three of Butler, Evans and Ray, and to a lesser extent, Daniels and Lee.  McCluer North, like many top schools with a sound program, has a strong JV and good feeder program and I expect that, while the team might not win 20 games, they will still be formidable and a force to be reckoned with by anyone taking them lightly.  Look for a 118 rating and 18-20 wins for this crew.

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

Ladue

113

21

9

11

85%

71%

73.6

74.5

Significant Returnees:

Jaylon Boyd, Evan Schneider, Henry McIntosh

Graduates and Transfers:

Bryce Bussard, Moses Okpala (29% of scoring)

Outlook

While Ladue lost some inside size with Okpala and shooting with Bussard, the real fire power is back with Boyd, who scored nearly 400 points last year and big man Schneider, the second leading scorer.  McIntosh helps take the pressure off both with key buckets.  With a sizeable squad and so much returned scoring, look for Ladue to make a big push to the top echelon of the St. Louis basketball ranks with Boyd displaying his talents on a nightly basis.  This squad will be hard to hold down in the Red Pool and should be favored to win the conference.  A plus 120 rating and a 25+ win season are both likelihoods unless injuries bite the Greyhounds.

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

McCluer

116

17

9

10

62%

46%*

72.5

73.1

Significant Returnees:

Jeremiah Johnson, plus Devon Barshow* (transfer from Marquette)

Graduates and Transfers:

Dareon Graham, Demerius Richmond, Richuan Purtty (54% of scoring)

Outlook:

Before Barshow made the decision to transfer to McCluer, it looked like the Comets would be looking for someone to pick up the scoring slack for the graduating seniors but Johnson and Barshow now create a great outside/inside dual threat that will be hard to stop.  If the coaches can find a little more horsepower from the rest of the squad to support these two, McCluer could improve on their 116 rating and 17-9 record but I expect only slightly.  A 20 win season might be in the cards.

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

Parkway Central

117

19

8

9

69%

46%

74

73.3

Significant Returnees:

Devion Harris, return of big man Mike Carroll?

Graduates and Transfers:

Mello Ball, Jayden LittleJohn (45% of scoring)

Outlook:

Devion Harris has been making the rounds at the Recruit and team camps and leaving a resoundingly fine impression.  Does he have enough support to have a great year this winter?  I hope so.  Part of that depends on whether junior 6'6" power forward, Mike Carroll, decides to play this winter.  He was on the fence last summer.  Without him, teams will gang up on Devion in the paint, but Mike would take a big load off with his presence even though he might only score 10 points a game.  Central has a good feeder program so I expect that they will fill in the lineup and scoring gaps that Ball and Littlejohn have left and an 18-20 win season is a possibility.

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

Kirkwood

106

17

10

8

57%

38%

73.8

73.6

Significant Returnees:

Jaylin Phillips, Will Lee, Jay Maclin, Landon Evans

Graduates and Transfers:

Damien Floyd and Jonah McDowell (45% of scoring)

Outlook:

The loss of Floyd and McDowell means Kirkwood has to find a way to plug in 800 plus lost points but the word this summer was that Phillips, Lee, Maclin and Evans will definitely provide that offense.  Kirkwood, with a squad consisting of a number of football/basketball players is a tough team to defense because of the physicality.  Look for this foursome to lift Kirkwood to a 20 win season and a 115-118 rating.  They won't win the conference but they will give everyone they play fits and those opponents will go home knowing they played contact basketball.

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

Lindbergh

104

14

13

8

43%

37%

74.13

75

Significant Returnees:

Joey Abeln

Graduates and Transfers:

Kieran Conboy, Adam Bell, Erik Lahm (56% of scoring)

Outlook:

Abeln will have to take a significant leadership role to keep Lindbergh in the winning column this winter.  The losses of Conboy, Bell and Lahm are significant although Lahm was injured for much of last year and didn't have the success he hoped for.  Unless the Flyers have some aces up their sleeves in the JV ranks, this team could be lucky to win 14 games again and keep above the 100 rating.

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

Pattonville

110

8

17

11

71%

54%

71.9

71.9

Significant Returnees:

Kellen Thames, Levi Banks, Alijah Carte

Graduates and Transfers:

Julius Erby, Andre Webb (37% of scoring)

Outlook:

Pattonville was on the cusp of a good season last year, losing nine games by less than 10 points.  With the talented Thames, Banks and Carte, this team should reverse their record and get 15-18 wins this season.  Unlike the other teams in the conference, though, this team had some confrontations during the season, and I would hope the team would button up their sportsmanship like McCluer and McCluer North, both top-notch when it came to playing an hard nosed but honest game.

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

Parkway West

93

2

23

10

67%

42%

72

71.9

Significant Returnees:
Logan Wich (ineligible last year due to transfer), Josh Gansen, Matt Loaney

Graduates and Transfers:

Matt Miller, Kyle Geraghty (transfer to Mehlville, 35% of scoring)

Outlook:

Could Parkway West sink any lower than 2-23?  I hope not but with the loss of senior Kyle Geraghty to a transfer to Mehlville, the Longhorns will continue to struggle.  It helps to have 6'7" power forward, Logan Wich in the line-up, after sitting out last year when he transferred from DeSmet, but Logan will need some serious help from Gansen, Loaney and others to get this team to 10 or 12 wins and 100 power rating.  It might take another year.

Red Pool		2018-2019 Record		#	%	%	Avg 2020	Avg 2019
	2019 Rating	Wins	Losses	Returnees	Return	Scoring	Hgt(")	Hgt(")

Eureka

117

16

11

10

66%

36%

72.7

73.4

Significant Returnees:

Jhalon Asher-Sanders, Nate Parker, Jack Burke, Luke Laudel, 

Isaac Powers, 6'5"  Sr. transfer from Dakotas

Graduates and Transfers:

Avery Taggart with 36% of scoring

Outlook:

Eureka slipped from 18 to 16 wins the last two years, with the loss of a large senior class but managed a successful season behind the leadership of Avery Taggart with contributions from Sanders and Parker.  With Taggart gone, the offense will be more distributed and will really need four or five starters scoring 10 points a game to be competitive.  Both Parker and Asher-Sanders are capable of putting up 15 points per game and backup point guard/shooting guard Luke Laudel is deadly from three when left open.  All three could be serious scoring threats.  A wild card for Eureka is the addition of Isaac Powers, 6'5" transfer from Custer, S.D.  If he can add some beef to the front line with 6'6", 225# Burke, and the others step up as planned, Eureka could improve on their 16 win season.

That's the RED POOL conference analysis.  Let me know what you think.