Preseason 3A-6A top 5 rankings

It’s starting to become that time of the year when preseason rankings start coming out and we’re all accused of sleeping on teams.

But let’s be fair, with all the player movement and what not, these are just best guesses at this point. Until the Great Western Classic happens, nobody has really seen much of these teams and how they’re playing together. Plus, it’s a long season!

Ok, so here’s my best shot at a preseason top 5 for 3-6a. I’ll definitely get into 1 and 2a during the season, but I don’t have nearly enough information for a list right now

6A

1. American Fork

2. Davis

3. Layton

4. Bingham

5. Westlake

A few notes - Bryce Mella is an early favorite for 6A POTY after a great summer with the Utah Prospects. Davis loses a ton with Coleman Atwater graduating but they always reload and JT Turley is going to be the engine driving the offense. Layton and Bingham both loaded at the guard positions and have legitimate reasons why they should be cutting down the nets at the end of the year. Westlake rounds out the top 5 just ahead of Herriman, CC, Lehi, and Lone Peak. I watched them play a few times this summer and I think they have the style of play to make a deep run

5A

1. Olympus

2. Highland

3. Timpview

4. Springville

5. Cyprus

Olympus returns to defend their title with the state POTY in Gavin Lowe. So they remain the champs until someone knocks them off. Timpview and Highland are so close to each other they are basically 1b and 1c and Olympus is 1a, but I give a slight edge to Highland since they reached the finals last year and return a ton of talent, though losing Jack Anderton and Vai Higby will hurt though. Timpview has a new coach in Coach Kitchens and returns everyone from last year. Is this their year? We will see! We’ve all been waiting for Springville to make that leap, will this be the year they do?!? Similar to Westlake, I watched Cyprus play a few times this summer and I think they’re going to surprise some people come playoff time. Watch out for PG as they bring a very talented team led by Jaxon Brown down to 5a

4A

1. Provo

2. Pine View

3. Judge

4. Timpanogos

5. Cottonwood

4a gets a small shake up this year and, honestly, I’m still not 100% on which teams are playing where! This list was the most difficult for me, mostly because I have no idea which players are staying and going. If Jaxen McCuistion makes the rumored move to Provo, they are a very dangerous team…they already are with preseason POTY favorite Makai Allen. Pine View had a great summer and return with a much improved Jelani Odjegba along with Caleb Schmitt and Brock Harris. Both Judge and Timpanogos lost a lot of talent but Aymen Ismail and AJ Peek both return from a team that made deep runs the last 2 years with Massaer Mbodj joining them this year as well. Cottonwood is the sleeper team in 4a now that Itay Lustgarten came over to run the PG position and pace an offense with Malei Atem and Luka Cecez. Watch out for Dixie, Hurricane (Bingham Kemp is a BUCKET), Murray, Payson, and there’s always a region 11 team that shows up and shows out…Green Canyon again?

3A

1. Morgan

2. Ogden

3. Richfield

4. Grantsville

5. American Heritage

I’ll be completely honest…2-5 is a pretty big guess on my part. Morgan brings back the 3a POTY in Bracken Saunders along with Jake Hansen and Mason Williams. The seniors here will look to repeat and I’m not sure who will stop them. Maybe Ogden? Jackson Maw might be one of the most underrated players in the state. Richfield made it all the way to the championship game last year so perhaps they have another run in them? I don’t know, this one feels tough to figure out with so much team and player movement (Mana Wintana and AH would have been my #2 but he’s taking the challenge to go to Wasatch Academy). The Patriots are very well coached though and always seem to have guys step up!

Alright, so who did I miss? I’m sure it’s someone(s). Let me know in the comments here on Substack. It’s OK to have dialogue and voice your opinion! It helps me get better as well