2019-2020 Missouri Boys High School Basketball

When I first started working at Pillsbury in Minneapolis, I thought I would stay there forever. Little did I know that situations change and opportunities arise that take us places we never thought we might go. It's not that we aren't loyal to a company but sometimes a greater calling is on the horizon.   I first met Sam Thompson when he was on a fourth or fifth grade basketball team with grandson Nate. Sam moved to Gateway for a couple of years, and then rejoined Nate on the Larry Hughes 7th grade team coached by Eric Bain.  Eric pulled the great player out of each one of the kids. He gave them confidence and helped them improve their overall games, by leaps and bounds. With Sam, Nate, Myles Estrada (now Francis Howell Central star) and Ethan Lattimore (Vianney point guard), the LHBA were a team to reckon with. Under Eric's excellent coaching skills, the guys formed a dominant Midwest team. Sam continued to grow in height (now 6'9") and skills, and is a

Here's a look at the boys high school power ratings, sorted by conference.  You can compare these to Earl Austin, Jr.'s ratings on Prep Hoops.  Let me know how we did next February....LOL Last rating date 10/19/2019 Missouri schools 2019-2020 Rankings 2019-2020 2018-2019 Predicted Conference Team name Rating Rating AAA Division I Cardinal Ritter 123 130 AAA Division I Father Tolton Catholic 116 122 AAA Division I St. Mary's 105 116 AAA Division I St. Francis Borgia 109 110 AAA Division I St. Dominic 108 104 AAA Division II Trinity 128 132 AAA Division II Christian (O'Fallon) 108 115 AAA Division II DuBourg 98 97 AAA Division II Duchesne 99 96 AAA Division II Lutheran St. Charles 80 89

After taking most of the fall to look at and analyze the boys basketball high school returnees, I am ramping up to start rating teams when the winter schedule gets underway.  I have been rating teams using a Sagarin type algorithm for the past two years and feel very comfortable with my comparative ratings which predicts the score differential based on each teams power rating. With a look at last year's final ratings and adding a litte SWAG (surely wild ass guess) to my power ratings, here's how I see the St. Louis Area teams power ratings for the start of the 2019-2020 season. I am posting teams in rank order in this blog post.  I will break out the teams by conference in the next blog post.  The table has the team, conference, last year's rating and my prediction of this year's rating. My apologies if I missed a team.... Missouri schools 2019-2020 Rankings 2019-2020 2018-2019 Predi

It has been awhile since I took a look at a conference returnees and I am nearing the end, as we get ready for basketball tryouts in a couple of weeks. Here's a look at Gateway North which consists of St. Charles, St. Charles West, Orchard Farm, Warrenton and Winfield.  Last year, St. Charles West was top dog, led by Trent Champagne, with a nice supporting cast including massive "Big John" Wilson.  Wilson, a 6'5" 310 offensive guard on the Warriors football team, is a dominating force on the inside.  Based on returnees and returnee scoring, it looks like the Gateway North will have a down year. Here's summary of the conference teams.  I have a short summary of all teams below the table: Gateway North 2018-2019 Record # % % Avg 2019 Avg 2020 2018-19 Rating Wins Losses  Returnees Return Scoring Hgt(") Hgt(") St. Charles West 106 20 9 16 67% 26% 73.10

Here's an updated ranking for CNR and some SLUH fall league teams.  I have some results from the Magic from their SLUH league so that I can compare some of the teams they have played in the SLUH league to common CNR opponents.  I have been able to add MICDS, Soldan, McCluer, and SLUH from the SLUH Fall league. Francis Howell, behind a strong fall showing by Matt Schark, Sam Thompson, Sam Maddox, and Preston Fortner, still leads the varsity teams but MICDS is not far behind, mainly on the leadership of Jack Pronger, Brandon Mitchell-Day, Hasani Spann, and Nick Roper.  Ladue has slipped a little with losses to lesser rated teams.  Westminster has won but had closer games to several low ranked teams.  Of course, a number of teams have players with football commitment that prevent them from playing for their fall team, so you can take all of this with a grain of salt. I have included some 8th grade teams in these rankings but their rating is based upon the varsity teams.  I will po