Region 10 might have the best top end talent returning in not just 4a, but in the state. We will see how much these players grew (physically and skill wise) over the spring and summer!
Region 10 changed coaches before it changed standings. Drew Trost left Juan Diego after 13 years and 246 wins and took the Park City job. Sam Hoopes, who was already in the building as a counselor and lead assistant, took over at Judge. Cottonwood still has the two bigs who actually produced last winter. East has Oscar Keegan. That is the new shape of the region.
Cottonwood went 18-6 and 10-2. Juan Diego and East sat at 8-4. Murray and Judge were 7-5. Then Deng Deng graduated from JDHS, Isaiah Beh from Murray, Ismail and Mbodj and Peek left Judge, and Trost packed for the mountain. The Colts did not lose their frontcourt and East didn’t lose their star.
Cottonwood
Marc Miller won the region with size and a roster that could score inside when the game slowed down. Luka Cecez is 6-9 and already dropped 20 on Judge. Malei Atem is 6-5 and had 16 in the same gym. Those two were not coming off the bench hoping for a look. They were the look.
MJ Diemoz, Isaac Smith and Andreas Katsanevas all played. Christian Standiford is 6-6. The Colts still have the most finished roster in the region. First is theirs until East or somebody else takes a night from them.
East
Fifteen and ten. Eight and four. They already showed they can beat Cottonwood at home.
Oscar Keegan is the reason they sit second. 6-6, sophomore, all-state level talent, and he does this in two sports — basketball in the winter, lacrosse when the snow melts. That kind of athlete changes what a young roster is allowed to believe. Thatcher Dood, Cade Black and Welch McCormick already got varsity run around him. The Leopards lost some seniors. They kept the kid who can guard a 4, finish above the rim, and make the gym lean forward when he touches it. Second is not a courtesy ranking.
Murray
Thirteen and twelve. Playoff team. Coach Isaachar Beh’s group could drop 80 and they could grind out a 53-45 win at Cottonwood.
Isaiah Beh graduated. The wings who stayed are the story now: Isaiah Rains at 6-4, Mason Mitchell at 6-5, Hudson Pickering, Sven Larson, Keeton Whiting. That is a lot of length for a junior class. Murray is not rebuilding. They are asking those kids to start a little earlier than they did last year.
Juan Diego
Trost is in Park City. Deng Deng is gone to UVU after 17.6 and 11.2. That is the coach and the best player in the same summer.
Luke Lowery is 6-5. Easton Putzke is 6-4. Keurik Bare and Sam Vansice already know the system. Sixteen wins last year was real. The standard in Draper does not vanish because the office changed. It does mean this year is going to ask more of Lowery than last year did. Fourth feels honest. The talent is still there.
Judge Memorial
Sanjin Kolovrat left for Westminster. Sam Hoopes got the job — counselor at the school, lead assistant last year, Snow and Southern Utah as a player, 3A coach of the year at Union in 2017. He already knows every kid in that locker room and knows the game exceptionally well
Ismail, Peek, Mbodj, Arok Kuang, Anderson, and Flickinger all graduated. Ruot is at Cyprus. What Hoopes kept is young and hungry: Max Steffensen, Miller Semerad, Munok Kuang at 6-4, Landon Ouellette, Kon Ngor. Judge went 7-5 in this region last year with a senior-heavy group. This version is going to play with a chip. That is a dangerous thing in the Yerk.
Park City
Five wins. Zero in region. Then they hired Drew Trost.
Penn Larkin already averaged 11 a night on a thin roster. Brooks Hickam, Koa King, Mason Marchetti and Hudson Simmons are back. Trost does not take a job to stand still. Larkin finally gets a coach who has been to the deep end of 4A. The Miners are still young. They are no longer a roster without a plan. I have them sixth, and I would not be shocked if they climb.
Jordan
Seven and sixteen. Two region wins, and one of them was a 69-58 night at Park City. They also hung around with Cottonwood. Tallon Robertson’s group has already seen what this region looks like up close. A couple of returners taking a step is all it takes to turn those close ones. The Beetdiggers will be better than the record people remember.
How I see it finishing
Cottonwood — Cecez and Atem. The region still runs through Holladay.
East — Keegan is the best two-way athlete in the group. The Leopards belong here.
Murray — junior length everywhere. Still a bracket team.
Juan Diego — new coach, same pieces around Lowery.
Judge Memorial — Hoopes, young, hungry, 7-5 in this region a year ago.
Park City — Trost plus Larkin. Watch this one climb.
Jordan — closer than people think. The step is there.
First-team preseason
Luka Cecez, Cottonwood
Oscar Keegan, East
Malei Atem, Cottonwood
Penn Larkin, Park City
Fifth: Luke Lowery, Isaiah Rains, Easton Putzke, or Max Steffensen
Deng, Ismail, Mbodj, Peek and Beh are off the board. Trost is in a different gym. Region 10 still starts with Cottonwood. It runs through Keegan at East, and it has a new story up the canyon if Trost gets Larkin going the way he used to get Juan Diego going.