Breslin Bound: Class A
Each day brings us closer and closer to the start of the regular season here in Michigan. While we’re certainly quite some time away from the state championship, the beginning of the road to the Breslin Center will be here before we know it. Plenty of things can and will happen to make things interesting as the season progresses – breakout seasons, impact underclassmen, upsets and injuries are just a few possibilities that could make the season interesting. That, however, remains to be seen. Let’s take a preseason look at some Class A teams that have a legitimate shot at playing in the Breslin Center this year:
Clarkston – This is the obvious choice. Clarkston is a Top-20 team nationally, being ranked at best number 4 in the country, depending on the site. Clarkston has the best frontcourt in the state and perhaps the midwest Thomas Kithier and Taylor Currie. The pair of Big Ten commits will be joined by a plethora of talented forwards who stand around 6’4-6’6″. These players alone are enough to do some serious damage, but you can’t forget about Foster Loyer. The Michigan State commit is one of the preseason favorites to win Mr. Basketball after putting up 25 points per game en route to a state championship last year. With all this talent, it’s easy to overlook some solid “role” players such a CJ Robinson, Chase Wasilk and Tristen Mysen. I say “role” players because these guys would be top options on many other Class A teams throughout the state.
Belleville – Belleville is widely regarded as the team that will be able to challenge Clakston’s supreme talent. Gabe Brown, Michigan State commit and Mr. Basketball favorite, will look to have a monster senior campaign coming off a breakout year. Brown is accompanied by Kaevon Merriwether, who holds an offer from Western Michigan and is considered one of the more underrated prospects in the 2018 class, and Davion Williams, who is a multi-sport talent committed to Michigan State for football. Belleville also has talented players in Delvin Alverson and Kmare Carey – two players who are capable of having sneaky good seasons this year. On top of all their experienced talent, they also have one of the to 2020s in the state in Connor Bush. Belleville plays a challenging regular season schedule which should battle-test them before the playoffs.
East English Village Prep – While Clarkston has the strongest claim to the most talented frontcourt in the state, EEVP may be able to make that claim for the backcourt. Led by Michigan commit and Mr. Basketball favorite David Dejulius, they will be young, athletic and talented – capable of sustaining an injury or two and still having a number of weapons. Dejulius is joined by Tariq Shepherd, Sudi McElroy, Keyon Brown, Zavon Godwin, Jayshawn Moore and incoming freshman Simon Wheeler. While EEVP while give up no talent to the opposing team’s guards, they may struggle against bigger teams such as Clarkston due to a lack of size. This is certainly a weakness but it is not a death sentence – they certainly have enough talent in the backcourt to overcome this.
East Lansing – Of all the teams on this list, East Lansing has perhaps the best the chance to go undefeated in the regular season. Led by Michigan commit and Mr. Basketball favorite Brandon Johns, the Trojans have a matchup nightmare in him alone that will give them the advantage over most teams. In addition to Johns, they have senior leadership in Aquinas commit Malik Jones. East Lansing also has plenty of top young talent with incoming freshmen KJ Rai and Marcus Wouman. Their talent comes with top-notch discipline and fundamentals – something that may give them an edge over more talented teams.
Other notable Class A contenders include Ann Arbor Skyline, Cass Tech, Flint Carman-Ainsworth, Novi and U-D Jesuit.